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More beaches were closed along the East Coast over the weekend after a string of shark sightings.
Shark sightings temporarily shuttered New York’s Lido Beach and Rockaway Beach, according to WABC.
The station said red flags were raised for several hours on Sunday afternoon to indicate that swimming was not permitted.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul ordered state agencies to increase surveillance off Long Island, including the use of drone and helicopter monitoring.
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“As New Yorkers and visitors alike head to our beautiful Long Island beaches to enjoy the summer, our top priority is their safety,” the governor said in a Monday release. “We are taking action to expand patrols for sharks and protect beachgoers from potentially dangerous situations. I encourage all New Yorkers to listen to local authorities and take precautions to help ensure safe and responsible beach trips this summer.”
Town of Oyster Bay Constable with public safety and the Nassau County Police keep an eye on the waters off Tobay Beach for sharks on July 14, 2022 in Massapequa, New York.
(Photo by Howard Schnapp/Newsday RM via Getty Images)
Lifeguard staffing will be increased by 25% and Park Police patrol boats and New York State Police helicopter patrols will search ocean waters.
Gavin Naylor, of the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File (ISAF), said that recent encounters with the predators off Long Island may be due to an increase of bait fish in shallow waters.
He noted that sand tiger sharks have been nursing in large numbers off Jones Beach.
In 2016, scientists with the Wildlife Conservation Society’s New York Aquarium announced the discovery of a sand tiger shark nursery off the southern Long Island coast.
A Great White Shark swims approximately 50 meters off the coast of the Cape Cod National Sea Shore in Cape Cod, Massachusetts on July 15, 2022.
(Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)
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Up the East Coast, sharks have remained active off of Cape Cod.
According to the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy’s Sharktivity app, there have been five confirmed sightings in the past two days, along with four detections of named sharks.
“Heath LEDGEr,” a 9-foot-long male, was detected at 7:26 a.m. ET on Tuesday morning and had been detected twice at the same buoy.
A shark research vessel heads back to port in Chatham, Massachusetts on July 15, 2022.
(Photo by Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images)
The app noted that Nauset Public Beach was closed after sightings over the weekend.
In Florida, WESH2 reported that a 40-year-old Ohio woman was bitten by a shark in Volusia County on Saturday. There were 17 shark bites recorded last season in the county, known as the “shark bite capital of the world.”
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The ISAF saw unprovoked bites increase in 2021.
The U.S. recorded the most unprovoked shark bites worldwide.
Reuters contributed to this report.
