2 California women die after being swept out to sea while sleeping on beach

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Calif. - The coroner has identified two young Fremont women – both university students in the Bay Area – who died after they were swept out to sea in Santa Cruz County while sleeping on a sunny afternoon. 

Sleeping in ‘keyhole’ 

What we know:

Harshita Nair, 21, and Mahial Sran, 20, had been taking a nap near a natural archway along a stretch of coastline between Yellow Bank Beach and Bonny Doon Beach on June 10 when they were swept into the water by rising tides, Cal Fire said. 

Witnesses said Sran and her friend Nair were at the beach and, by some accounts, were napping on the sand, when a large swell sucked them into the frigid water.

"The swells are a result of storms in the Southern Hemisphere where it's winter," said Dr. Alison Bridger, a SJSU meteorologist and climate scientist. "They generate a pulse of energy that can travel away from storms, from one hemisphere to another."

Crews were able to find them in the sea, and they were rushed to Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz.

But both ended up being pronounced dead after the rescue. 

Kyle Breton, a Santa Cruz County volunteer fire captain, said in a Cal Fire video that there is a certain "keyhole" section of the beach where people often sleep, which ends up trapping them there because of the high tide. He went on to say that there have been at least five other ocean rescues in the area this month. 

Two university students

Dig deeper:

Sran attended San Jose State University, where she was expected to graduate next year in May.  

"We extend our deepest sympathies to everyone affected by this tragic loss," Michelle McDonald, a SJSU university spokesperson, said in an email. "Our entire SJSU community shares in the grief felt by those who loved and cared for her." 

According to Sran's LinkedIn, she was a public health major.

Nair attended UC Berkeley, where she was also expected to graduate next May. She was pursuing a degree in legal studies. 

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"We wish to extend our condolences to this student’s family and friends," UC Berkeley spokesperson Adam Ratliff said, adding that the school feels "immense sadness" about Nair's death. 

Both young women attended and graduated from Washington High School in Fremont in 2023, according to their LinkedIn profiles.

High tide dangers

This beautiful but rugged area can be dangerous for beach goers, especially during high tide. 

Bridger warned, "This year, with the Pacific being very warm and conditions changing, that's even more true. Don't turn your back on the ocean."

Michael Horn from Cal Fire's San Mateo-Santa Cruz unit described the dangers of the water.

"It's unclear whether they were good swimmers or not swimmers at all, but it doesn't matter because this part of the ocean here is really rough, and it can take the best swimmers and make it dangerous for them," he said.

 

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