People are spread across the 1,400 square miles of Long Island under the warm sun. Out on the deep blue waters, lifeguards are strengthening patrols and forming new strategies to prevent shark accidents, ever since the surge of shark sightings last summer. Marine experts such as Hans Walters, a field scientist beg to differ, saying that the hype about sharks near beaches is “very overblown.”
Shark patrol has been turned up a notch at Long Island’s beaches. While people are relaxing on the soft sand or basking under the sunny light. Lifeguards and Nassau County police officers survey the waters by jet ski, boat, and helicopter, looking for any sign of sharks.
Lifeguard supervisor, Justine Anderson said, “It’s become part of our daily routine, We’ll patrol throughout the day and respond immediately if we get a report of a shark sighting.” Ms. Anderson also stated that shark sightings were extremely rare in the past, but ever since last summer sharks have been feeding on bait fish far too close to swimmers, causing multiple swimming areas to be temporally closed.
There have been multiple shark-related incidents this year. For example, In May a 10-foot mako shark washed up at Point Lookout. In June, authorities stated that a person swimming at Jones Beach might have been bitten by a shark.
In East Hampton, lifeguards are keeping an eye out for large sharks such as Mary Lee, a 4,000-pound, 17-foot-long great white tagged with a tracking device. Marine experts are frustrated by all this hype, saying that the animal poses no real increased danger to swimmers, and that shark patrols are only fueling the unneeded fear of sharks.
Hans Walters, a field scientist with the Wildlife Conservation Society’s New York Aquarium who has over a decade of experience studying sharks in New York waters, said the threat to people from sharks is practically nonexistent, and there is no objective evidence that local shark populations have increased in recent years. “The danger to people is infinitesimal, “ there have been perhaps only a dozen documented shark attacks in New York waters going back centuries, and most of those were more likely accidental collisions resulting in a gash, rather than a shark actively biting a swimmer.” Mr. Walters also added that “Swimmers should rest assured, sharks are not interested in them.”, …” If anyone’s been in the ocean, they’ve already swum with sharks, they just don’t know it.”
Mr. Walters said that the main reason for the increase in sightings is the sharing of civilian phone and drone pictures, which spread widely on social media and inevitably make headlines. He said that “They’ve been prowling the ocean for millions of years and there are no more sharks here this year, or last year, or the year before that. We’re just looking for them more.”
Link to article: https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1656875678637x736341318503444600/N.Y.%20Lifeguards%20Now%20Watch%20for%20Sharks%2C%20Facing%20Dramatic%20Increase%20in%20Sightings%20-%20The%20New%20York%20Times.pdf
Shark patrol has been turned up a notch at Long Island’s beaches. While people are relaxing on the soft sand or basking under the sunny light. Lifeguards and Nassau County police officers survey the waters by jet ski, boat, and helicopter, looking for any sign of sharks.
Lifeguard supervisor, Justine Anderson said, “It’s become part of our daily routine, We’ll patrol throughout the day and respond immediately if we get a report of a shark sighting.” Ms. Anderson also stated that shark sightings were extremely rare in the past, but ever since last summer sharks have been feeding on bait fish far too close to swimmers, causing multiple swimming areas to be temporally closed.
There have been multiple shark-related incidents this year. For example, In May a 10-foot mako shark washed up at Point Lookout. In June, authorities stated that a person swimming at Jones Beach might have been bitten by a shark.
In East Hampton, lifeguards are keeping an eye out for large sharks such as Mary Lee, a 4,000-pound, 17-foot-long great white tagged with a tracking device. Marine experts are frustrated by all this hype, saying that the animal poses no real increased danger to swimmers, and that shark patrols are only fueling the unneeded fear of sharks.
Hans Walters, a field scientist with the Wildlife Conservation Society’s New York Aquarium who has over a decade of experience studying sharks in New York waters, said the threat to people from sharks is practically nonexistent, and there is no objective evidence that local shark populations have increased in recent years. “The danger to people is infinitesimal, “ there have been perhaps only a dozen documented shark attacks in New York waters going back centuries, and most of those were more likely accidental collisions resulting in a gash, rather than a shark actively biting a swimmer.” Mr. Walters also added that “Swimmers should rest assured, sharks are not interested in them.”, …” If anyone’s been in the ocean, they’ve already swum with sharks, they just don’t know it.”
Mr. Walters said that the main reason for the increase in sightings is the sharing of civilian phone and drone pictures, which spread widely on social media and inevitably make headlines. He said that “They’ve been prowling the ocean for millions of years and there are no more sharks here this year, or last year, or the year before that. We’re just looking for them more.”
Link to article: https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1656875678637x736341318503444600/N.Y.%20Lifeguards%20Now%20Watch%20for%20Sharks%2C%20Facing%20Dramatic%20Increase%20in%20Sightings%20-%20The%20New%20York%20Times.pdf
