Alarming increase of sharks in these East Coast waters has beachgoers and fisherman on edge

An alarming increase in sharks in the waters off the east coast is causing great concern among beachgoers and fishermen.

The Long Island Sound, which spans the borders of New York City, Long Island, Westchester County, and Connecticut, is home to five species of sharks: the spiny dogfish, smooth dogfish, sand shark, brown shark, and sand tiger shark.

But sometimes larger sharks also enter the relatively calm water, and this is happening more and more often.

In 2022, at least six people were bitten or injured by sharks on New York beaches, and in 2019, a great white shark was reported off the coast of Greenwich, Connecticut.

“They can be relatively close to shore, depending on where they’re foraging and what they’re eating at certain times of the year,” said fisheries biologist Jon Vander Werff told the Hartford Courant.

‘I don’t want to say they’re right up against the shore, like on the beach lines, but if someone were to go fishing and catch a fish, those bigger ones would be [sharks] “They’re usually the ones that go after a fish,” he said. “They’re not right on the shore, but they can get pretty close to shore.”

He noted that conditions in the Sound are becoming ideal for such sharks.

“The water quality is good for them and the ecosystem is recovering from the last few years when there weren’t many sharks,” he said. told the Hartford Courant.

‘Some people might not think it’s good. But as a fisheries biologist I see this as a great thing because the ecosystem is recovering and there are now enough resources for the sharks to survive in [the] ‘Long Island sound.’

“They’re the top predators, so they’re at the top of the food chain,” he added. “They need a lot of resources to sustain themselves.”

Thanks to conservation efforts to clean up the rivers that flow into the ocean, there is now ample food for the sharks in the Sound.

At least six people were bitten or injured by sharks on New York beaches in 2022

“Seeing sharks in our local ecosystem is incredibly important, and it’s a sign that the environment around us is healthy,” said Chris Paparo, a shark expert at Stony Brook University on Long Island in a series from Twitter videos.

David Molnar of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection also attributed the increase in shark sightings to more young being seen on sandbars.

“Part of it is their biology,” he said. “It takes them between one and three years to have pups, and they only have a few when they do.

“We only see them in the summer. They’re here now, they’re popping.”

“There have been young fishermen there who have caught them by accident. They tend to follow the bait,” he noted.

“So right now there’s a lot of bunker in Milford, New Haven. So I’m sure there are sharks feeding on it.”

Molnar added that there are also smooth-houndshark in Long Island Sound, but they will disappear as the water cools in the fall and winter.

Professors Oliver Shipley and Michael Frisk from Stony Brook’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences told DailyMail.com that they cannot say for sure that there is one specific reason why the sharks are swimming so close to shore.

“This is not a straightforward cause-and-effect scenario,” Shipley said.

“This is something that is extremely complex and we have to be very careful about attributing single factors, such as pollution, to the reason that we are seeing certain animals in certain areas more than before.”

Experts advise avoiding steep drops into the water where sharks can make ‘sneak attacks’

Still, experts say the chances of being bitten are still slim. Veteran diver John Langlois, owner of Enfield Scuba and Water Sports, puts the odds at 264 million to one.

“When you look at the numbers, they get a bad reputation because once someone gets bitten, it seems like hundreds of people are getting bitten, but that’s not the case,” he told the Courant.

‘And there are so few bites, that of course it’s the publicity that makes it so bad.’

But if they are provoked, for example if you are swimming and you kick them, they may come back to you. [for] “An exploratory bite,” Vander Werff warned.

To avoid getting bitten, Langlois recommends avoiding areas that are 20 to 30 feet deep. “That would be an unexpected attack, where the sharks are below you, see something moving and come right at you.”

“Obviously, avoid water if you are bleeding,” he added. “There is an increased risk of shark attack. Sharks can detect small blood molecules from a great distance. Particularly in brackish or poorly visible water, a shiny object can look like a bait fish.

So you want to leave your shiny jewelry on the beach towel.