‘UNPRECEDENTED’

Popular Long Island Beach Has Two Shark Attacks in 10 Days

A 41-year-old man was surfing on Wednesday morning when a shark encircled and attacked him.

In what a Long Island official called an “unprecedented” chain of events, a second person was attacked by a shark at Smith Point Beach in just over a week. According to Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, a 41-year-old man was surfing this morning when the shark attacked him, inflicting a four-inch wound on his leg. The surfer was thrown off of his board during the attack and punched the animal as it continued to encircle him. He was eventually carried to safety on a wave. An ambulance took the surfer to the hospital for treatment. The victim suspects that he was attacked by a sand tiger shark, Pix11 reported, and estimates that the animal was four feet long. Bellone said that he thinks “we’re looking at…a new normal in that these [sand] tiger sharks are just a little bit closer to the shore.”