Swimming at a number of Long Island beaches has been limited once again after lifeguards spotted another sharks not far from the coastline.
Hempstead Town beaches were temporarily closed to swimming between Civic and Lido West beaches Saturday afternoon after lifeguards spotted a "large dark fin" in waters at Lido Beach Town Park just after 1 p.m. By 3 p.m., swimming resumed but was restricted to knee deep access until further notice.
Nassau County Executive Laura Curran said swimming was suspended at Nickerson Beach for the remainder of Saturday following the county's third shark sighting. Earlier in the day, Curran confirmed sightings at Point Lookout and Atlantic Beach around 1 p.m.
Hempstead's new "Shark Patrol" spotted a shark almost 24 hours earlier, prompting the lifeguards to suspend swimming for the rest of the day.
The patrol will continue monitoring the ocean waters throughout the weekend, Clavin says. Updates will continue to come from the town's Twitter and Facebook accounts.
Sightings throughout the week prompted a variety of swimming restrictions and partial suspensions.
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On Monday, swimmers were ordered out of the water at Lido West and Nickerson beaches in Hempstead after a pair of shark sightings. There were reports it was a large bull shark between 7 and 10 feet long. Town officials say they haven't seen a shark that size in the area in at least four years.
The shark may have chomped on a sea skate but hasn't been blamed for any attacks on humans. It wasn't clear if both sightings were the same shark. Nassau County is using helicopters to better monitor its beaches for potential threats.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo even addressed the recent spate of shark sightings on Long Island on Wednesday, telling reporters on a conference call the state would look into it, but he was confident New York could handle anything that comes its way.
"I've learned through COVID there is no crisis we can't handle," he said.
Separately, a New York City woman was killed in a rare great white shark attack off the coast of Maine earlier this week. She was identified as 63-year-old Julie Dimperio Holowach, the Maine Department of Marine Resources said. The shark attacked her about 60 feet off Bailey Island Monday while she was swimming in a wetsuit.
