Man dies as big waves pound South West
The death of a 37-year-old man at a Yallingup beach has marred a weekend of mammoth South West swells.
It is understood the Busselton man was body boarding alone before he was washed unconscious on to Smiths Beach about 8.30am on Saturday.
Beachgoers tried to revive the man, who had serious head injuries.
Police said the death was not being treated as suspicious and a report would be prepared for the Coroner.
Another man was taken to hospital yesterday after breaking his arm at the powerful North Point break in Cowaramup Bay.
Sunny skies, light offshore winds and big waves made for perfect but dangerous conditions on Saturday.
Veteran surf photographer Jamie Scott said conditions at a reef several kilometres off Gracetown were the "biggest and cleanest" he had seen in almost a decade.
"Normally with swells that big it's raining and you have howling onshore winds," he said. "It was almost out of control. The whole coast was just massive."
With camera in hand, Scott and Margaret River surfer Rohan Annesley lapped up the 15m rolling sets.
"Usually if there is a swell that big and clean you get people flying in from all parts of the world to surf it but because it came out of the blue, there was only us out there," Annesley said.
"I'm not someone who trains for that sort of thing, but my confidence grew as I was out there.
"It was a lot of fun."
It was almost out of control. The whole coast was just massive. " Surf photographer Jamie Scott
