Swarm of bull sharks shut down NYC’s Rockaway Beach during 4th of July weekend heatwave
A swarm of bull sharks shut down Rockaway Beach Thursday — much to the disappointment of swimmers looking to escape the gruelling heat wave.
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Multiple sightings of the aggressive predators forced lifeguards to raise the red flags across the entire coast around 1 p.m., the Parks Department confirmed.
The sharks have been playing in the waves for hours, officials said — there has been at least one sighting per hour since the initial fin was spotted.
That meant the cool waters were cruelly out of reach for bathers during the hottest part of the afternoon when real feel temperatures reached 105 degrees.
Beach lifeguards and staff have been monitoring the seas with drones to evaluate when it would be safe for bathers to splash again.
Bull sharks are the same species that experts say attacked a mother who was swimming at Beach 59th Street in August 2023, though officials say a thresher or great white could also have been responsible.
Parks Department protocol requires an entire beach shutdown for multiple shark sightings, with closures extending one hour per additional sighting.
Just one shark sighting would have meant a one-hour beach closure for the mile in either direction of that vicinity.
The disappointment comes hours after a massive 9-foot shark was spotted at Point Lookout, just 15 miles east of the Rockaways.
The big fish typically show up on the stretch of shores from the Rockaways to Montauk around July 4, which is when the waters warm up for the cold-blooded hunters and their scaly prey.
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