(Rockaway, NY) — The busy beaches in the Rockaways had to be cleared four separate times over the long holiday weekend, after sharks were spotted too close to shore. Swimmers say they were annoyed they had to get out of the water, but happy that no one had to face off against a shark.
The Parks Department says they cleared the beach from Beach 83rd Street to Beach 120th Street on Sunday after one of their drones over the ocean eyed a shark. On Saturday, drones and lifeguards spotted a shark around 100 feet away from swimmers, so they cleared everyone out of the water.
There were also shark sightings in the water by Beach 32nd Street.
Lifeguards whistled everyone out of the ocean each time the sharks were seen . They waited an hour or so to let swimmers back in. Some say the warnings were enough to scare them away from the beach and to a nearby public pool.
