Shark sighting near Glen Cove but beach reopens today, officials say

Glen Cove officials temporarily closed Pryibil Beach Thursday afternoon after a shark sighting in the waters near shore, the city mayor said. 

"It was swimming along the beach where we have our ropes," Glen Cove Mayor Timothy Tenke said. The city harbor patrol and a Nassau County police boat searched in a grid pattern for the four to five foot shark that was spotted around 4 p.m., Tenke said.

Glen Cove spokeswoman Shannon Vulin said later Thursday night that the search had ended without a shark sighting and the beach would be reopened Friday.

Earlier, Tenke said a fisherman on the pier first saw the shark and notified a lifeguard, who then called in the city's harbor patrol, which also saw the shark after arriving. The species of the shark had not been determined, Tenke said. 

The beach was closed to swimming while the city and county boats conducted their search, he said. "They're just doing a grid pattern and it should chase it away," Tenke said.