Shark sightings temporarily halt swimming at Jones Beach

Three more shark sightings, at Jones Beach Saturday morning, prompted officials to temporarily prohibit swimming for a few hours at two locations, they said.

The sightings continue an unprecedented string of shark-related incidents in which the predators have been spotted close to Long Island shores and on a few occasions bitten bathers this summer. None of those bitten suffered serious injuries.

The first sighting Saturday occurred at 8 a.m. when a fisherman casting from shore caught and released a 4-foot-long sand shark in the area of Field 6, said George Gorman, Long Island regional director for the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

Swimming was stopped around Field 6, which encompasses the area around the Central Mall and East Bathhouse, he said.

Another fisherman, also casting from shore, caught a shark in the same area at 9 a.m., Gorman said, adding that swimming resumed at 10:45 a.m. He said it was unclear if the shark was the same one caught earlier.

A lifeguard spotted a shark at West End Field 2 of Jones Beach at 10:45 a.m., and swimming was halted until noon, Gorman said.

He said Saturday's overcast skies reduced the usual weekend attendance at the beach.

"Jones Beach is always open, but swimming is prohibited when we see a shark," he said. "We are monitoring [the water] very carefully."

All the beaches monitored by Suffolk and Nassau counties were open Saturday, with no sightings occurring, officials said. 

The Town of Hempstead, which patrols Nickerson in Nassau to Point Lookout, also reported no shark sightings Saturday, officials said.

The Town of Oyster Bay also reported beaches were open for swimming, with no shark sightings Saturday, said spokeswoman Madison Spanodemos.

"Protocol remains the same: Lifeguards are always actively observing from land, while marine units patrol from out on the waters," Spanodemos said in a text. "If there is a shark sighting, lifeguards notify the police department and they dispatch the aviation unit, including a helicopter and drone. Waters are also cleared for one hour as an additional precaution." 

On Thursday, Tobay Beach lifeguards spotted six sharks, and when one — about 3 feet long — came in about 30 yards from shore, swimming was halted at 1:20 p.m., Spanodemos said. Swimming was reinstated Friday. 

Tobay Beach, just four miles east of Jones Beach, is part of Oyster Bay Town, one of several communities stepping up anti-shark safeguards.

"We haven't seen any more sharks since [Thursday]," said Oyster Bay Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino. 

Saladino pointed to cleaner waters due to conservation efforts and regulations that have boosted the number of bunker fish, a favorite food of sharks. He noted there have been upgrades to sewer systems and reductions in rain runoff. 

"The water is cleaner. We're seeing more dolphin, whales, bluefish and striped bass," he said. And, as a result, more predators such as sharks.

Saladino said swimmers need to learn the ways to stay shark-safe, such as swimming where lifeguards are on duty, not swimming at dawn or dusk, the primary feeding times for sharks, and not swimming if bleeding.

"We're going to take this a day at a time," he said. 

At least four people reportedly have been bitten by a shark this month, with two incidents at Smith Point County Park and two off Fire Island. In late June, a man reported being bitten off Jones Beach, but it was unclear if it was a shark bite.

Experts told Newsday that the recent attacks continued what was described as an escalation for an area that records show had averaged about one attack per decade for the past century.

Also, most of the sharks that come near shore are smaller — fish-eaters, not man-eaters, they said. 

By Craig Schneider

craig.schneider@newsday.comScraigo

Craig Schneider is a Long Island native and Stony Brook University alumnus. He joined Newsday as a general assignment reporter in January 2018 after 20 years at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.