California shark attack survivor released from hospital 1:23
(CNN) --
Multiple shark sightings off the coast of Massachusetts' Cape Cod and New York's Long Island prompted local authorities to close at least three beaches to the public on Sunday.
At Lido Beach on Long Island, people were asked to get out of the water after a lifeguard spotted a 5- to 5-foot-long shark about 80 feet from shore Sunday afternoon. morning, Hempstead Town Supervisor Don Clavin told CNN.
Both Lido Beach and nearby Jones Beach were immediately closed to the public, he said.
To the northeast, Cape Cod's Nauset Beach was also temporarily closed to the public after a confirmed great white shark sighting, according to the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy's Sharktivity app, which tracks shark sightings.
Several shark attacks in Long Island, New York, in the last 2 weeks trigger alarms
Between this Saturday and Sunday, more than a dozen shark sightings and detections were reported off the coast of Cape Cod through the Sharktivity app.
Most of the sightings occurred near Nauset Beach and Chatham Harbor, with the majority of confirmed sightings reporting sharks within 150 to 1,300 feet of the beach, according to the app.
advertising
So far this month, at least four people have been injured in suspected shark attacks off Long Island beaches, CNN previously reported.
The attacks prompted authorities to warn beachgoers to be careful and take precautions.
"We're telling people that if you swim, you have to swim in the lifesaving zones. Just go in waist deep and be aware of your surroundings," the chief of the Ocean Beach Fire Department told CNN last week. Ian Levine.
Learn how this Florida girl survived a shark attack 2:57
Several beaches were temporarily closed following the Long Island attacks, including Smith Point County Park Beach, which was closed twice;
the first closure came after the July 3 attack, in which a shark bit a lifeguard in the chest and hand during a training exercise, and the second came after a shark knocked a surfer into the water. on Wednesday and bit his leg, according to Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone.
Following those attacks, Bellone warned that shark encounters may become more frequent as the creatures move closer to shore.
"However, I think it's an indication that what we're seeing is something of a new normal where the sharks are... these tiger sharks are a little bit closer to shore than they've been," he said. .
"They've always been there, of course, you interact with marine life whenever you're in the ocean, but now they're closer to shore. And those contacts, those interactions with humans and sharks may increase," Bellone said.
CNN's Elizabeth Wolfe, Lauren del Valle and Effie Nidam contributed to this report.
sharks
