four foot tiger shark and a wave brought him back to shore. experts say the encounters may be the new normal. associate director of arizona state university school of natural sciences. the new normal, for folks like me saw the first run of jaws set in martha s vineyard in 1976, we thought it was fantasy. but now turning into reality, james. well, i mean, if you look at it, the motto is now it s personal, but as far from the truth as you can get. sharks are not out in the ocean to bite us, we are not part of the menu. i think what s happening, we have better technology and more eyes in the water and so we are seeing more sharks. if you look at the stats, we are about on par what we would normally see for interactions. sandra: ok. what do people need to know. you have a ton of people heading
more than 200,000 people visit this beach in particular just in the beach season. so just in the summer seasonal authorities say around 6:00 p.m. on long island, a 49-year-old man was standing in waist deep water when he was bitten earlier in the day around 7:30. another man said he was knocked off paddle board and got a four inch gash in his leg from a shark bite. i paddled like hell after a couple of strokes, the wave broke behind me and pushed to chore. shore. i thought maybe he didn t get me. i saw a bite mark and blood down my leg. sand tiger shark. first time he has ever seen a shark in this area. he has been surfing here his entire life. sand tiger sharks are typically not a threat to humans. beach was closed as guards and lifeguards unsuccessfully searched for possible sharks but ultimately those beaches were reopened later in the day. if you are wondering if these shark sightings will become the norm, officials say quite
suffolk county was on a paddleboard, the other in waste in waist deep water. should people stay out, is that the safest course of action? no, look at the stats. the interactions are so low, the sandbar, sand tiger, whatever they are, these are small coastal species that are getting confused, right. food sources are in the area, we kind of look and we splash and have shiny objects so getting confused and taking a nibble and finding out it s not what i want and they leave. so, absolutely go out to the beach and have a good time. sandra: one big rule, never swim along, always be with a partner, and do it right. and listen to the lifeguards. yeah, listen to the lifeguards, watch for a signal, that s the big thing, too. sandra: appreciate you joining us. thank you so much. john: thank you, james.
pete: officials warn it s a trend that will likely continue. brian: ashley strohmier is live from smith point beach when attacks happen. ainsley: how close is that to your house? brian: 20 miles, i think. i don t have a sticker. i can t get in but ashley did. ashley? yeah, guys, go people were hurt in separate reported shark attacks. yesterday on wednesday. and those attacks happened within 20 miles of each other, within several hours of one another. pretty popular long island beaches. i m at smith point beach where just in the beach season, there is more than 200,000 people who visit this area. so that puts in perspective just how popular this place is but authorities say around 6:00 p.m. here on long island, on wednesday, a 49-year-old man was standing in waist deep water when he was bitten. earlier in the day 7:30. another man sean donnelly said he was knocked off his paddle board and got a 4-inch gash in his leg from a shark bite.
to the beach, especially out on long island, some of the nicest beaches in the world. what do they need to know? at first, you know, be aware. be educated. listen to the lifeguards. go in and know your surrounding. look, there are sharks in the water, no doubt about it. you don t want to be wearing shiny objects, or areas you see sharks feeding, people are fishing, go out at dawn and dusk. the fact of the matter is, look at the stats, way more people bite other people than sharks bite people. john: not while swimming, though. i thought this was an interesting statistic. united states, james, leads the world in unprovoked shark bites. put this up on the screen. united states total of 47 unprovoked shark bites, one fatality. australia, you think would be the leader with the great whites there, 12, 3 fatales.