Some Long Island beaches are again closed to swimming after more shark sightings. There have been at least nine sightings in the waters off Nassau County since Monday, after sharks were spotted off the coast of Nickerson Beach, off Point Lookout, and off Tobay Beach in Oyster Bay on Wednesday.
“It’s a very difficult time down here,” Town of Hempstead Supervisor Don Clavin said. “It’s a combination of factors, as I stressed to everybody. We have a pandemic, we have a 50% capacity at the beaches, we have the hottest days of the summer, and we have had shark sightings that are clear cut.”
Three more shark sightings were reported Tuesday, including bull sharks spotted off Atlantic Beach and Point Lookout by lifeguards.
Hempstead kept their beaches closed to swimming for the day following the sightings.
Nassau County announced it will have “enhanced helicopter patrols” over the shoreline as well as intensified marine ocean patrols in order to help alert beachgoers and swimmers of the presence of sharks.
Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said it’s possible that sharks may not be there at the exact point when they are looking, so swimmers should always listen to the lifeguards.
Even when open, swimming is limited to waist level at some of Nassau’s South Shore beaches, including Hempstead’s beaches, Jones Beach had fully reopened to swimming, but lifeguards remain on high alert.
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