5 shark sightings in 4 days off Long Island beaches, officials report

Two shark sightings on Monday — one at Lido Beach and another at Jones Beach — brought to five the number seen in Long Island waters since Thursday.

Before sharks were spotted off the coast of Rockaway Beach on Sunday and on Thursday, as well as at Hewlett Point Park beach on Sunday, there had been no reported shark sightings off Long Island so far this summer.

"Unfortunately, sharks seem to be a new norm in this region," Town of Hempstead Supervisor Donald X. Clavin Jr. told Newsday on Monday.

Clavin made his comments after a news conference at Point Lookout that had been called before Monday's sightings to discuss efforts to protect swimmers after the sharks were spotted Sunday and last week.

In July 2023, five shark attacks were reported off Long Island over the Independence Day weekend alone. This year, officials have responded by adding five new drones to a fleet that monitors Long Island state beaches for sharks, and training 12 more staff members to operate them, said George Gorman, Long Island regional director for state Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

Gorman told Newsday that each new state-funded drone cost about $6,000.

"We are in great shape in monitoring the waters to keep everyone as safe as we possibly can," Gorman said. 

At Lido Beach on Monday afternoon, the shark, first spotted by two lifeguards from their chairs at around 5 p.m., was about 40 yards away from shore, Clavin said.

Lifeguards "immediately removed residents from the water" and "people left in an orderly fashion," the supervisor said.

After a shark is spotted, swimming is suspended for an hour while the water is monitored. Clavin said Lido Beach had been set to reopen at 6 p.m. Monday, as long as there are no additional shark sightings.

At Jones Beach, Gorman said swimming at Field 6 and the East Bathhouse was suspended for an hour.

Monday's sighting at Jones Beach and both of the previous ones at Rockaway Beach were made using a drone.

Greg Metzger, chief field coordinator for the shark program at the South Fork Natural History Museum in Bridgehampton, said the water temperature will play a major role in determining whether there are as many shark sightings close to shore in 2024 as last summer.

So far, Metzger said, there has been colder water near shore, and warmer water, which attracts sharks, 3 to 5 miles away from shore. When he embarked on a fishing trip from the Great South Bay on Monday, Metzger said, the water was 64 degrees. Five miles out into the ocean, it was 72, he said.

"All of these sharks have a temperature range that they want," Metzger said. "If the temperature range is right on the beach, then they'll be right on the beach, and that increases the chances of the negative interaction with a person."

Menhaden, a small species of fish that travels in schools and attracts sharks, have been known to swim close to shore, Metzger said, but so far have stayed farther out.

"There's colder water on the beach, and it seems like the sharks and menhaden are in the warmer water offshore," Metzger said.