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Five shark attacks have been reported in the past two weeks off Long Island, New York, including two within hours on Wednesday, a dramatic increase in shark encounters that officials there say may represent a “new normal.”
Four of the reported attacks occurred on Fire Island in Suffolk County, including two at popular Smith Point Beach and two near the village of Ocean Beach. The fifth was reported on Jones Beach Island in neighboring Nassau County.
None of the victims were seriously injured, and the sharks sighted were estimated to be four to five feet long, officials said.
Shark sightings are on the rise off the US coast, which scientists attribute to successful conservation efforts that have restored populations closer to historic levels. Still, the recent spate of attacks was highly unusual — there were only 47 confirmed unprovoked attacks nationwide in 2021, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File.
“This is not something that is unprecedented by any means in our history here in Suffolk County,” Suffolk County Executive Stephen Bellone said at a news conference Thursday. “Prior to July 3, we had no recorded shark bite [Smith Point Beach] since it opened during beach hours in 1959.
Bellone said the county is deploying drones and increasing lifeguard patrols to monitor the waters, acknowledging the increase may represent “the new normal.”
“The idea of more frequent contact with this type of shark may be what we’re going to expect,” Bellone said at a separate news conference on Wednesday, ahead of the fifth attack.
The first of the latest attacks occurred June 30, when a 57-year-old man swimming at Jones Beach suffered a laceration to his right leg that paramedics identified as a “possible shark bite,” according to the Nassau County Police Department.
Three days later, Zach Gallo, 33, a lifeguard at Smith Point Beach, was playing the role of a victim in lifeguard training when he became one himself, WABC reported. He felt the roughly four-foot shark beat him with its tail and then bite his arm, according to the station.
“I felt pressure in my hand, I pulled it back and I just started hammering, hammering, and I connected with the shark three times, and then the third time it spun,” Gallo told WABC. “I guess my adrenaline, my survival instincts kicked in.”
Gallo returned to work Thursday, saying at the news conference with Bellone that he was thankful his injuries were minor and that his fellow rescuers had come to his aid.
“If you go into the ocean, make sure you go into an area that is protected by lifeguards,” Gallo said.
On July 7, Lifeguard First Class John Mullins, 17, was bitten on the leg while playing victim during a training exercise near Ocean Beach, according to CBS New York.
“The teeth were in my skin and when I pulled my leg out it felt like a scrape, like a paddle going up my leg,” Mullins told the station. “We never expect to be attacked while training, but they did well.”
Mullins received five stitches and was out of work while his leg healed, CBS New York reported.
On Wednesday morning, a surfer was bitten by an approximately four-foot tiger shark, leaving a four-inch gash, according to Bellone. The man was knocked off his board and saw the shark circling back toward him, but a wave swept him to shore, Bellone said.
About 11 hours later, police were called to Seaview Beach after a 49-year-old Arizona man standing in “waist-deep water” was bitten from behind on his left wrist and buttocks, according to Suffolk County police. He got out of the water and was airlifted to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
Christopher Paparo, manager of Stony Brook University’s Marine Science Center, said the spate of attacks was “definitely something you don’t hear every day,” but stressed that the chances of encountering a shark remain “very low.”
He said the sharks off Long Island are mostly sand tiger sharks, sandbar sharks and dusky sharks, all piscivores that likely attack humans by mistake while fishing for bait.
“They don’t have the teeth or the jaw structure to eat a human even if they wanted to,” he said. “They’re not out there looking for a swimmer or a surfer.”
Paparo said the increase in encounters is “a sign that we’re doing things right” in terms of conservation.
“What happened in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, they were heavily overfished and many of their populations were close to total collapse,” he said. “Then by regulating and protecting not only the sharks, but also their food—the Atlantic menhaden, which is more commonly known as the bunker—those populations have recovered, and now we’re starting to see them back in their former numbers.”
Paparo said beachgoers should swim in areas protected by lifeguards and avoid the water when it’s murky or when they see fish that are lying. Also, sharks tend to feed more at dawn and dusk, he added.
Bellone said officials do not expect serious injuries from shark attacks given the species that have been seen, but urged beachgoers to be aware of their surroundings. Don’t wear shiny jewelry or enter the water while you’re bleeding, and stay closer to shore, he said.
At a news conference Sunday, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman jumped into the water himself, trying to reassure beachgoers that they can avoid sharks with simple precautions.
“If you’re going to go in the ocean, it’s a good idea to go with a partner. Always go to a protected beach where there are lifeguards,” Blakeman said. “If you do these things, you will be safe.”
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