He was only 38 years old
Surf star dies in collision with a whale
October 9, 2025 – 1:07 p.mReading time: 1 min.
Surfing star Graham Howes died off the coast of South Africa in September. Now his cause of death has been revealed – an unusual one.
The cause of death of surfing star Graham Howes has been determined. The South African died at the beginning of September at the age of just 38 when he did not return from kitesurfing. As The South African newspaper reports, authorities have now confirmed that Howes died in a collision with a whale.
Accordingly, the investigation into his death, which also included free autopsies, revealed that Howes was fatally hit by one of the animals while on a kiteboard trip to a voting group.
According to the report, investigators believe that the force of the impact was around one ton, causing Howes to immediately become unconscious and then drown in the water. The evidence included the damaged kiteboard and video recordings from the scene of the accident.
Howes was last seen on his kiteboard at around 1pm local time on September 7th. When he did not return, an extensive search operation was launched shortly before 8 p.m., involving search units on land, at sea and in the air, as well as private and commercial ships. Only his body could be recovered.