Sharks biting people Long Island #Sharkattacks #LongIsland #Sharks # DronePatrols #SharkWeekFive shark attacks have been reported in the past two weeks off Long Island, N.Y., including two within hours Wednesday, a dramatic increase in shark encounters that officials there said may represent a “new normal.” Four of the reported attacks took place on Fire Island in Suffolk County, including two at the 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 in length, officials said. Shark sightings have been increasing off U.S. coasts, which scientists attribute to successful conservation efforts that have restored populations closer to historical 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 precedented in any way in our history here in Suffolk County,” Suffolk County Executive Steven Bellone said at a news conference Thursday. “Prior to July 3, we had not had a recorded shark bite at [Smith Point Beach] since it had opened, during beach hours, back in 1959.” Bellone said the county is deploying drones and increased lifeguard patrols to monitor the waters, acknowledging that the uptick may represent the “new normal.” “The idea of more frequent contact with these kind of sharks may be what we will be coming to expect,” Bellone said at a separate news conference Wednesday, ahead of the fifth attack. The first of the recent attacks took place June 30, when a 57-year-old man swimming at Jones Beach suffered a laceration on his right foot 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 a rescue training exercise when he became one himself, WABC reported. He felt a roughly four-foot shark whip him with its tail and then bite his hand, according to the station. “I felt pressure in my hand, pulled it back and I just started hammering, punching and I connected with the shark three times, and then on the third time it spun away,” Gallo told WABC. “I guess my adrenaline, survival instincts kicked in.” Gallo returned to work Thursday, saying at the news conference with Bellone that he was grateful his injuries were minor and that his fellow lifeguards came to his aid. “If you do go in the ocean, make sure you are going into an area that’s protected by lifeguards,” Gallo said. On July 7, first-year lifeguard John Mullins, 17, was bitten on his foot while also playing the role of a victim during a training exercise near Ocean Beach, according to CBS New York. “The teeth were inside my skin and when I pulled my foot out, it kind of just felt like a scrape, like a rake going up my foot,” Mullins told the station. “We never expect to be attacked while we’re training, but they handled it well.” Mullins received five stitches and was out of work while his foot healed, CBS New York reported. On Wednesday morning, a surfer was bitten by a roughly 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 carried him into shore, Bellone said. Roughly 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 walked out of the water and was taken by helicopter to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening, police said.
Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/otcpod1/support