It is an unusual call received by 911 Monday, August 7 in the evening. While swimming peacefully in the waters of Rockaway Beach Park, on New York’s 59th Avenue, a 65-year-old woman was bitten by a shark. Ella suffered a severe laceration on the back of her left thigh and, according to CNN, has a serious leg injury. The victim is being treated by firefighters and is currently in hospital in stable condition.
As a precaution, the beach was closed for the day on Tuesday. “As a safety precaution, Rockaway Beach will be closed for swimming and surfing today, August 8, due to recent shark activity,” NYK Parks, the agency responsible for public parks and of the city’s leisure spaces, on X.
The NYPD, New York Police, flew over the beach in a helicopter but did not spot any sharks. For several weeks, many sharks, usually not very present in this area, have been seen. The beaches were thus closed several times in July.
Although attacks are very rare, local authorities recommend to be vigilant. According to the Global Shark Attack File, the last shark attack in New York was in the 1950s. A 15-year-old caught a shark and was bitten. More recently, on July 4, three swimmers were bitten by sharks off Fire Island and the Hamptons.
