Shark Attacks Up In U.S.: How Common Are They In NY?

NEW YORK— Despite fears of sharks swimming close to New York beaches, shark experts say the apex predators of the ocean are unlikely to bite. Still, it has happened.

Last year, four people were injured in unprovoked attacks in the waters off New York, according to the University of Florida’s International Shark File, a scientific database of global shark attacks.

There were 36 shark attacks in U.S. waters last year, more than half of the 69 bites reported worldwide.

States with shark bites in 2023 included 16 in Florida, eight in Hawaii, three in North Carolina, two each in California and South Carolina, and one in New Jersey. California reported a fatality in 2023, the report indicates.

Since 1837, the first year for International Shark File data collection, 24 people in New York have been bitten by sharks.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul recently outlined steps the state is taking to keep beach-goers in the ocean safe from shark bites.

Addressing shark attacks reported on Long Island in recent years, Hochul said she'd interviewed an ocean lifeguard who'd been patrolling Long Island waters for 20 years.

"I said, "So what's up with the sharks?' I'm always curious. I'm pretty direct. So, she said, 'Well, they live here, too. They're more afraid of us than we are of them.'"

However, Hochul said: "We want to do something to take a bite out of any potential shark attack. So, once again, we're deploying the drones. I was able to launch one off the back of one of our boats last year and see how it worked. And it's sending real time images of the water to our lifeguards."

Hochul said five new drones will be added this season to the existing fleet of 17, bringing the total to 22.

"We're also going to be training 11 additional pilots. So, by this summer, we'll have over 40 people trained in how to deploy the drones. They'll help the park's employees spot the sharks so we can avoid any problems."

State park police, Hochul added, will be getting a bigger drone with thermal imaging, laser range finding, and the ability to fly in bad weather and drop flotation device.

"We are using technology," Hochul said. "So, we can coexist, but we're always going to be watching. We're keeping an eye out there, on what's going on in the water."

With a number of shark bites reported in recent years on Long Island, including some reported in Suffolk in a 2-day period in 2023 — as well as a lifeguard bitten by a shark in 2022, experts have spoken with Patch about what may have led to the uptick.

In a past interview in 2023, Paige Finney, communications specialist with Ocearch, said the non-profit organization's science team was "skeptical" that any of the bites and encounters in the Long Island area have been from young white sharks.

Sharks, Chris Fischer, founder of Ocearch, has long maintained, are "great balance keepers." The fact that they have been proliferating in recent years, after the great white shark nursery was found off the coast of Montauk, indicates that water quality is improving.

But Finney said the most recent bites were likely not due to the white shark nursery in Montauk. "It was likely young sand tigers or requiem sharks, so unrelated to the white shark nursery but perhaps to the inshore nurseries for those other species," Finney said.

She added: "The mid-Atlantic at this time of year hosts juveniles of a number of shark species. The most likely sharks you would encounter in the surf zone in that area would be small sandbars, small sand tigers and smooth hounds."

Finney also shared tips from Ocearch on how to stay safe in the water this season:

Assess Water Conditions

- Pay attention to lifeguard warnings: Check the lifeguard stands at the beach before you go into the water, to see if there are any precautions posted for surf and current conditions as well as any dangerous marine life in the area.
- Rip currents: Before you go into the water, make sure you assess the area you are entering. Your trip to the beach is 132 times more likely to end in drowning than it is with a shark bite, Ocearch said. The biggest beach risks are undertows, strong currents, and rip currents. A rip current is a powerful channel of water that flows away from the shore. If you find yourself in a rip current, remain calm and swim parallel to the shore. Then follow breaking waves back to shore at an angle. Do not swim against the current. If you are unsure about water conditions you can reach out to your local lifeguard or click here.
- Don’t swim in the food chain: Every time you step into the ocean you are stepping into the wild, but there are easy ways to minimize your risk of an interaction with a shark or other predatory fish, Ocearch said. Avoid swimming in areas with a lot of activity such as birds diving, fish jumping or seals swimming. You don’t want to swim out in the middle of the food chain and be mistaken for a fish, dolphin, seal or other prey. Instead, move to a quieter section of the beach.
- Be cautious of marine life: While most marine life is harmless, it’s important to be cautious, Ocearch said. Avoid touching or approaching unfamiliar sea creatures, as some may be poisonous or aggressive. If stung by a jellyfish or other marine creature, seek medical attention.

