Shark sightings have skyrocketed at the Rockaways this summer, leading the city’s lifeguards to frequently suspend swimming at beaches while New Yorkers sweat it out on the sand.
The parks department reported swimming at the peninsula's beaches has been limited 23 times so far this summer due to sharks, the most at this point in the season since crews began using drones to monitor the shoreline in 2022 under then-Mayor Eric Adams. The deployment of drones has corresponded with more frequent shark sightings.
Officials spotted 11 sharks off the Rockaways at this point during last summer’s beach season — and 11 the entire summer of 2024.
Most of this year’s sightings came during a five-day period. The parks department reported sharks were spotted 16 times between July 1 and 5, when a Fourth of July weekend heat wave drew huge crowds to the beaches. Each sighting forces lifeguards to restrict swimming for roughly an hour. Last weekend, it left people baking at the water’s edge as the sand exceeded 120 degrees.
Adams expanded the use of shark-spotting drones and championed the technology across city government.
The drones can also be used to drop flotation devices for swimmers in distress. The NYPD, FDNY, and the city's emergency management agency all operate drones at beaches to confirm lifeguards' shark sightings, according to parks officials.
Oliver Shipley, an assistant professor at Stony Brook University's School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, said rapidly warming water can attract sharks — but he expected the marine predators wouldn’t stay near the city’s beaches for long.
“ As the summer moves on and the conditions change, we expect those animals to disperse more along the shore of Long Island and not be so hugged to the Rockaways,” Shipley said.
Councilmember Joann Ariola, who represents the Rockaways, said the state Department of Environmental Conservation has been working to tag sharks with GPS devices “so we can get an early warning before they get too close to shore.”
"It's very important to remember that the ocean is their home, and they have always been out there," said Ariola. “We are also looking at ways to get more skiffs and even jet skis on the water, to keep sharks separated from swimmers."
