Surfer apparently bitten by tiger shark on Smith Point Beach, officials say
By JENNIFER MCLOGAN
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SHIRLEY, New York (WCBS) — A man is being treated for a possible shark bite on Long Island.
It happened in Smith Point County Park Wednesday morning.
Emergency responders took the man to an area hospital.
He told them that he’d been attacked by a shark.
“There was a surfer in these waters who suffered about, according to first responders, about a four inch gash in his leg, from apparently a tiger shark, identified by the individual about four feet,” said Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone.
“It’s something you’ve got to be expecting when you’re in the water. I saw him this morning when he was by the booth getting medical treatment, but, you know, looked like just a small bite on his leg, I think a couple of inches. It happens. It’s nothing that makes me that nervous. I’m going to keep coming to the beach and going in the water anyway,” one beachgoer said.
As CBS2’s Jennifer McLogan reports, early beachgoers arrived to swim only to find Smith Point Park closed, with warning signs about dangerous marine life, and swimming prohibited.
A surfer was possibly bitten Wednesday morning, the latest in a string of incidents on Long Island this summer off South Shore beaches, Davis Park on Fire Island, and a possible bite to a swimmer off Jones Beach.
Over the July Fourth holiday a Smith Point lifeguard was bitten during a training exercise.
“It’s a lot. You know, we had one the other week, and we had another one again. Yeah, we’re just doing our best to keep everybody safe and everything and… keep, like, shark attacks at a minimum,” one lifeguard told McLogan. “There was like a surfer. He was out there… I think it was, like, a sand shark. They’ve been aggressive lately, the sharks, so, just doing our best to keep everybody safe.”
There have been several recent shark sightings on Long Island, prompting lifeguards to be on increased patrol.
The increase in shark sightings is indicative of the waters in our area improving, experts say.
“It means our waters are healthy and clean,” said Stony Brook University Marine Sciences Center manager Chris Paparo.
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