Shark Attacks Beachgoer During Fourth of July Celebrations

A swimmer was taken to the hospital after an apparent shark attack at a popular New York beach left bone visible in his injured foot.

The man, whose identity has not been released, was bitten by what officials described as “unknown marine life” at Jones Beach State Park early Friday afternoon while cooling off in the ocean amid 100-degree temperatures.

The wound was described as a deep, single gash across the victim’s toes, with white bone exposed beneath the skin, sources told The New York Post.

“He came running over to our lifeguard stand. His foot was bleeding and he was saying, ‘I got bit, I got bit! I don’t want to look,’” Kate Maio, a lifeguard who helped treat him, told the outlet.

Maio added that the swimmer said the injury felt like a jaw clamping down and that the bite “went clean through.”

The beachgoer was transported by ambulance to Nassau University Medical Center with injuries that were not considered life-threatening, as authorities continued to investigate the incident.

The case is believed to be New York’s first shark attack of the season, although officials have not confirmed that a shark was involved. The incident comes after several reported shark sightings at beaches across the state in recent days.

“There are millions of sharks in the Atlantic Ocean,” New York State Parks regional director George Gorman told News 12.

‘We’ll be monitoring the beaches beginning tomorrow morning,’ he added. ‘First thing, we’ll have drones up, and we’ll have drones up all day long tomorrow so that we can watch over the waters and keep everyone as safe as we possibly can.’

The Jaws-like scene unfolded at Jones Beach Field 6 off Long Island’s South Shore on Friday afternoon, as more than 100,000 people gathered to watch the Blue Angels soar overhead ahead of the Fourth of July air show. 

Tyler Grossman told WABC News he was cooling off in the ocean when the victim was injured, admitting he did not initially realize the severity of what had happened. 

‘It was like kind of close to the guy and I just see him getting out of the water and going up to the post and to the lifeguard, it didn’t really seem like anything happened,’ Grossman told the outlet.

‘He was holding his foot and they came and got him, but yeah, then they were like “everyone get out” and cleared everything,’ he added.

Lifeguards and emergency medical technicians responded immediately and discovered the swimmer had sustained ‘lacerations to the right foot,’ according to officials. 

Adalynne Dery, whose family was visiting Jones Beach from Connecticut, told News 12: ‘Lifeguards carried him back to the surface and they helped him out.’

‘He was holding a rag on his foot, and there was blood all over his toes,’ she added.

Maio, who was overlooking the water, said her partner jumped off the stand and wrapped the victim’s foot in a shirt as a makeshift tourniquet, but his slow bleeding soon turned into heavy bleeding. 

‘It was bleeding through the shirt,’ she told The Post. ‘It was crazy, but these things happen.’

EMS responded to the scene, where he was swiftly transferred to the hospital. Lifeguards said he is expected to make a full recovery. 

While the victim did not see the shark himself, another swimmer told lifeguards she witnessed a fin swimming away just seconds after the man was bitten, according to the outlet.

Maio and her colleagues theorized that a baby sand tiger shark may have been the culprit, with the victim’s wounds leaving a tooth-like imprint on the bottom of his foot. 

The man had been swimming near the green flags, in an area close to where fishermen set up along the shore and within the beach’s designated swimming zone. 

Other beachgoers were ushered out of the water as swimming was immediately suspended, while officials searched for sharks or other dangerous marine wildlife along the shoreline. 

An hour later, officials said in a statement that ‘no sharks or other dangerous marine life were observed.’ Swimming was later resumed, but restricted to waist-deep water. 

Friday’s terrifying encounter is believed to be the first at Jones Beach this summer, and comes just one day after multiple shark sightings forced beach closures across New York. 

A massive nine-foot shark was spotted off the coast of Point Lookout in Hempstead, Nassau County, on Thursday. Meanwhile, officials at Rockaway Beach in Queens reported a swarm of bull sharks. 

Shark sightings have become more common as authorities ramp up the use of advanced drones to search the waters – a technology New York has embraced in recent years. 

Governor Kathy Hochul announced in May that state agencies had added 16 camera-equipped drones – bringing the total to 46 – to scour the waters for sharks or large schools of fish that could draw them in. 

Shark attacks remain incredibly rare, less common than being struck by lightning or bitten by a dog, with just 25 recorded across the country last year, including one fatality. 

The big fish typically appear along the coast from the Rockaways to Montauk around the Fourth of July, when warming waters draw in the cold-blooded hunters and their prey.

While humans are not on their menu, experts say sharks can sometimes take accidental bites when mistaking feet and limbs for fish.