Shark Spotted At Coney Island Beach

CONEY ISLAND, NY — A small shark came close to the shoreline in a section of the beach at Coney Island Saturday, an NYC Parks spokesperson told Patch.

Lifeguards contacted NYPD aviation about the shark and after scanning the area, officers did not see any additional shark activity, the spokesperson said. The beach was not evacuated as a result of the sighting.

"It's a common occurrence given fishing that happens off the pier," the spokesperson said in an email to Patch.

A witness at the beach posted a video of a shark swimming close to the shoreline and a second video that showed a smaller shark that had beached itself. The witness claimed it was two separate sharks though NYC Parks officials say there was only one shark that came close to the shoreline.

Mo Godwin, who posted the videos, told Gothamist lifeguards ordered people out of the water but let those who were to the left and right of where the shark was spotted stay in the water. Godwin said there was no kind of panic or fear at the beach as a result of the shark sighting.

Photo by Mary Altaffer/Associated Press