Authorities Close Long Island Beach For 90 Minutes After Twin Shark Sightings

Beachgoers and swimmers visiting a Long Island beach were barred from entering the waters after lifeguards spotted not one, but two six-foot sharks “swimming dangerously close” to the shores. According to Fox News, people visiting the famous Tobay Beach in Oyster Bay, New York, were ordered out of the waters by lifeguards after the two sharks were spotted on Thursday shortly before noon.

Tobay Beach is a restricted-access beach located about 50 miles east of New York City. The beach reopened 90 minutes later after officials confirmed it was safe to venture out into the waters again. An estimated 2,000 people were on the beach at the time of the shark spotting, initial reports say.

The two sharks were over six feet in length, not fully grown but big enough to cause life-threatening bites. Newsday reports that the sharks were spotted by one of the lifeguards at the beach just after 11:20 a.m. local time. Authorities received a call reporting the shark sighting at around 11:49 a.m. Soon after, a helicopter search was ordered which confirmed the shark spotting. The two sharks were reported to be swimming just 15 feet from the shore. The search continued until it became clear that both the sharks had moved away from the beach.

Authorities finally gave the go-ahead to reopen the beach at around 2:15 p.m., nearly three hours after the first shark was spotted. No injuries were reported from the beach. It is now thought that the two sharks were apparently attracted by the smell of bait in the waters close to the beach. These were left by fishermen of the area.

The news of this latest shark sighting comes just a few weeks after several cases of shark sightings and attacks were reported from the East Coast of southeastern United States. Beachgoers from Virginia Beach to South Carolina have reported several shark sightings over the course of the past few months.

In related news, the Inquisitr previously reported about the shark attack on surfer Mick Fanning a few days ago. The shocking footage showing Fanning just inches away from a shark went viral last week.

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