Drones sweep for sharks along Long Island's coast amid rise in encounters

LONG ISLAND - Drones sweep over the ocean off the coast of Long Island, patrolling the water for any danger that might lurk below the surface as beachgoers grow more vigilant because of a recent spate of shark encounters.

Over two days this week, five people reported being bitten by sharks at some of New York's most popular beaches, leading to heightened surveillance of the area's waters.

The sighting of a 10-foot shark Thursday prompted officials to keep people out of the water at Robert Moses State Park, the same beach that delayed its opening July 4 after a drone spotted a group of 50 sand sharks off the coast.

"We are now more vigilant than ever," said George Gorman, the state's park director in Long Island. "We have drones in the sky that watch over the waters. We have lifeguards on WaveRunners that watch over the waters."

How do the drone sweeps work?

Cary Epstein, a lifeguard supervisor who pilots drones at Jones Beach, said the tiny battery-powered aircraft make three sweeps each day: once before opening, then sometime midday and a final round before the end of the day.

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"Despite the nervousness over what’s going on right now in New York, people swim in the ocean every day, and they have for centuries," he said. "But we do have to remember that we are cohabitating, and this is their house."

Drones provide an additional vantage point unavailable to lifeguards on the beach, Epstein said as he demonstrated how he uses the drones to patrol the waters off Long Island.

Cary Epstein monitors the waters from above as he operates a drone for a shark patrol flight at Jones Beach State Park. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

As he operated one of the drones from the beach, he stared into a small box equipped with controls and a display screen. The craft lifted off, hovering over the sand until it hurled forward over the water and turned into a mere dot as it approached the horizon.

"When you’re up in an elevated lifeguard station or a lifeguard stand, you can see up and you can see out, but you can’t see straight down," Epstein said. "When we do have sharks that are eating on these fish, it’s very, very clear to us. You could see it, no questions asked."

But, he warned, "just because you don’t see something doesn’t mean it’s not there."

From his elevated perch Thursday on the sand at Jones Beach State Park, lifeguard Carl Nowicki pointed his gaze out to sea, scanning the water for activity that might attract a hungry shark, such as large schools of bait fish.

Cary Epstein operates a drone during takeoff for a shark patrol flight at Jones Beach State Park. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

"If a drone has spotted a shark, we won’t alert the patrons until they’re all of the water because we don’t want them to freak out," he said. "We’ll be very transparent once everyone’s on the sand. We don’t want to cause a panic at a beach."

Recent shark encounters

The first known encounter of the summer happened Monday, when a 15-year old girl felt a bite on her leg while swimming. At a different beach soon after, another teen had to paddle back to shore after something began nibbling on his toes.

Cary Epstein monitors the waters from above as he operates a drone for a shark patrol flight at Jones Beach State Park. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

A day later, on the Fourth of July, two men reported bites possibly by sharks in two separate encounters 60 miles apart.

What shark species are near Long Island?

About a dozen species of sharks swim off the coast of Long Island, none of them considered particularly ferocious, including the sand sharks that are more common in the area and grow to nearly 15 ft.

Their sharp, jagged teeth might cause a fright, but the giant fish are usually docile and typically avoid human contact. A nursery for juvenile sharks is known to exist off Fire Island.

Sand sharks are unlikely to attack humans unless provoked, according to shark biologists. If they do interact with swimmers, it's usually unintentional.

BOBBY CAINA CALVAN, with the Associated Press, helped contribute to this report.