East Coast Beaches on Alert as Shark Activity Surges This Summer

Clear Facts

• A swimmer suffered non-life-threatening lacerations from a sand tiger shark bite at Jones Beach State Park on Long Island over the Fourth of July weekend
• Rockaway Beach in Queens has recorded 23 shark sightings and 23 beach closures since May, with 16 sightings occurring in the first five days of July alone
• New York State has deployed enhanced drone surveillance to monitor shark activity along Long Island beaches this summer

Beachgoers along the East Coast are facing increased vigilance this summer as shark sightings spike and at least one swimmer has been bitten.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation determined that a small sand tiger shark likely bit a man at Jones Beach State Park Field 6 on Long Island during the Fourth of July weekend. The swimmer suffered non-life-threatening lacerations to his foot.

State officials temporarily closed the beach to search for additional sharks but reopened it to restricted swimming after an hour.

Days earlier, the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation alerted visitors to expect intermittent closures at Rockaway Beach in Queens, the city’s largest beach, due to multiple shark sightings. Since May, Rockaway Beach has recorded 23 shark sightings and been closed 23 times.

Sixteen of those sightings occurred within just the first five days of July, according to NYC Parks.

“The city’s emergency management agency said they received multiple shark sightings at the Queens beach … and asked those trying to escape the heat to follow guidance from on-duty lifeguards,”

Fox Weather reported.

Long Island beach lifeguards spotted a shark off Point Lookout on July 2, prompting the temporary closure of that beach along with neighboring Hempstead beaches. In Connecticut, a fisherman hooked and released a 5½-foot sandbar shark about 200 yards offshore from East Haven Town Beach in late June. No injuries were reported in that incident.

The surge in shark sightings may be partially attributed to improved surveillance efforts rather than simply more sharks in the water.

In May, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced that the state was enhancing its surveillance capabilities with new drones and drone operators to patrol for sharks and other marine-life activity along Long Island State Park beaches this summer. The initiative involves collaboration between the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and the Department of Environmental Conservation.

Gavin Naylor, director of the Florida Museum of Natural History’s shark research program, emphasized that shark bites remain rare, especially with alert systems in place.

Last year, Alabama enacted the Lulu Gribbin Shark Alert System Act, named after a young woman who survived a shark attack but lost a hand and part of her leg in the incident. The system functions like an Amber Alert, sending emergency warnings to cellphones when a confirmed shark attack occurs near an Alabama beach.

“If there had been any type of alert that was given, that there’s no way that Lulu would have been in the water,”

U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, the Alabama Republican who sponsored the legislation, said.

“And so we talked about how a simple change could have made a huge impact.”

Naylor noted the extremely low probability of subsequent attacks.

“If somebody is bitten by a shark, and then an alert goes out, the probability that another person’s going to be bitten by a shark within, let’s say, two or three hours is incredibly small.”

For those interested in tracking shark movements, the OCEARCH Shark Tracker offers a free, public online map that allows people to follow tagged sharks through satellite tracking technology.

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