Jul 30, 2008 8:50 pm US/Eastern
Possible Shark Sighting Rattles Jones Beach
No Confirmation On Actual Type, But Avid Fisherman Described Something 12-15 Feet Long
Beaches Eventually Reopened After Search Comes Up Empty
WANTAGH, N.Y. (CBS) ―
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Marine and State Park officials believe the shark that was reportedly sighted but not confirmed off Jones Beach on July 30 could have been a thresher, like this one.
CBS
A shark scare prompted a sudden evacuation of the waters off Jones Beach on Wednesday.
CBS 2 HD spoke with frightened swimmers who wasted little time getting to dry land.
Beachgoers were back in the water Wednesday evening but that wasn't the case earlier in the day when lifeguards ordered swimmers out of the water after a possible shark sighting.
"They told us there were sharks!" one young woman said.
"There were like 10 whistles blowing," said another.
When an avid fisherman reported what he thought was a shark, he sent an S.O.S. to the State Park Police. A Marine unit also spotted something suspicious. Within minutes lifeguards were sounding alarms on the beach.
"It was a 12- to 15-foot shark. He didn't give us an identification, like a thresher shark or anything. He just probably saw the fin and that's easily identifiable as a shark, so we had to make sure we did the right thing," said New York State Parks spokesman George Gorman.
Nassau County Police immediately searched by air, but after numerous passes spotted nothing beaches were deemed safe and reopened.
"We didn't really go into the water, but, yeah, it was frightening, scary," one young woman said.
Experts say the various species of sharks that from time to time inhabit waters off Jones Beach -- like thresher sharks that often get snagged in fishermen's lines and are brought to the aquarium in Riverhead for recovery and rehab – are really more interested in fish bait than human flesh.
That's little comfort to many beachgoers.
"Again?" one woman exclaimed, obviously stunned to hear of another possible shark sighting.
"It's very scary," reiterated another. "As we were driving in we saw Emergency Services Units."
Earlier in July a 6-foot-long thresher shark sighting was confirmed by lifeguards at Jones Beach. But over on the bay side, marine experts seem to believe an abundance of seals may be attracting more and more sharks.
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