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Due to the presence of sharks, beaches were closed on Cape Cod and Long Island
This Sunday, three beaches were closed on Cape Cod, in Massachusetts, and on Long Island, in New York, by local authorities due to the presence of sharks near the coast.
A lifeguard on Sunday distinguished a shark between 1.5 and 1.7 meters long 25 meters from the coast at Lido Beach on Long Island. The evacuation of bathers began immediately and the beach was closed to the public, as well as nearby Jones Beach.
However, on Nauset Beach, on Cape Cod, a white shark was sighted, but through the Sharktivity application of the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, which is specialized in detecting sharks to warn bathers. Nauset Beach was temporarily closed.
Likewise, at least a dozen sharks were sighted off the coast of Cape Cod this weekend, most of them within 150 to 1,300 feet of the beach. They were all detected by the Sharktivity app.
It should be noted that this month there have been four suspected shark attacks on Long Island beaches, where people were injured and for this reason, Ian Levine, chief of the Ocean Beach fire department, said:
“We are telling people that if they swim, they have to swim in the rescue zones. That they only go in up to their waist and that they are aware of their surroundings.”
On the other hand, Steve Bellone, executive of the county of Suffolk explained that the attacks may be more common due to the number of sightings near the coast. Furthermore, he added:
“They've always been there, of course, you interact with marine life whenever you're in the ocean, but now they're closer to shore. And those contacts, those interactions with humans and sharks may increase."
Bellone also reported that several beaches on Long Island and the Smith Point County Park beach were closed twice due to shark attacks.
The first time they closed was on July 3 after a shark bit a lifeguard on the hand and chest. The second was last Wednesday after another shark knocked over a surfer and bit his leg.
"However, I think it's an indication that what we're seeing is something of a new normal where the sharks are... these tiger sharks are a little bit closer to shore than they've been," he said. Steve Bellon.
