Jones Beach

Last summer, for about a three week period on New York's south shore beaches, ocean swimmers were on shark alert. Six victims were bitten during that time period in rather shallow water, on the white sands of Long Island. This year, New York's Governor Kathy Hochul says that the state parks are ready to take on the monsters of the deep.

Truly out of the pages of "Jaws", New York beachgoers have a real question on their hands. Is is safe to go in the water? And, if you are on any of the southern Long Island beaches from the Rockaways to Montauk, the answer right now is NO. On Wednesday night, the 5th shark bit victim in two weeks and the 2nd in ONE DAY occurred in waist deep water off the beaches of Fire Island, less than 50 miles from where a surfer was hit Wednesday morning in Smith Point.

The odds of a shark attack being fatal is 1 in 3,748,067. You have more of a chance of dying from being struck by lightning, a car accident or the flu. However, in recent years a man was killed by a shark off of a beach in Cape Cod and a New York City woman suffered a deadly attack in southern Maine. If you are an ocean swimmer these days on the beaches of New York, you may want to keep your eyes open for some deadly friends. Two people were bitten within 72 hours off the southern coast of New York's prestigious beaches this week.