Lifeguards ramp up for Labor Day crowds as huge swells hit California

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Huge surf drew dozens of surfers, boogie boarders and body surfers, along with thousands of onlookers, to the Wedge in Newport Beach. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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Waves topped 20 feet at times at the Wedge jetty in Newport Beach. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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A surfboard is broken by the huge waves at the Wedge in Newport Beach. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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Two surfers ride a wave together during the heavy surf at the Wedge in Newport Beach. (Emily Rhyne / Los Angeles Times)

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The powerful waves at Newport Beach’s Wedge jetty often knocked surfers off their boards. (Emily Rhyne / Los Angeles Times)

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By sunrise, hundreds of onlookers had gathered to watch surfers, boogie boarders and body surfers take on the waves at the Wedge in Newport Beach. (Emily Rhyne / Los Angeles Times)

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Huge surf drew dozens of surfers, boogie boarders and body surfers along with thousands of onlookers to the Wedge in Newport Beach. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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A bodyboarder rides a large wave at the Wedge in Newport Beach, where the surf reached up to 20 feet. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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Huge surf drew thousands of onlookers to the Wedge in Newport Beach, where at times the waves topped 20 feet. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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A surfer gets a tube ride at the Wedge in Newport Beach. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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Morning light cast shadows on visitors to the Wedge in Newport Beach. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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A lifeguard looks on as heavy surf pounds the Wedge in Newport Beach. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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A surfer flies off the lip of a large wave at the Wedge in Newport Beach. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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A surfer bails out of a huge wave at the Wedge in Newport Beach, where at times the waves topped 20 feet. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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A surfer escapes a wall of water at the Wedge in Newport Beach. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

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Surfers slide down a huge wave Wednesday at the Wedge in Newport Beach. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

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A surfer raises his arm to acknowledge a screaming crowd at the Wedge in Newport Beach. Thousands of spectators lined the beach Wednesday to watch waves as high as 25 feet tall generated by Hurricane Marie off the Pacific coast. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

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Water splashes some of the people watching surfers Wednesday at the Wedge in Newport Beach. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

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Young surfers walk along the beach after riding huge waves Wednesday at the Wedge jetty in Newport Beach. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

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A body-board rider races down the glassy face of a big wave at the Wedge jetty in Newport Beach on Wednesday. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

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Spectators standing on the breakwater at the entrance to Newport Bay watch waves crashing on the beach in Newport Beach. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

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A surfer rides high surf caused by Hurricane Marie hundreds of miles away in Seal Beach Wednesday. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Los Angeles County lifeguard Dave Carr, right, on a personal water craft, pulls to shore a surfer amid crashing waves at Surfrider beach next to the Malibu Pier. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Surfers ride the waves at Surfrider beach next to the Malibu Pier. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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A surfer catches air while riding at Surfrider beach next to the Malibu Pier. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Laird Hamilton uses a standup paddleboard at Surfrider beach. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Laird Hamilton prepares his standup paddleboard for surfing at Surfrider beach in Malibu. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Seal Beach lifeguards ask spectators along the shoreline to vacate the beach due to the high surf and tide surge caused by Hurricane Marie. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Steve Trachta and his 8-year-old daughter, Alex, leap over a ditch created to channel water away from homes along Seal Beach. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Seal Beach lifeguards cleared the shoreline of spectators due to the high surf and storm surge caused by Hurricane Marie. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Huge swells generated by Hurricane Marie pound the Malibu Pier on Wednesday morning. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Laird Hamilton paddles out against high surf generated by Hurricane Marie in Malibu. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Allen Sarlo, 57, of Malibu, and legendary surfer Laird Hamilton surf a large wave through the Malibu Pier. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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A surfer flies through the air as he punches out of one of the large storm-generated waves. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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As night falls, a surfer makes the most of one of the large hurricane-generated waves rolling through Southland beaches. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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Waves spurred by the storm damaged the Malibu Pier and will continue at local beaches over the next few days. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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A surfer, his leash tangled in kelp, was among those taking advantage of the high surf at Southern California beaches from the late-August storm. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

By Matt Stevens

Aug. 28, 2014 3:33 PM PT

With the effects of Hurricane Marie expected to linger through the Labor Day weekend, lifeguard officials say they plan to maintain increased staffing in preparation for a fresh onslaught of beachgoers.

Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Rick Flores said 435,000 people were on L.A. County’s 72 miles of beaches over the last two days as huge swells produced dangerously rough surf and rip currents.

The combination of a rush of surfers and bodyboarders looking to take advantage of 10- to 20-foot waves and thousands of spectators lining the shoreline has kept lifeguards busy.

Los Angeles County lifeguards reported performing 115 ocean rescues on Tuesday and another 177 on Wednesday -- the peak day of swelling caused by Hurricane Marie, which has since been downgraded to a tropical storm.

Los Angeles County Coroner’s Lt. David Smith said the surfer who died near Malibu Pier on Tuesday had not been identified as of Thursday afternoon.

The Southland’s massive swells were generated when Hurricane Marie was at its peak on Sunday, said Joe Sirard, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

It will take a while for the surf to subside as the storm winds down, he said, but the waves were already getting smaller Thursday.

The tropical storm remains more than 800 miles southwest of Los Angeles over the eastern Pacific Ocean, and was continuing to weaken.

For example, the highest surf reported Wednesday at Point Mugu -- where a historic lifeguard training building was destroyed -- was 12 to 15 feet on average, with the largest waves measuring as high as 20 feet. On Thursday, the maximum reported wave height at Point Mugu was closer to 15 feet.

Waves at Cabrillo Beach Thursday morning were about half the size they were 18 hours earlier, Sirard said.

“From now through the end of the day Friday we’re expecting swells to decrease,” he added.

Still, people entering the water will need to remain extra cautious through the week, as even smaller waves will generate strong rip currents, Sirard said.

Times staff writer Veronica Rocha contributed to this report.

For Westside news as it happens, follow the reporter on Twitter: @MattStevensLAT