Woman Seriously Injured By Rare Shark Bite Off NYC’s Rockaway Beach

NEW YORK – According to officials, a lady was critically hurt after a shark bit her on the thigh while swimming at a New York City beach in a highly uncommon attack that appears to be the city’s first recorded bite in decades.

According to a statement from the city parks department, the 65-year-old lady, whose name has not been revealed, was swimming off Rockaway Beach shortly before 6 p.m. Monday when a shark bit her on the left leg.

The woman was rescued from the sea by lifeguards who offered first aid. According to a police spokesperson, the woman was brought to Jamaica Hospital in critical but stable condition with major lacerations to her thigh.

Lifeguards tweeted a photo of the woman’s injury, which revealed a severe cut above her knee, several inches of her outer leg gone, and blood around the wound. The bite looked significantly more serious than many other shark sightings reported in the area, often involving the predators simply nipping the swimmer to determine whether they are prey before moving on.

“Though this was a frightening event, we want to remind New Yorkers that shark bites in Rockaway are extremely rare,” said parks department spokesperson Meghan Lalor. “We remain vigilant in our monitoring of the beach and always clear the water when a shark is spotted.”

According to officials, a lady was critically hurt after a shark bit her on the thigh while swimming at a New York City beach.

Lifeguards removed all swimmers from the water, and police deployed a helicopter to scan the area for sharks, but no sharks were found, according to the parks department. As a precaution, Rockaway Beach was restricted to swimming and surfing on Tuesday.

According to experts, shark bites are extremely rare, with only 70 to 80 unprovoked bites occurring worldwide each year. According to the International Shark Attack File, the last known shark bite on Rockaway Beach occurred more than six decades ago. Officials from the city parks stated they were unaware of any additional shark bites “in recent memory.”

Shark sightings on New York beaches, on the other hand, have grown in recent years, with the predators being driven closer to shore by a huge population of bait fish that has thrived thanks to recent conservation measures.

Over the past two summers, officials have routinely shuttered areas of water on Rockaway Beach, a bustling municipal waterfront that frequently attracts more than 100,000 people in a single day.

Shark bites have also increased further east of Rockaway, off the coast of Long Island. Officials claimed that at least 13 swimmers were bitten off the coast of Long Island in the previous two summers. However, none of the injuries were considered critical. There were only a dozen known shark bites in New York before 2022.

SOURCE – (AP)