Comment Five shark attacks have been reported in the past two weeks off Long Island, New York, including two within hours on Wednesday, a dramatic increase in shark encounters that officials there said may represent a “new normal.” Four of the reported attacks took place on Fire Island in Suffolk County, including two at popular Smith Point Beach and two near the village of Ocean Beach. The fifth was reported on Jones Beach Island in neighboring Nassau County. None of the victims were seriously injured, and the sharks seen were estimated to be four to five feet long, officials said. Shark sightings are increasing off the US coast, which scientists attribute to successful conservation efforts that have restored populations closer to historic levels. However, the recent spate of attacks has been highly unusual — there were only 47 confirmed unprovoked attacks nationwide in 2021, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack Archive. “This is not unprecedented in any way in our history here in Suffolk County,” Suffolk County Executive Stephen Bellone said at a news conference Thursday. “Prior to July 3, we had no recorded shark bite [Smith Point Beach] since it had opened, during the beach hours, in 1959″. Bellone said the county is deploying drones and increased lifeguard patrols to monitor the waters, acknowledging that the rise may represent the “new normal.” “The idea of more frequent contact with these kinds of sharks might be what we’re going to be waiting for,” Bellone said at a separate news conference on Wednesday, ahead of the fifth attack. The first of the recent attacks took place on June 30, when a 57-year-old man swimming at Jones Beach suffered a laceration to his right leg that lifeguards identified as a “possible shark bite,” according to the Nassau County Sheriff’s Department. Three days later, Zach Gallo, 33, a lifeguard at Smith Point Beach, was playing the role of the victim in a rescue training exercise when he became himself, WABC reported. He felt a roughly four-foot shark lash at him with its tail and then bite his hand, according to the station. “I felt pressure on my hand, and I pulled it back and I just started pounding, pounding, and I connected with the shark three times, and then the third time it pulled away,” Gallo told WABC. “I guess my adrenaline, my survival instincts kicked in.” Gallo returned to work Thursday, saying at the news conference with Bellone that he was thankful his injuries were minor and that his fellow lifeguards were helping him. “If you go into the ocean, make sure you go to a lifeguard-protected area,” Gallo said. On July 7, first-year lifeguard John Mullins, 17, was bitten on the leg while also playing the role of the victim during a training exercise near Ocean Beach, according to CBS New York. “The teeth were in my skin and when I pulled my leg out, it felt like a scratch, like a rake going up my leg,” Mullins told the station. “We never expect to be attacked while training, but they handled it well.” Mullins received five stitches and was out of work while his leg healed, CBS New York reported. On Wednesday morning, a surfer was bitten by a roughly four-foot tiger shark, leaving a four-inch gash, according to Bellone. The man was knocked off his board and saw the shark circle back toward him, but a wave swept him to shore, Bellone said. About 11 hours later, police were called to Seaview Beach after a 49-year-old Arizona man standing in “mid-deep water” was bitten from behind on his left wrist and buttocks, according to Suffolk County police. He was pulled from the water and airlifted to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said. Christopher Paparo, director of the Marine Science Center at Stony Brook University, said the string of attacks is “definitely something you don’t hear about every day,” but stressed that the chances of encountering a shark remain “very low.” He said the sharks off Long Island are mostly sand tiger sharks, sandbar sharks and dusky sharks, all piscivores that probably attack people accidentally while hunting for bait. “They don’t have the teeth or the jaw structure where they could eat a person even if they wanted to,” he said. “They’re not out there looking for a swimmer or a surfer.” Paparo said the increase in encounters is a “sign that we’re doing things right” when it comes to conservation. “What happened in the 50s, 60s, 70s, they were heavily fished and many of their populations came close to collapsing,” he said. “Then, through the regulation and conservation of not only the sharks, but also their food – the Atlantic menhaden, better known as bunker – these populations have recovered and now we are starting to see them again in the numbers they used to be .” Paparo said beachgoers should swim in areas protected by lifeguards and avoid the water when it’s murky or they see schooling fish. Sharks also typically feed more at dawn and dusk, he added. Bellone said officials do not expect serious injuries from shark attacks, given the type of sharks that have been seen, but urged beachgoers to be aware of their surroundings. Don’t wear shiny jewelry or enter the water while you’re bleeding, and stay closer to shore, she said. At a news conference Sunday, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman jumped into the water himself, seeking to reassure beachgoers that they can avoid sharks with simple precautions. “If you’re going to go to the ocean, it’s good to go with a partner. Always go to a sheltered beach where there are lifeguards,” Blakeman said. “If you do these things, you will be safe.”
