WNJ Exclusive: Rockaway in Queens is latest beach closing in "Summer of the Shark"


A shark washed up on a beach in Seaside Park this month.
Photo Credit: News 12 New Jersey

by David Wheeler

Shark sightings along Rockaway Beach in Queens forced the beach to close temporarily this past Friday and Saturday, with lifeguards shutting down over a mile of crowded beachfront.

"It swam right under my buddy's board as he was paddling out, and some surfers paddled away around the jetty.  It's the third shark sighting here this summer," one surfer told the New York Times.

The Rockaway Beach sightings took place just north of New Jersey's Atlantic coast, where "2010 appears to be the summer of the shark," according to one beach patrol chief.

Last weekend, a sand shark dramatically swam right up onto a crowded Seaside Park beach, forcing lifeguards to close that beach temporarily.  Seaside Park beaches have closed twice this summer due to shark sightings, with the previous occurrence on July 14 when two five-foot sharks were spotted off the beach.  Beaches have also been temporarily closed in Seaside Heights, Midway Beach, and Ocean Beach this summer due to shark sightings.


A bull shark         
Photo credit: Brian J. Skerry, National Geographic

That flurry of sightings - most likely caused by the unusually warm water off our shore - was surprising for mid-July, though sightings occurring at this time of summer are not as unlikely.  Approximately two dozen species of sharks swim along our coast, though they typically stay far out of sight for beachgoers.

The 2010 summer began with a United States Coast Guard shark advisory warning recreational boaters and paddlers to be alert for sharks along the Northeast coast.

Here's a previous timeline of our 2010 "Summer of the Shark" in New Jersey:

July 30 - The sand shark's beach Hollywood-style appearance at Seaside Park forces lifeguards to close the beach on the same day as "Jersey Shore" reality star Snooki is arrested for disorderly conduct;

July 15 - Three shark fins are spotted off of Midway Beach on the Barnegat Peninsula in Ocean County.  The beach closes for an hour.

July 14 - Two five-foot sharks are spotted off of Seaside Park.  Soon after they are spotted off of Seaside Heights, just to the north.  The beaches are closed for much of the morning in Seaside Park, and the afternoon in Seaside Heights.  (Seaside is just north of Island Beach State Park, which is separated from the Barnegat Peninsula by Barnegat Inlet and Bay.)

July 12 - A shark is spotted swimming along Ocean Beach Unit 3, a cozy shore community about 8 miles north of Seaside.  Beaches are closed for less than an hour.

July 2 - The U.S. Coast Guard issues a shark advisory after a seven-foot juvenile great white shark is spotted in the Stellwagen Bank fishing grounds 20 miles east of Massachusetts.

August 2009 - An Egg Harbor fishing shop owner posts a warning for customers after repeated sightings of dangerous bull sharks in the Mullica River.

July 2005 - A surfer's foot is sliced open off of Long Beach Island.  Though initial reports blame a shark, experts say it was far more likely that a surfboard or other cause was to blame.

1974-1975 - The "Jaws" phenomenon, sparked by Peter Benchley's best-selling novel and Steven Spielberg's blockbuster movie, sweeps the nation and introduces a whole generation to the fictionalized concept of "monster sharks." Benchley later regrets the way his book was interpreted, especially as people mistakenly believed that sharks actively hunted humans.  In reality most shark "attacks" in history were the result of a misidentification by a shark believing a human to be a seal or other prey, then immediately letting go after the initial bite.

However, though incredibly rare, there have been actual tragic attacks such as:

August 1926 - A swimmer in Seaside Heights is killed by a shark, the last fatal shark attack in New Jersey waters.

July 1916 - A shark attacks three people in Matawan Creek in Monmouth County, New Jersey - a brackish creek that would hardly seem to be shark habitat - and kills two of them.  Earlier in the month, sharks had attacked and killed single swimmers in Beach Haven and Spring Lake in separate incidents.  Great white shark was initially blamed, though in time the more likely culprit - especially for the Matawan attacks - appeared to be the bull shark, which frequently swims upstream into brackish and even fresh water in many areas around the world.

For the full history of shark attacks, there is no better source than the Global Shark Attack File, where you can download a Microsoft Excel document listing every known (or misidentified) shark attack in history:http://www.sharkattackfile.net/incidentlog.htm

Another great source is the International Shark Attack File, which offers an excellent range of information on shark behavior: www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/isaf/isaf.htm

Finally, the Shark Research Institute - based right here in Princeton, New Jersey - offers a wealth of shark science under the leadership of Dr. Leonard Compagno: www.sharks.org/about.htm


Other recent Wild New Jersey shark news:
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Posted by WILDNEWJERSEY at 8/9/2010 11:00 AM
Categories: WNJ Exclusives, Sea Life, Recreation, Sharks
Tags: Rockaway bull Seaside New Jersey sand wild new jersey Shark Midway Beach Queens Ocean Beach
 

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