It’s a summer day at Point Lookout Beach on Long Island, NY. People on the beach are swimming and enjoying the view, but further out, lifeguards can be seen circling on jet skis and police officers survey the waters from boats and helicopters.
These are some examples of the reinforced shark patrols along more than 100 miles of Long Island’s beaches due to the rising of shark sightings last summer.
“It’s become part of our daily routine,” said Justine Anderson, a lifeguard supervisor of the shark patrols her town lifeguards have started this summer. “We’ll patrol throughout the day and respond immediately if we get a report of a shark sighting.” She also said that in previous years, shark sightings were extremely rare.
The mention of sharks and summer beaches frustrates marine experts who say the animals are no real danger to swimmers. Attacks are extremely rare and many experts say shark patrols do little but fuel wanted terror of sharks.
Recently, a 10-foot mako shark washed up on the beach a month ago, and authorities said a man might have been bitten by a shark this week.
At Jones Beach and Robert Moses State Park, almost 20 lifeguards, police and other beach staff members have recently 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,” said Cary Epstein, a veteran guard at Jones Beach. “In my 25 years as a lifeguard, we never had to do this.”
Despite Epstein’s worries, Hans Walter, a field scientist with the Wildlife Conservation Society’s New York Aquarium says the rise in shark attacks is nothing to be anxious about.“If anyone’s been in the ocean, they’ve already swum with sharks,” he said. “They just don’t know it.”
“There are more and more sharks in the water, which sounds scary,” he said. “But it’s actually a good thing because it reflects a healthy ecosystem.” Swimmers should be assured that sharks are not interested in them.
Source articles:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/02/nyregion/sharks-ny-lifeguards.html#:~:text=N.Y.-,Beaches%20Step%20Up%20Shark%20Patrols%2C%20Adding%20Drones%2C%20Trackers%20and%20Tourniquets,danger%20to%20people%20is%20infinitesimal.%E2%80%9D
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/01/nyregion/jones-beach-long-island-shark.html
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/sharkseat.html#:~:text=Most%20sharks%20are%20not%20dangerous,involved%20in%20attacks%20on%20humans.
These are some examples of the reinforced shark patrols along more than 100 miles of Long Island’s beaches due to the rising of shark sightings last summer.
“It’s become part of our daily routine,” said Justine Anderson, a lifeguard supervisor of the shark patrols her town lifeguards have started this summer. “We’ll patrol throughout the day and respond immediately if we get a report of a shark sighting.” She also said that in previous years, shark sightings were extremely rare.
The mention of sharks and summer beaches frustrates marine experts who say the animals are no real danger to swimmers. Attacks are extremely rare and many experts say shark patrols do little but fuel wanted terror of sharks.
Recently, a 10-foot mako shark washed up on the beach a month ago, and authorities said a man might have been bitten by a shark this week.
At Jones Beach and Robert Moses State Park, almost 20 lifeguards, police and other beach staff members have recently 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,” said Cary Epstein, a veteran guard at Jones Beach. “In my 25 years as a lifeguard, we never had to do this.”
Despite Epstein’s worries, Hans Walter, a field scientist with the Wildlife Conservation Society’s New York Aquarium says the rise in shark attacks is nothing to be anxious about.“If anyone’s been in the ocean, they’ve already swum with sharks,” he said. “They just don’t know it.”
“There are more and more sharks in the water, which sounds scary,” he said. “But it’s actually a good thing because it reflects a healthy ecosystem.” Swimmers should be assured that sharks are not interested in them.
Source articles:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/02/nyregion/sharks-ny-lifeguards.html#:~:text=N.Y.-,Beaches%20Step%20Up%20Shark%20Patrols%2C%20Adding%20Drones%2C%20Trackers%20and%20Tourniquets,danger%20to%20people%20is%20infinitesimal.%E2%80%9D
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/01/nyregion/jones-beach-long-island-shark.html
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/sharkseat.html#:~:text=Most%20sharks%20are%20not%20dangerous,involved%20in%20attacks%20on%20humans.
