Surfer killed in Manresa State Beach shark attack identified

The surfer killed Saturday in a shark attack off the Santa Cruz County coast has been identified as 26-year-old Ben Kelly, a resident of Santa Cruz County, the county coroner’s office said.

Kelly was killed Saturday by a shark while surfing at Manresa State Beach, about five miles west of Watsonville, the California Department of Parks and Recreation said.

Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s personnel were called at about 1:30 p.m. Saturday to the state parks beach, about a mile south of the main parking lot. The surfer, later identified as Kelly, had been attacked by an “unknown shark species” about 100 yards offshore. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The waters off of Manresa State Beach stretching from one mile south to one mile north of where the attack took place will be closed for five days, reopening Thursday.