By Michael V. Cusenza
There were several shark sightings in the waters off Rockaway Beach over the July 4 weekend, forcing the City to shut down large, popular swaths of the beach.
The City Parks Department provided Spectrum News NY1 with a timeline of the events:
- On Sunday, a shark sighting just before 2:30 p.m. at Beach 102nd Street led to swimming being suspended from Beach 83rd to Beach 120th for an hour.
- On Saturday, a shark was seen three different times along the beach. The city closed all beaches to swimming after one sighting shortly after 11 a.m. They were closed for about an hour and a half.
- On the Fourth of July, two sharks were spotted at Beach 32nd Street just before 11:30 a.m. All of Rockaway Beach ended up being closed to swimming for about three hours.
- On Thursday, multiple sharks were sighted near Beach 30th Street just after 12:30 p.m., causing the beach to be closed for an hour.
- The stretch of the beach between Beach 83rd Street and Beach 106th Street also closed at two separate times on Tuesday – between about 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m., and between just before 3 p.m. to just before 4 p.m. – after a shark was spotted in two different locations during those time frames.
File Photo
City agencies used drone technology to track the shark.
On Saturday, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Kaz Daughtry posted to Twitter dramatic drone video of a shark navigating Rockaway waters just a 100 feet from swimmers.
“The sighting spanned Beach 113 to Beach 115,” he wrote. “Thanks to our innovative and multifaceted public safety team—leveraging drone technology—we were able to swiftly alert @nycemergencymgt and @nycparks, who immediately closed the beach. The shark was last seen swimming back into open waters. The beach is now closed for the day.”
