dpPOINT LOOKOUT, Nassau County (WABC) — Officials at a Long Island beach are on high alert after lifeguards spotted a 9-foot shark in the water.
Point Lookout and neighboring Hempstead beaches were red flagged for swimming on Thursday following the sighting.
Two teens who were out surfing at 9:45 Thursday morning said they saw it a bit closer.
“Like some shadow in the water, kinda charging at us, he turned like four feet away I saw a full body of a shark,” said surfer Brendan Halpin.
Hempstead Lifeguard Eamon Flynn immediately confirmed it.
“Sometimes could be a dolphin, could not be ..but this was fairly easy to identify,” Flynn said. “The second we put our eyes on it, we knew that it was a shark.”
Lifeguards patrolled along the shore as well as in jet skis and also used drones as all town beaches were closed to swimming in 100-degree plus temperatures as far west as Long Beach.
Swimmers dipped their feet in and weren’t allowed back in until about 1:15 p.m.
“Of course on what may be the most hottest day of the year, the shark decides to pay a visit to the town of Hempstead waterways,” said Hempstead Town Supervisor John Ferretti.
Beachgoers are well aware that sharks live in the waters, but the hardest part was not swimming in the heat.
Additionally, there were intermittent beach closures at Rockaway Beach in Queens due to multiple shark sightings.
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