White Shark Could Be Rockaway Beach Attack Culprit, Expert Says

QUEENS, NY — The type of shark featured in "Jaws" could be the culprit behind New York City's first documented shark attack in 70 years, an expert said.

The attack Monday off Rockaway Beach left a 65-year-old woman with a gruesome bite wound and prompted the next day's precautionary closure of the popular beach stretch.

The woman's wound, as seen in a widely circulated grisly photo, appeared caused by a single bite from a shark with 1-inch teeth, said Gavin Naylor, director of the Florida Program for Shark Research.

Such a shark likely would be 7 to 9 feet long, which Naylor said narrows it down to a handful of potential culprits: a bull shark, sandbar shark, dusky shark or a juvenile white shark, also commonly known as a great white. Of those, Naylor considered the bull and sandbar sharks to be less likely based on range or behavior.

"It’s consistent with a cautious white shark," Naylor told Patch.

Whatever the culprit — whether young white shark or a dusky shark — it appears the woman is the first documented shark attack victim in New York City's water since 1953, Naylor said.

The attack unfolded about 5:50 p.m. in the water near Beach 59 Street, FDNY officials said.

The woman, identified as a 65-year-old by the New York Daily News, was swimming in the water about 50 feet from shore, according to reports.

It's there that she suffered a bite to her leg that left a 20-pound chunk of flesh torn away and required a tourniquet to stanch the bleeding, the New York Post reported, along with a gruesome photo.

She was taken to Jamaica Hospital in serious condition, but is expected to survive, officials said.

The woman's wound appears quite different from the lacerations suffered by other recent shark attack victims further up the Long Island coast, Naylor said.

Like infant humans, sharks use their mouths to gently explore or test objects, Naylor said.

And sometimes sharks use their mouths very purposefully, with great force, as apparently in the Rockaway attack, Naylor said.

"It’s a single bite, what we call a 'hit-and-run bite,'" he said. "It’s a predatory bite, but not predatory with the intent to consume."

As the beaches remained closed Tuesday, many New Yorkers shared a photo showing what they believed to a shark in the water off Breezy Point that day.

Naylor said the recent recovery of New York's waterways — which has resulted in sightings of dolphins in the East River and other stunning natural sights with the city's skyline as a backdrop — could mean more encounters between city dwellers and sharks.

City parks officials said they hoped for the woman's full recovery.

"Though this was a frightening event, we want to remind New Yorkers that shark attacks in Rockaway are extremely rare," a spokesperson said in a statement.

"We remain vigilant in monitoring the beach and always clear the water when a shark is spotted."