On the beaches of Long Island, the few days before the fourth of July, lifeguards have constantly been looking for sharks. They have done so much as to have shark patrols using drones, jet skis, and even helicopters.
They started patrols because, according to a lifeguard, “last summer brought daily instances of sharks feeding on bait fish alarmingly close to swimmers, necessitating temporary closings of swimming areas along Long Island’s oceanfront.” Now, it has been a daily routine to go on shark patrol.
In the past, lifeguards would take cursory glances over the waters to see if they could find a dorsal fin. Since shark levels have increased, and a few lifeguards have gotten bitten, they have taken shark sightings seriously.
According to a CBS news report by Thalia Perez, a beach had to close because a lifeguard was bit during a training session. Lifeguards have trained to fly drones and give tourniquets to possible victims to prepare for shark threats. Cary Epstein, a veteran guard at Jones Beach, has said, “In my 25 years as a lifeguard, we never had to do this.” Lifeguards have also tagged possible threats like Mary Lee, a 4,000-pound, 17-foot-long great white shark.
All this precaution is to make citizens safe at the beach, but is it working? Scientists find that the opposite is true. Hans Walters, a field scientist with the Wildlife Conservation Society’s New York Aquarium, says, “The danger to people is infinitesimal.” In other words, the threat is almost non-existent. Every person who has swum in the ocean has swum with sharks.
If we get anything from the fact that sharks appear more in the waters, it is not negative, the news is positive. According to Mr. Stefanou, who has caught many sharks before, “it’s actually a good thing because it reflects a healthy ecosystem.”
Links used: https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/suffolk-county-beaches-reopen-for-july-4-crowds-after-lifeguard-bitten-by-shark/
They started patrols because, according to a lifeguard, “last summer brought daily instances of sharks feeding on bait fish alarmingly close to swimmers, necessitating temporary closings of swimming areas along Long Island’s oceanfront.” Now, it has been a daily routine to go on shark patrol.
In the past, lifeguards would take cursory glances over the waters to see if they could find a dorsal fin. Since shark levels have increased, and a few lifeguards have gotten bitten, they have taken shark sightings seriously.
According to a CBS news report by Thalia Perez, a beach had to close because a lifeguard was bit during a training session. Lifeguards have trained to fly drones and give tourniquets to possible victims to prepare for shark threats. Cary Epstein, a veteran guard at Jones Beach, has said, “In my 25 years as a lifeguard, we never had to do this.” Lifeguards have also tagged possible threats like Mary Lee, a 4,000-pound, 17-foot-long great white shark.
All this precaution is to make citizens safe at the beach, but is it working? Scientists find that the opposite is true. Hans Walters, a field scientist with the Wildlife Conservation Society’s New York Aquarium, says, “The danger to people is infinitesimal.” In other words, the threat is almost non-existent. Every person who has swum in the ocean has swum with sharks.
If we get anything from the fact that sharks appear more in the waters, it is not negative, the news is positive. According to Mr. Stefanou, who has caught many sharks before, “it’s actually a good thing because it reflects a healthy ecosystem.”
Links used: https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/suffolk-county-beaches-reopen-for-july-4-crowds-after-lifeguard-bitten-by-shark/
