Three shark sightings close Long Beach ocean, force restrictions elsewhere

Shark!

Local officials reported three shark sightings Monday in Hempstead-area waters on Long Island's South Shore, and they say it's the same one — likely a bull shark.

The sightings were at Long Beach, Point Lookout and Lido Beach West, officials said.   

The ocean off Long Beach was closed indefinitely to public use after the second shark spotting in the water, while bathing resumed in the afternoon at Hempstead town beaches between Atlantic Beach and Jones Beach — but only knee-deep.

"This is a real, legitimate shark sighting," Town Supervisor Don Clavin said.

The first shark spotting on the scorching hot day was off the shore of Lido Beach West, leading to the closure of the strip, town spokesman Michael Caputo said. 

That was the first sighting in four years, said Clavin, who said it was midmorning and 8 to 10 feet from the shore.

"It was pretty close, folks," he said at a midday news conference. "That is really close to the shoreline."

He said: "This was a sizable one, and it can do some damage in the wrong situation."

Clavin said that there were potentially two sharks in the area, and "it's a concern for residents' safety. That's what it comes down to."

The shark was spotted by a town lifeguard on a surfboard, Caputo said. The lifeguard described what he saw to town higher-ups, who concluded that the shark was likely a bull shark. 

Long Beach tweeted at 2:16 p.m. that there had been a second sighting and said the ocean would be "closed until further notice." Long Beach spokesman John McNally confirmed the second sighting, near Riverside Boulevard, which he said was by a lifeguard.

Town of Hempstead officials reported the third sighting, near Point Lookout.

Greg Metzger, the chief field coordinator for the South Fork Natural History Museum who helps catch, identify and tag sharks for research, said bull sharks tend to be fairly large, up to 500 pounds. He said they like warm, shallow water; will scavenge and can also catch and kill their own prey; and are one of the few sharks that can live in fresh water.

Metzger said he believed the sharks spotted Monday probably weren't bull sharks, based on their biology and his experience tracking sharks.

"They're unlikely to be in New York waters. Period," he said. They tend to be in southern waters, the Carolinas and points south, he said.

He asked anyone who sees a shark to fill out a survey from the state Department of Environmental Conservation: https://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/117460.html.

Metzger said the likelihood of a human being attacked by a shark is "literally almost zero." He cited statistics from the International Shark Attack File, kept in Florida, that there were 12 or 13 bites or scrapes by sharks in New York State in the 100 or more years records have been kept. 

Mike Romano, the town's chief ocean lifeguard, said at the news conference that the lifeguard was out in the water and saw a shadow beneath him and determined it was a shark based on characteristics like its shape and dorsal fin.

The beaches were open in the town, but swimming was limited to knee deep, a restriction that was being periodically reevaluated based on risk. Patrols including the Coast Guard and lifeguards were in the water and were to determine whether the danger had abated, he said.

Clavin noted that the beaches were already at limited capacity, due to restrictions imposed during the coronavirus pandemic.

On Sunday, there was a sighting of two thresher sharks swimming together at Robert Moses State Park, according to George Gorman, regional director of the state Parks Department.  

With Cecilia Dowd

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.