A New York beach has reopened this weekend after two children were bitten along the shores of Fire Island on Long Island’s south shore.
A 13-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl were bitten within an hour of each other on Wednesday less than five miles apart from each other at Atlantique and Sailor’s Haven beaches, respectively. They were the first recorded instances of an unprovoked attack in New York in 70 years.
“I saw something next to me and I kind of felt pain,” bite victim Lola Pollina said. “I looked and I saw a fin. I don’t know how to describe it. It was just like a quick kind of pull.”
Both children were playing just a few yards off the shoreline when they were bitten on the leg. They both suffered non-life threatening injuries and required stitches to close the puncture wounds. The town of Islip closed its beaches to swimmers following the incidents.
“We’re seeing this as an opportunity to remind everyone the water is beautiful, it is magnificent here on the South Shore of Long Island, but the water is treacherous,” town supervisor Angie Carpenter told Channel 4 in New York. “We need to be careful at all times.”
Since 1837, only 10 shark attacks have been reported in New York and none since 1948. Initial witness reports suggest that a juvenile sandbar shark, which can grow to be up to 8 feet long, may be the culprit in at least one of the bites. Beachgoers reported seeing one earlier in the day about 25 yards offshore. The 12-year-old girl’s father said she thought the shark was only about 2 feet long. A tooth segment was pulled from the wound of one of the victim’s but the species had yet to be positively identified.
Both beaches had been reopened as of the weekend. Officials employed video drones over the popular beaches to help spot potential sharks that could come into contact with beachgoers. New York governor Andrew Cuomo has also dispatched environmental conservation officers to investigate whether their is any elevated threats.