N.Y. beaches step up shark patrols, adding drones
It was a classic early summer Friday at Point Lookout Beach on Long Island, with beachgoers frolicking in the frothy waves and basking under the sunny skies.
But farther out, just beyond the swimmers, was a more urgent scene: a lifeguard on a Jet Ski circling continuously while Nassau County police officers surveyed the waters by boat and helicopter.
It was an example of the stepped-up shark patrols along the more than 100 miles of Long Island’s beaches that have followed a sharp uptick in sightings last summer.
“It’s become part of our daily routine,” lifeguard supervisor Justine Anderson said of the shark patrols her Town of Hempstead lifeguards have begun this summer.
In the past, Anderson said, shark sightings had been exceedingly rare. But last summer brought daily instances of sharks feeding on baitfish alarmingly close to swimmers, necessitating temporary closings of swimming areas along Long Island’s oceanfront.
A 10-foot mako shark washed up at Point Lookout over the Memorial Day weekend. This past week, authorities said a man swimming at Jones Beach may have been bitten by a shark. Lifeguards who work summers on Long Island beaches traditionally have been expected simply to keep an eye out for the occasional dorsal fin and assess the validity of reports from jittery beachgoers who swear they just saw the second coming of “Jaws.”
But now, lifesaving departments on Long Island — which are at the same time
facing staffing issues among a national lifeguard shortage — are taking the shark situation more seriously.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman held a news conference Friday at nearby Nickerson Beach to announce that the county police would be increasing patrols this summer, both by boat and helicopter, to do hourly runs over the shoreline.
Numerous other departments across Long Island also have begun adopting shark-monitoring strategies and expanded their lifesaving tools to include drones, Jet Skis and paddleboards, as well as online shark tracking. Local police departments are also now tasked with shark patrol by boat and helicopter.
At Jones Beach and Robert Moses State Park lifeguards, park police and other beach staff members have been trained to operate a fleet of seven drones as part of a new aerial shark-monitoring program.
“It’s like a new world we’re living in,” Cary Epstein said. “This isn’t ‘Jaws.’ We’re not talking about a great white, man-eating machine, but if a thresher shark comes through and takes a nibble on your foot, that could be a problem.”