Town Of Hempstead Beaches Suspend Swimming After More Shark Sightings Off Long Island

LIDO BEACH, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — Swimming at several Long Island beaches was shut down Wednesday because of more shark sightings.

The Town of Hempstead closed all beaches to swimmers in the afternoon, but they have reopened since, CBS2’s Jenna DeAngelis reported.

In a briefing, Town Supervisor Don Clavin said the shutdown was a safety precaution they had to take after multiple sharks were spotted along the shoreline.

Lifeguards spotted two sharks at Lido Beach. Three more were spotted at Long Beach.

Shark patrol teams were out on the water to monitor the situation. Swimming was suspended for about two hours.

It started around 1 p.m. when lifeguards said they saw a blacktip reef shark about 20 yards from the shore. Another was spotted jumping out of the water.

The lifeguards said they are trained to identify species of sharks. Clavin said it’s concerning to see this type of shark in the area.

“These are sharks that are not normal in this region. These are Caribbean sharks that are spotted in the area, identified 20 yards off shore. Based on the training of our lifeguards, the swimmers were immediately taken out of the water, and the waters remained closed until approximately 3:30, where we reopened the waters and now are allowing up to knee deep,” Clavin said.

We’re told the sharks are likely here due to changing weather patterns and water temperatures.

This followed several shark sightings at Jones Beach on Tuesday. A lifeguard was bitten by what was suspected to be a shark the day before.

from CBS New York https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2021/07/28/town-of-hempstead-beaches-suspend-swimming-after-more-shark-sightings-off-long-island/
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