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Too close for comfort: Pack of 18-foot sharks head towards Long Island shore

By Daily Mail Reporter
Updated: 19:10 EDT, 1 June 2011

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A West Hampton beach closed after a group of sharks were spotted 15 feet off the coast.

The sharks came unusually close to the shoreline at West Hampton Dunes, NY yesterday afternoon. The sightings, which come just a day after Memorial Day weekend, shocked the residents and beachgoers.

Police said there was about 50 people on the beach at the time as surfers and swimmers were frantically rushed out of the water.

Alert: A pack of sharks came within 15 feet of Long island's shoreline

SHARK FATALITIES IN U.S.

U.S. shark attack deaths over the last five years:

October 2010 Great White Shark killed Lucas Ransom, 19, who was body-boarding off Surf Beach, Santa Barbara County, California

February 2010 Bull Shark attacked kite surfer Stephen Schafer, 38, off Stuart Beach, Martin County, Florida

September 2009 Shark killed Richard Snead, 60, while he was swimming in the Whale Head Bay area, North Carolina

April 2008 Great White Shark killed triathlete David Martin, 66, off Solana Beach, California

June 2005 A Bull shark killed Jamie Daigle, aged 14, who was swimming off a beach in Walton County, Florida

West Hampton Dunes Sergeant Tim Turner confirmed reports of sharks within 15 feet of the shoreline began to come in yesterday afternoon around 3pm.

Approximately five to seven shark fins were spotted and though shark sightings are not uncommon, it is rare to see a group of them at the same time.

One onlooker said: 'It was pretty close to the beach and I'm certainly happy I wasn't in the water at that time.'

The area was closed as the 18-foot sharks stayed swimming near the beach well into the evening. It is believed that they were thresher sharks, which are commonly found in tropical waters.

Authorities were also investigating the remains of a seal that washed up on the beach this morning.

A local resident commented 'I’ve lived here 12 years and I’m here all year-round. I’ve never seen this before.'

Shark sighting: Surfers and swimmers were called out of the water when a group of 18-foot long sharks were spotted approaching the shore

Residents gathered to watch them just after 7pm.

Sergeant Turner said local officials normally close a beach until sharks clear out.

Another resident Richard Anderson said you have to keep this scare in perspective.

'More people are killed crossing the streets, I suspect, than are killed with sharks,' Anderson told WCBS 88.

No one was injured, but the sharks were the only ones who got to enjoy a full day at the beach.

The Suffolk County Parks Department will make a decision Wednesday morning on whether to allow swimmers back into the waters off Cupsogue and Smith Point Beaches.

Warning: Beachgoers and residents shocked by recent shark sightings extremely close to shoreline

SHARK ATTACK VICTIM'S LUCKY ESCAPE

Big bite: Victim was enjoying the warm Gulf waters when a shark took a bite out of her holiday

Kori Robertson was standing waist-deep in the water and talking to friends when she felt a rough jerk on her thigh, then immense pain.

Ms Robertson, 22, was enjoying Memorial Day on Follett's island, near Surfside, Texas, when she was attacked - most likely a Bull shark.

She said: 'I was really lucky. There were people that I've seen that lost their legs. I'm going to be lucky to just walk away.'

Shark attacks are uncommon along the Texas coast and rarely fatal. The International Shark Attack File maintained by the Florida Museum of Natural History shows 34 attacks from 1911 through 2010 for all of Texas, with 16 in the last decade, none fatal.