Police in Nassau County are stepping up beach patrols for the Fourth of July holiday weekend after a swimmer at Jones Beach suffered a “possible shark bite” Thursday, authorities said.
The 37-year-old man was in the water when he “suffered a laceration to his right leg” around 1 p.m. at Wantagh State Park, Nassau County police said in a Friday news release.
He was treated for a possible bite by medics on the beach and then taken to a hospital, according to officials.
The possible shark attack came after the city of Hempstead launched a new “Shark Patrol” over Memorial Day weekend after a fisherman spotted a 10-foot mako shark near Point Lookout — about 11 miles west of Jones Beach.
The new patrol, which covers the city’s beaches, consists of lifeguards who patrol the coast in jet skis and look for signs of the dangerous fish, officials said.
In the past two years, more sharks have been seen on Long Island than at any time in the past decade. Getty Images/Image source
“We’re actually investing in a crew that will now go into the waters, go along the shoreline, up and down that area of the coast and see if they can spot any sharks in the region,” Hempstead Township Supervisor Don Clavin reportedly said.
Shark sightings on Long Island have been on the rise recently, with more sightings in the past two years than in the previous decade.
Actual shark attacks on Long Island are rare. None were reported in New York in 2021, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File.
In 2018, two swimmers were bitten by sharks off the coast of Fire Island.
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