Four people were attacked by sharks in New York on July 4

Sharks swam alongside people on a beach in Navarre, Florida on July 3. Photo: CRISTY COX

Four people were attacked by sharks off the coast of Long Island in New York on the July 4 holiday weekend.

Swimming off the coast of one of the island's beaches was temporarily banned during a break after drones spotted about 50 sharks in nearby waters. After the opening of the beach, swimmers were advised to stay closer to the shore.

Over the weekend, a shark attack increased the two-year number in New York State to 13, more than in the past 175 years, according to a study by the Atlantic Shark Institute.

Number of attacks

The first two attacks occurred on Monday night, when 15- a year-old boy was bitten on the heel and toes while surfing near Fire Island and then hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.

Later Monday, a 15-year-old girl suffered three stab wounds to her left leg in Robert Moses State Park, about seven miles from the previous incident.

On Tuesday, two people were attacked in separate clashes, one of whom was close to the site of the first attack on Monday, and the other reported that he was bitten on the hand on the beach of Quog Village in the Hamptons.

Despite the attacks . , revelers stayed on the beach.

Revelers at Robert Moses State Park in West Islip, New York, on July 4. Photo: James Carbon

Suffolk County authorities on Long Island have stepped up beach patrols and used drones to survey nearby waters in response to a series of attacks.

Sightings in other US states

In other US states, sharks have been sighted in Florida and Massachusetts. . Footage from the town of Panhandle in Pensacola shows swimmers rushing ashore on Sunday as a black dorsal fin and tail were spotted in shallow water. Director of the Shark Research Institute Marie Levin.

Ms Levin said: “They look like sand tiger sharks because of their teeth, and they like to be close to the shore where they hunt fish.”

In recent years, sand sharks have moved closer to the coast as a result of rising ocean temperatures, leaving their prey in shallow water.

This species has never killed a human, but other deadlier species have also migrated to northern waters in recent years. In 2020, a woman in Maine was killed by a great white shark in the first recorded shark attack in the state's history.