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<\/p>\n Email Link<\/p>\n \n A 20-year-old woman was swimming in waist-deep water at a popular beach in Long Island, New York, when officials believe she was most likely bitten by a young sand tiger shark earlier this week.\n <\/p>\n \n EMTs and lifeguards immediately responded to the swimmer at Jones Beach State Park, and she was taken to the hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening \u201cminor lacerations\u201d to her left foot and leg, New York State Parks said in a Friday statement.\n <\/p>\n \n It was the beach\u2019s first reported shark sighting of 2025, New York State Parks Regional Director George Gorman told CNN affiliate WCBS<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n The Wednesday <\/strong>incident, which has lifeguards on high alert, comes ahead of the busy Fourth of July holiday weekend and two summers after a wave of possible shark sightings<\/a> and apparent attack shook up New York beachgoers.\n <\/p>\n \n The woman, who reported the bite around 4:15 p.m., told officials she didn\u2019t see what bit her, and swimming at Jones Beach was immediately suspended, the statement said. Officials on Wednesday searched unsuccessfully for dangerous marine life using drones.\n <\/p>\n \n Before the beach was reopened for swimming on Thursday, park police and staff again used drones to identify marine life in the area while lifeguards patrolled from the shore and by watercraft, according to the statement.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cPark Police, lifeguards, and staff remain on high alert will continue to proactively patrol by drone, PWS, and surfboats throughout the season to help protect swimmers,\u201d New York State Parks said.\n <\/p>\n \n Despite the encounter, the risk of being attacked by the often misunderstood creatures remains low, experts say.\n <\/p>\n \n Sharks don\u2019t seek out humans and most incidents are cases of mistaken identity \u2013 including by juvenile sharks that fail to distinguish between humans and their prey, shark researchers<\/a> have told CNN.\n <\/p>\n \n Without the victim having seen the animal or sightings by subsequent drone searches, park officials teamed up with experts to determine which marine species may have caused these injuries.\n <\/p>\n \n Biologists at the state\u2019s Department of Environmental Conservation cautiously concluded the incident \u201cmost likely\u201d involved a juvenile sand tiger shark, the statement said.\n <\/p>\n \n The experts \u201creviewed situational information provided by subjects at the scene, as well as photos of the injury, and were able to rule out several species,\u201d it said. They emphasized that \u201cwithout direct observation of the animal that caused the bites a full expert consensus was not reached.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cI been here my whole life and never seen a shark in here,\u201d Alejandro Aranjo told CNN affiliate WABC<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n Aranjo visits Jones Beach with his family, but following Wednesday\u2019s incident, \u201cI don\u2019t even know if I\u2019m going to let them go in to be honest.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Unprovoked attacks by sharks<\/a> declined sharply in 2024, with 47 incidents logged worldwide, down 22 from the previous year and significantly below a 10-year average of 70, according to figures released<\/a> in February.\n <\/p>\n \n The United States experienced the highest number of unprovoked attacks by sharks, with 28 reported incidents, including one fatal attack by an unknown shark species off the northwest coast of Oahu, Hawaii. That US total, however, was almost a third lower than in 2023.\n <\/p>\n
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