An abalone diver drowned Friday afternoon off the coast of Mendocino Headlands State Park, Mendocino Fire Chief Ed O'Brien said.
Fire officials were alerted at 2:50 p.m. when the man's sister, who was waiting on the shore, reported her brother missing.
O'Brien said he could not release their names, and state park officials could not be reached for comment Saturday morning.
The drowning took place near the Sea Arch rock formation not far from the end of Heeser Drive. At the mouth of Big River, fire officials deployed two sets of jet skis used for ocean rescue, each equipped with a rear sled manned by a rescue diver.
Though the jet skis kept getting stuck in kelp, it took only five minutes to get to the spot where the sister had last seen her brother and find him.
Rescue divers located him at the bottom of about 18 feet of water, O'Brien said, adding that he was still wearing his weight belt and all his diving gear and he was not tangled in kelp.
No other information was available.
— Martin Espinoza
UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy: