“We’re telling people that if they’re swimming, they should swim in lifeguards. They should just go to the waist and they should be aware of their surroundings,” the head of the department told CNN on Thursday. Ocean Beach firefighters, Ian Levine.
The warning comes after several shark attacks were recorded on the beaches of Long Island, a large peninsula that stretches more than 120 miles east of New York City, since July 3.
In the most recent attacks, a shark dropped a surfer from his paddle board Wednesday morning on Smith Point County Park Beach, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said during a news conference. The surfer was bitten in the leg before punching the shark and riding a wave to the shore.
The beach was temporarily closed for several hours while officials explored the area’s waters to find additional presence of shark drones, Bellone added.
Hours later, a shark bit a 49-year-old man in the water to the waist in front of Fira Island after rescuers had left the beach during the day, police said. The man got out of the water and was then taken to a hospital by helicopter.
“He stated that he felt a large animal next to him rubbing against him. He went to push him away and that was when his hand was bitten,” Levine said.
On Thursday, a Fire Island state beach was briefly closed due to a shark sighting and reopened after a drone survey found no sharks, according to officials.
Bellone said shark activity closer to shore could be a new reality for beach enthusiasts and security officials.
“I think it’s an indication, though, that what we’re looking at is something of a new normal, as sharks are: these tiger sharks are a little closer to the shore than they’ve been,” he said. . “They’ve always been out there. Of course, you’re interacting with marine life whenever you’re in the ocean, but now they’re closer to shore. And those contacts, those interactions with humans and sharks can increase.” dir Bellone.
Earlier this month, two lifeguards were attacked by sharks while playing as victims during safety training.
Officials temporarily closed the beach at Smith Point County Park after a shark moved a 10-year veteran lifeguard to his chest and hand on July 3 during a training exercise. The beach reopened in time for the July quarter holiday after drone scanning measures cleared the waters, Bellone told reporters at the time.
Another man who was training for an upcoming lifeguard test was attacked during a training exercise on July 8, less than a mile from the site of the encounter with the sharks on Wednesday.
“He was actually playing the victim and coming out to be rescued and I guess all of his baptisms caused the disturbance,” Levine told CNN.