Long Island, New York, doesn’t have the most beautiful beaches in the world, but at least they offer some respite to bathers as the temperatures have been reaching the 90’s.
Now, people are having to think twice before jumping into the ocean.
The population of sharks in the area has been growing, as warmer waters attract sea-life that usually inhabits locations farther south.
On Thursday, Long Island beaches had the fifth shark attack in two weeks. A man, 49, a tourist from Arizona, was bitten as he swam in waist-deep water at Seaview Beach near Fire Island.
That same day, a 41-year-old paddle-board surfer at Smith Point Beach was attacked by a four-foot long shark, causing the beach to be closed to swimming. In that attack, the man was knocked off his board and managed to fight off the shark, and it swam away.
“He was knocked off his board and then he saw this shark coming back around towards him and at that moment felt very fortunate that a wave came in and helped push him towards the shore,” Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said in a news release, per NBC News.
On July 3, a lifeguard, Zachari Gallo, was in the water doing a training exercise, when he was bitten in the chest and hand by a five-foot shark.
“I felt sharp, sharp pain and once I felt the rubbery texture, I knew it was some kind of shark,” Gallo told CBS reporters.
He said: “I hit the shark three times. I went boom, boom, boom. I guess in the third one it spun back and its tail hit me in the chest.”
Gallo has returned to work as a lifeguard, but admits he’s a little nervous about it.
On June 30, a 37-year-old swimmer at Jones Beach was bitten on the foot by what was suspected to be a shark.
At a press conference after the second shark attack at Smith Point Beach, Bellone said, “You’re interacting with marine life whenever you’re out in the ocean, but they’re closer to shore now.”
Bellone advised residents to avoid swimming during sunrise and sunset hours when lifeguards are not on duty, wearing shiny items that attract attention, and to stay closer to shore. He added that it’s better to be accompanied by other swimmers.