Swimmers at a Long Island beach were temporarily evacuated from the water Thursday after a lifeguard spotted two sharks swimming uncomfortably close to shore.
Lifeguards at Tobay Beach in Oyster Bay, N.Y., ordered swimmers out of the water shortly before noon Thursday, after two sharks approximately six feet long were seen swimming nearby, Newsday reported.
About 2,000 people were on the beach at the time of the incident, the paper reported.
Marta Kane, a spokeswoman for the town of Oyster Bay, told Newsday that authorities received a call reporting the shark sighting at 11:49 a.m. local time.
Nassau County police commenced a helicopter search and determined that the two sharks were swimming eastward about 15 feet from the shore.
Police later allowed swimmers back in the water at Tobay Beach around 2:15 p.m.
No injuries were reported.
Officials told News-12 Long Island that the sharks may have been swimming closer to the beach due to fishermen leaving bait in the water.
Tobay Beach is a restricted-access beach in the western half of Long Island, about 50 miles east of New York City.
The sighting follows a number of shark attacks earlier in the summer in the southeastern U.S. that resulted in serious injuries to a number of swimmers from Virginia Beach to South Carolina.
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