POINT LOOKOUT, Nassau County (WABC) – Authorities at a Long Island beach are on high alert after lifeguards spotted a 9-foot shark in the water.
Point Lookout beaches and nearby Hempstead beaches were red flagged for swimming Thursday following the sighting.
Two teenagers surfing Thursday morning at 9:45 a.m. said they saw it a little closer.
“Like a shadow in the water coming at us, he turned away about four feet and I saw the shark’s whole body,” said surfer Brendan Halpin.
Hampstead lifeguard Eamon Flynn immediately confirmed this.
“Sometimes it might or might not be a dolphin… but it was pretty easy to identify,” Flynn said. “The moment we saw it, we knew it was a shark.”
Lifeguards patrolled the shore and also used jet skis and drones as all city beaches were closed to swimming with temperatures above 100 degrees, even as far west as Long Beach.
Swimmers dipped their feet into the water and were not allowed back in until about 1:15 p.m.
“Of course, on the hottest day of the year, a shark decides to visit the waterways of the city of Hempstead,” said Hempstead Town Supervisor John Ferretti.
Beachgoers are well aware that the waters are inhabited by sharks, but the hardest part was not swimming in the heat.
Additionally, beaches at Rockaway Beach in Queens have been closed periodically due to numerous shark sightings.
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