A shark attack, injuring a lifeguard, in the waters off Smith Point County Park in Shirley led to the closure of both that beach and Cupsogue County Park in Westhampton to swimming on Sunday, July 3.
By Monday morning, they had reopened the waters for the holiday, with extensive monitoring underway.
Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Fleming reported on Monday that county lifeguards — “the best in the country” — had normal “dangerous marine life” protocols in place. They include watching the waters on personal watercraft, paddleboards, surfboards and kayaks, plus observation from land. Because someone had been bitten, Suffolk County’s Fire Rescue and Emergency Services also participated in monitoring, using drones.
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, appearing at a press conference at Smith Point on Sunday afternoon, said the lifeguard who was attacked and bitten was in good spirits and doing well.
Bellone said the lifeguard, Zack Gallo, was bitten in the chest and hand, the bites requiring stitches. Gallo has been a lifeguard with the county for 10 years.
Bellone said there had never been an attack at Smith Point before. “This is the first time we are aware of any beachgoer bitten by a shark,” he said.
The incident occurred at around 10:15 Sunday morning as the lifeguards were engaged in a training exercise. Gallo was playing the role of a victim when the interaction with the shark occurred.
It was a serendipitous moment, the county executive noted. If one is going to have an encounter with a shark, it was fortuitous that help was so nearby during the exercise when Gallo, ironically, actually became a victim.
Bleeding “significantly,” Gallo was walked out of the water, at first unaware of what caused his injuries. He was taken to the beach station, where an EMT bandaged him, Bellone said, then taken to Southside Hospital in Bay Shore.
As a result, the beaches at both Smith Point and Cupsogue were closed to swimming for the remainder of Sunday. There was an additional sighting of a shark after the incident occurred, the county executive reported. It appeared the animal was about 4 to 5 feet long.
After the incident, drones and lifeguards using personal watercraft were deployed to monitor the water. They continued the monitoring on July 4, then decided to open the waters back up to swimmers.
“We expect the beach will be open for swimming tomorrow — if a sighting occurs, that may change,” Bellone said on Sunday.
More than two dozen species of sharks swim the waters off Long Island. According to the State Department of Environmental Conservation, species found in coastal areas include the common thresher, dusky, sand tiger, sandbar, smooth hammerhead, white shark, and dogfish. Of those, the hammerhead and white shark are deemed dangerous, with hammerhead interactions with humans listed as the most likely.
Adult white sharks, which can reach over 18 feet in length, are considered dangerous, also, due to their size, power, and feeding behaviors. They are also called “great white sharks.”
Several years ago, researchers dubbed the waters off Montauk a “nursery” for baby white sharks after they found and tagged some nine white shark pups.
Not to worry, though: Last year, there was a total of 73 confirmed unprovoked shark attacks worldwide, according to Florida Museum’s International Shark Attack File. A person is more likely to be bitten by a dog, a raccoon — or another human, according to their statistics.
The odds of being attacked and killed by a shark are 1 in 3,748,067 (0.000026 percent). A person is more likely to be struck by lighting, or, as was widely reported in 2020, die while taking a selfie.
