Diver Tangled in Bed of Kelp Drowns

A 40-year-old Encino man drowned after he and another scuba diver got tangled in kelp off Santa Cruz Island during a diving excursion Saturday, U.S. Coast Guard officials said.

The pair was flown by Coast Guard helicopter to St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard. The man, who has not been identified pending notification of relatives, was pronounced dead on arrival at about 11:40 a.m., said Coast Guard Petty Officer Randy Reid.

The other diver, Jill Henderson, 26, of Woodland Hills, had stopped breathing but was revived after fellow divers pulled her out of the water, Reid said.

Henderson was in good condition at St. John’s, a hospital spokesperson said Saturday evening.

The accident occurred when the two were scuba diving off the boat Liberty, which was taking about 20 divers on a daylong excursion to Channel Islands National Park, Reid said.

“The man possibly panicked when he became entangled in a heavy bed of kelp, lost his regulator and drowned,” Reid said. “The last thing she remembers is trying to help him and then laying on the deck of the ship.”

The diving boat was near Sandstone Point on the south side of the island at the time of the accident, Reid said.