Redwood City man dies abalone diving off Sonoma coast
A 66-year-old Redwood City man died Sunday afternoon while diving for abalone off the Sonoma County coast, officials said.
Dean Seki was swimming in the waters off of Gerstle Cove at Salt Point State Park, a popular destination for abalone diving, when he was apparently surprised by an abnormally large wave, said Sgt. Spencer Crum, spokesman for the Sonoma County Sheriffs Office.
Lifeguards pulled the mans body from the water that afternoon, officials said.
The county coroner will determine an official cause of death, but authorities linked the episode to the precarious ocean activity that claims the lives of several abalone divers every year off the Northern California coast.
The coveted red abalone is highly protected and divers are limited in how they can harvest the creatures, making the sport physically enduring. Using air tanks is illegal, so divers have to hold their breath to swim down, sometimes over 30 feet, to pry the stubborn gastropods from the rocky ocean floor.
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