- Safety in numbers: When possible, swim with a buddy. Having someone with you increases safety as they can provide help or call for assistance if needed. Do not swim far out where sharks may be patrolling.
- Swim in the ocean during the day: Don’t swim between dusk and dawn, when sharks have less visual information to tell them you are not what they are looking for, Ocearch said.
- Avoid shiny jewelry and bright-colored bathing suits: Marine animals can be attracted to shiny objects or mistake bright colors for fish scales and may mistake it as prey, Ocearch said. If you wear bright colors or jewelry, stay aware of your surroundings.
- Avoid swimming with an open wound or cut: Sharks and other predatory fish can be attracted to the scent of blood, so it is best to avoid swimming if you are bleeding, Ocearch added. Open wounds can also get infected by bacteria in the water so it is important to cover the wound with protective measures such as a waterproof bandage.
- Protect your skin: Apply sunscreen to protect your skin against harmful UV rays and reapply often throughout the day.

- Stay hydrated: If you’re spending extended periods of time in the sun or saltwater, make sure you drink plenty of water. Dehydration can lead to fatigue and increase the risk of accidents.
- Lightning: Lightning strikes at the beach are a far greater risk than shark bites, Ocearch said. If lightning is seen or thunder is heard anywhere in the area, get off the beach until the storm passes. Don’t wait until the storm is upon you.
"Most of all, have fun," Ocearch said. "The ocean is an amazing, rejuvenating place to enjoy the holidays with friends and family. Remember that it is a wild place, not a swimming pool. We want our oceans to be healthy and full of abundant wildlife, so celebrate the beauty and fun of our oceans but remember to be safe."

Despite shark attacks and sightings in recent years, experts have told Patch that it's still very safe to go in the water.

Great white shark researchers discovered the first North Atlantic nursery for the fearsome predator in the waters off Montauk in 2016 — explaining the recent surge in great white sharks around nearby Cape Cod.

The Ocearch team said it tracked nine infant great whites to the nursery, located a few miles off Montauk.

"This is a historical moment and the first step in revealing the great white shark pupping ground," Ocearch founder Chris Fischer said at the time in a statement. "It's this kind of scientific data that will help us collectively make more informed decisions about how to protect this incredible species."

The leading shark research team launched a tagging expedition to be able to determine potential birthing sites.

"You guys are sitting in a birthing area," Fischer told Patch in an interview. "My best guess would be that the large mature females are coming in during May and June and dropping off their pups in New York, New Jersey and on Long Island — out to Montauk."

The female sharks will drop off the pups and leave, he said.

After looking at a scientific paper authored by Jack Casey and Wes Pratt, and another by Tobey Curtis, lead scientist and fisheries manager at NOAA Fisheries, the OCEARCH team caught pups in two separate expeditions, lifting them up onto the ship, and performing research projects including taking gas, blood and tissue samples.

New umbilical scars on the pups indicated that the area off Montauk was, indeed, a birthing site, Fischer said, with the pups one to three months old.

Now that the pups are being tracked, a whole new age of discovery has evolved, Fisher said. "Now we are watching the young of the year, watching them define the nursery of the great white shark."

That first year, he explained, is when the pups are most vulnerable. Once they're larger and older, they can avoid various types of gear and danger.

No reason to panic

But the news isn't reason to panic: Experts agree that swimmers have a greater danger of being killed by a faulty toaster oven — or driving on the Long Island Expressway, for that matter — than being devoured by a shark.

According to OCEARCH Chief Operating Officer Fernanda Ubatuba at the time, shark attacks on humans are extremely rare — the odds are about one in 12 million. Most shark attack victims survive; bites on humans by sharks are normally exploratory.

Worldwide, 200,000 sharks are killed per day; in contrast, about 10 to 12 human lives are lost yearly as a result of shark attacks, researchers told Patch.

Sharks, experts agree, are far less of a danger to people than mankind is to sharks.

"You have more risk of dying by a defective toaster or driving a car than a shark attack, but it's perception," Ubatuba said.

There are few shark attacks worldwide, Ubatuba said.

Instead, sharks are victims: Sharks are at great risk worldwide due to an industry in Asia and other areas that rely heavily on shark skinning. "It's wiping out our oceans completely," she said.

As apex predators of the ocean, sharks are critical to maintaining healthy ocean systems.

"The current problem we face in shark conservation is that we do not have the necessary data to understand the migratory patterns of our ocean's apex predators, mating and birth sites — the locations we need to protect," an OCEARCH Kickstarter site said.

Ubatuba said the goal is to connect people from New York to the ocean, to make them aware of what's going on in Montauk, Southampton and across Long Island, "to bring more data so we can really understand what is going on in the waters of New York."

It's important to replace "fear with facts," Ubatuba said. By using an OCEARCH shark tracker, beach-goers can use that information to "make the best judgment when to go to beach and when to avoid it."