() — Shark watch patrols have intensified their operations on the beaches of Long Island, New York, after five people were bitten by marine animals that are likely sharks in just two days, according to authorities.
Police in Suffolk County, east of Long Island, where three of the attacks took place, have increased patrols on beaches and are using drones to check the water for potential threats, according to reported this Tuesday the agency.
The spate of bites has put New York beachgoers on high alert and recalls a similar series of non-fatal shark attacks last summer that closed several beaches.
A drone sighted a school of about 50 sharks near Robert Moses Beach Tuesday morning, the same day a 15-year-old girl was bitten while swimming at that beach, according to George Gorman, Long Island regional director of New York State Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
Although neither the girl nor anyone close to her saw sharks at the time of the incident, the bite was most likely from a shark, Gorman said.
Also on Tuesday, a 15-year-old boy suffered a biteon a shark’s foot while surfing at Kismet Beach on Fire Island, Suffolk police said.
The teens’ injuries are not life-threatening, according to authorities.
Three other people were bitten Tuesday, including a 47-year-old man who was swimming in chest-deep water off the beach at Quogue Village on Long Island, according to local police. The bite caused lacerations to her knee and was inflicted by a “larger marine animal” believed to be a shark, the Quogue Village Police Department said.
The other two people, a 49-year-old man in Pines Beach and a woman west of Cherry Grove, suffered non-life-threatening injuries, according to police.
The department encourages visitors to continue enjoying the beach, but urges them to be on the lookout for sharks or groups of fish that may attract predators.
The New York Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation has also increased its surveillance in the water over the past year, Gorman said.
“We have heavy surveillance, drones and lifeguards scanning and monitoring the beaches,” Gorman said.
Gavin Naylor, director of the Florida Shark Research Program, told “This Morning” there are precautions beachgoers can take to safely enjoy the beach and avoid attacks.
“People should always swim in a group. They shouldn’t swim too far from shore, and they should especially avoid bait fish,” Naylor said.
Even if they make the news again this summer, the risk of being attacked by sharks remains low.
The Florida Museum of Natural History document 57 confirmed and unprovoked attacks around the world last year. Of those, 41 occurred in the United States, with eight non-fatal incidents in New York.
