Atlantic Beach, Nassau County, Long Island, NY.
Photo: Mariela Lombard / El Diario
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A shark of the “sand tiger” breed bit a surfer who was swimming in Smith Point County Park, in Suffolk County, Long Island (NY) early yesterday morning, reported a local official.
At approximately 7:30 am, the 41-year-old surfer was knocked off his board, hit the shark, and then saw the shark come back toward him, County Executive Steve Bellone said. He suffered a four-inch cut to his leg.
The man walked to get help because no one was on the beach so earlyauthorities said. A park ranger then called 911 and medics took the victim to a hospital for treatment of the wound.
Lifeguards kept the beach closed to swimmers for a few hours, but then let people back into the water. Crews patrolled the sea using paddle boards, jet skis and aerial drones, reported Fox News.
“We are seeing a lot more sharks in our waters because the ecosystem is so healthy… People don’t have to worry.”
Frank Quevedo, director of the Nature Center and Museum of Natural History, South Fork, NY
Although shark attacks on humans are very rare, this is the second on Smith Point Beach this month and adds to several other recent cases this summer in New York.
On July 3, a small shark bit a lifeguard on the hand and chest during a training exercise. “We are seeing a lot more sharks in our waters because the ecosystem is very healthy,” said Frank Quevedo, executive director of the Nature Center and the South Fork Museum of Natural History. “Without sharks in our waters the ecosystem will collapse.”
His organization studies sharks on Long Island. “People don’t have to worry about sharks, period,” Quevedo said. “The sharks are here specifically to eat the abundant populations of Atlantic menhaden and other bait fish that are a food source for them. They’re not here to eat people.”
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