STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — As reports of swimmers being bitten by sharks in New York and New Jersey waters make news these days, many of us are newly hesitant to take a dip in the Atlantic. But should we worry?
No, say the experts. But we should alter our behaviors, they say.
“You don’t need to be worried, just take precautions,’’ said Scott Curatolo-Wagemann, a Long Island marine biologist and investigator for the Global Shark Attack File, an online open-source file that tracks human interactions with sharks.
When and where you choose to take a dip will play a big role in your chances of encountering a shark, he said. His top piece of advice is an easy one to follow: Avoid swimming where there is fishing happening nearby.
“Fishing activity increases the likelihood that there’ll be a shark in the area that might be looking for a meal,’’ he said, noting that the sand and tiger sharks recently tracked near the shores of New York and New Jersey are looking to dine on fish — not humans.
“When they’re moving fast, mistakes happen,” Curatolo-Wagemann said. “They could be chasing a fish and at the last second a fish moves … some of it could be that [a person] moves in front of what they’re going after.”
Shark sightings have spiked in New York in recent years, thanks, in part, to improved water quality bringing schools of bait fish closer to shore, said Curatolo-Wagemann, echoing the observation of many environmental experts.
In the recent incidents that took place off New York and New Jersey beaches, bathers may simply have gotten in between a shark and its bait, and the shark couldn’t react in time, he said. They may also have been mistaken for the shark’s preferred bait, he said.
Five shark bite incidents took place off New York beaches on the South Shore of Long Island during the July 4th weekend alone, according to officials. And, off the Jersey Shore, a frequent destination of Staten Islanders during the summer months, a 15-year-old girl…
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