The 50-year-old woman was swimming in Rockaway Beach shortly before 6 p.m. Monday when she was bitten on her left leg, the city’s parks department said in a statement.
Lifeguards pulled her out of the water and gave her first aid. The woman was taken to Jamaica Hospital in critical but stable condition with severe lacerations to her thigh, a police spokesperson said.
Lifeguards ordered an evacuation from the beach and police used a helicopter to search the water for sharks but found none, the parks department said.
Officials ordered Rockaway Beach closed to swimming or surfing Tuesday as a precaution.
According to experts, shark bites are extremely rare and last year there were only 57 unprovoked bites, according to data kept by Florida International University.
There has been an increase in shark sightings on the beaches of New York City and Long Island, due to various factors such as improved water quality and an increase in the population of fish that serve as a source of food for sharks. sharks.
The reported bite at Rockaway Beach is the first there in recent memory, the parks department said.
There have been five cases of shark bites to swimmers or surfers on Long Island this summer. There have been no fatalities.
FOUNTAIN: Associated Press
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