Shark sighting halts swimming at Jones Beach, one day after woman bitten at Rockaway Beach, officials say

One day after a 65-year-old woman was bitten by a shark at Rockaway Beach in Queens and sent to the hospital in critical condition, officials at Jones Beach said possible shark sightings there Tuesday temporarily halted swimming at several areas.

Officials will have surveillance drones to reassess the area Wednesday morning before lifeguards go on duty at 9 a.m., said New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation Regional Director George Gorman.

Swimming was banned for most of Tuesday for beaches at the Central Mall, West Bathhouse, East Bathhouse and Field 6 out of an abundance of caution, although there were no new shark sightings, he said. The ban was lifted from 6:05 p.m. Tuesday to 7 p.m. when the beach normally closes down for swimming.

“The winds had turned and basically blew them out to sea and we were able to reauthorize swimming,” Gorman said, referring to the bait and bunker fish attracting the shark

Officials used the drones along the shoreline of all fields at Jones Beach "at all times" Tuesday following the bite incident near Beach 59th Street on Monday.  

In that incident, the New York City Parks Department said a woman was bitten on her left leg by a shark around 5:50 p.m., prompting lifeguards to clear all patrons from the water. The NYPD canvassed the water via helicopter, but did not observe any sharks.  

The woman was transported by EMS to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center. A spokeswoman there said she remained in critical condition Tuesday.

In a statement released Tuesday, New York City parks said: "We hope for a full recovery for this swimmer. Though this was a frightening event, we want to remind New Yorkers that shark attacks in Rockaway are extremely rare. We remain vigilant in monitoring the beach and always clear the water when a shark is spotted."

As a precaution, the department said it closed Rockaway Beach to swimming and surfing Tuesday and that Parks Enforcement and NYPD would be patrolling the beach to keep swimmers out of the water.

"FDNY and NYPD will be doing aerial surveillance of the beach to monitor for sharks," the statement added.

At Jones Beach, Gorman said a lifeguard spotted a possible shark in the water off the beach at the Central Mall at about 9:20 a.m. Tuesday, causing officials to immediately prohibit swimming. Swimming also was halted at the adjacent beaches, the East and West Bathhouse areas.   

He said subsequent to that possible sighting, officials monitoring the shoreline spotted "a large school of bait and bunker fish" directly in front of the Central Mall.

"Because of that," Gorman said, "we have not reauthorized swimming as of yet," adding: "We're concerned that sharks might feed off the smaller baitfish."

Gorman said as a result of the baitfish activity, officials then also added Field 6 to the areas where swimming was prohibited Tuesday.

He said attendance at the beach was low throughout the day since the weather wasn't ideal.

Last week, swimming was temporarily halted at Fields 4 and 5 at Robert Moses State Park in Babylon on Wednesday after a large school of bait fish — and sharks — was spotted, only hours after a dead sand tiger shark washed ashore at Field 5, officials said.

Shark sightings and encounters have become more common at Long Island beaches in recent years. New York’s waters went from one shark encounter in 2012 to a record eight shark bites last year off Long Island and six reported bites so far this year, according to officials.

With Joe Werkmeister

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”