A fisherman was in critical condition after a sneaker wave at Baker Beach swept him out to sea Friday afternoon, the San Francisco Fire Department said.
Bystanders reported that the fisherman was standing at the water’s edge when a wave “came out of nowhere,” fire Capt. Jonathan Baxter said. The fisherman was quickly incapacitated and swept into the water.
The fire department responded to the beach around 1 p.m. Friday, dispatching three rescue swimmers who conducted an open water rescue and pulled the fisherman to shore, where paramedics treated him. He was transported to the hospital around 1:20 p.m., Baxter said.
No further information about the fisherman or his condition was immediately available Friday afternoon.
The National Weather Service issued a beach hazards advisory this week warning of strong rip currents and sneaker waves through Friday. On Thursday, a 55-year-old surfer died after responders pulled him from the choppy water off San Francisco’s Ocean Beach. The water at Baker Beach on Friday was comparatively calm, Baxter said.
But sneaker waves — powerful, unexpected waves which surge far up the beach — can strike even on days when conditions appear ideal. In recent years, several people on the California coast have died after sneaker waves dragged them into the ocean.