By: Phoebe Shi

Long Island’s sunny beaches are faced with a new problem—shark sightings! This summer, a ten-foot mako shark washed up on the shore of Point Lookout, one swimmer at Jones Beach may have been bitten.

According to Justine Anderson, a lifeguard supervisor, shark sightings were extremely rare in the past. Now, the county police are increasing patrols using both boats and helicopters.

There are also many other ways to monitor sharks, such as paddleboards, Jet Skis, and drones. Lifeguards at beaches like Jones Beach and Robert Moses State Park are being trained to operate a fleet of around seven drones to track sharks from the sky.

Many marine scientists feel this sudden increase in shark patrols is unnecessary.

“The danger to people is infinitesimal,” Hans Walkers, a field scientist with the Wildlife Conservation Society’s New York Aquarium, says.

Now that civilians are more aware of the sharks, there has been an uptick in the sharing of drone pictures through social media. Beachgoers are more concerned and frightened of these sharks than they were in the past, even though the shark population hasn’t grown by much.

“When the mako washed ashore, that spurred concerns from residents,” said Don Clavin, the Hempstead town supervisor, “so we wanted them to rest assured our people are out there taking all these precautions, that everything’s being monitored and we’re going above and beyond.”