RARE BUT READY
Shark attacks almost unheard of in Ocean State, but local lifeguards still train to keep beaches safe
On August 11, 1895, 26-yearold Charles Beattie went for a 5 a.m. swim off Noyes Beach in Westerly, Rhode Island for the final time.
Beattie was the last fatality resulting from a shark encounter in Rhode Island waters, according to sharkattackdata. com. The only other unprovoked fatality happened in Bristol Harbor in 1816, and there have been only five recorded shark encounters in Rhode Island since then.
Citing the University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File in a 2018 article for the Insider news publication, Kelly McLaughlin reported that the “likelihood of being attacked and killed by a shark is onein-375 million.” The chances of dying from a lighting strike or a common cold are higher, according to McLaughlin.
Despite the extreme rarity of shark encounters, South County lifeguards are preparing for that improbability.
Mike Florio, the Waterfront Director at Narragansett Town Beach, has been a lifeguard at the beach for 30 years, and the first time he saw a shark was last summer. After a Dunes Club member alerted him to a fin “about 50 yards out,” according to Florio, he paddled a kayak out “cautiously” to investigate.
“I noticed immediately that it was a large shark, about 13-14 – feet long, and it had a rather large tail,” Florio said. “I recognized the tail as being a thresher shark tail. I knew it was not going to bite a patron. They have a small mouth, but their tail can be dangerous because they use it to stun fish.”
When Florio confirmed it was a shark – albeit a relatively harmless one – he returned to the beach and followed established protocol, which was to get on the public address system and announce to all beach patrons along the roughly three-quarter mile stretch to exit the water. A lifeguard then called the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM), which dispatched a boat to the area.
Florio and another lifeguard rowed the Van Dyne rowboat out
to monitor the shark. “We stayed within 15-20 feet of the shark,” Florio said. “We wanted to make sure we had a visual of where the shark was at all times until the DEM arrived.”
About an hour later, the DEM craft arrived, and crewmembers threw a chum line out so the shark would follow it out to sea.
“We never saw the shark again,” Florio said. “We wanted to make sure it was out of the way before we let the patrons back in the water. The rest of the day was for the lifeguards and those observing from the tower to make sure the water was safe for patrons.”
The written protocol for Narragansett lifeguards to follow is a five-step process. They must identify the potential threat, clear the water, notify RIDEM and the fire department – both of which have boats – maintain visual contact with the shark or other dangerous presence until the boats arrive, and then allow patrons back in the water after RIDEM has cleared the area.
Florio explained that in the unlikely event of a patron getting bitten, he and the other lifeguards are well prepared to handle the emergency. There are five Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) employed at the town beach, and they train daily under the tutelage of Captain Joe Vingi, the Deputy Director of the Rhode Island Fire Academy.
“His knowledge is vast in everything,” Florio said of Vingi. “He does a lot of triage training with the entire team.” That training involves, among other procedures, getting any victim out of the water and into the Van Dyne as quickly and safely as possible.
According to Vingi, who’s been a firefighter for 35 years – 30 for the city of Providence – all town beach lifeguards conduct emergency action planning and training exercises daily.
“It entails drilling on everything that can happen in a beach environment,” Vingi, a former SWAT medic, explained. The training includes water rescues from riptides or tired swimmers, but Vingi also trains Narragansett lifeguards in a “Stop The Bleed” course, which involves the proper use of tourniquets, how to apply special dressings called “Israeli dressings,” how to apply direct pressure, and how to elevate lacerated body parts properly.
Last summer, Portsmouth firefighter Joseph Bourquin, owner of the One Step Ahead training program, trained Narragansett lifeguards in “Stop the Bleed” procedures, and offered his services gratis.
Narragansett lifeguards and EMTs also have at their disposal a motorized ATV they call the “Gator.” According to Florio, the Gator has “everything you can think of for an open wound. It’s basically an ambulance for any kind of emergency, especially a large cut.”
The Gator is also equipped with a radio that connects directly to the dispatch office at the Narragansett Fire and Rescue department, which is only minutes from the beach.
“We are fortunate to have these guys come back every year and contribute to what we do, “Florio said of the 50 lifeguards who are employed at the beach. “We love the job. We love protecting the public, and we take a lot of pride in what we do here. I want people to know how professional this beach is. We train everyday. We’re passionate about exercising, training, and protecting the patrons of this beach.”
The lifeguards at South County’s four state beaches – Scarborough, East Matunuck, Roger Wheeler and Misquamicut – are under the supervision of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management’s (RIDEM) Parks and Recreation division, which acts in coordination with RIDEM’s Division of Marine Fisheries and the Division of Law Enforcement (Environmental Police).
According to Conor McManus, Chief of the Division of Marine Fisheries, his department works with lifeguards “through a series of steps as part of the protocol to insure beachgoer safety.”
The first step, McManus said, is identifying the fin to determine if it’s truly a shark species or not. If it is a shark, lifeguards are instructed to have all swimmers out of the water for up to an hour after the last fin sighting. “If the fin resurfaces, the clock resets,” McManus said.
Finally, lifeguards would know how to coordinate with medical officials, make the appropriate contacts thereafter, and properly fill out the incident reports, according to McManus.
Although shark sightings are rare and encounters rarer still, it’s prudent to be aware that apex predators do sometimes visit Rhode Island waters. In 1991, a nearly 3,000-pound Great White shark was spotted off the coast of Block Island.