A stairway leads down to Ocean Beach in Fire Island, N.Y., in this undated photo.Further west and a few hours after the two attacks, bathers were evacuated from the waters off Robert Moses State Park and Jones Beach after a lifeguard spotted a shark.
State police sent a drone into the air to search the waters for sharks, according to George Gorman, Long Island deputy regional director of the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
Bathers were allowed to return to the water after the lifeguard sighting was confirmed to be a sandbar shark. Sandbar sharks are considered to be a relatively benign type of shark, which feed on fish, crabs and stingrays -- and are not known for attacking humans.
Carpenter, the Islip town supervisor, said a midsummer reminder was in order for south shore beachgoers.
"We’re seeing this as an opportunity to remind everyone that the water is beautiful -- its magnificent here on the south shore of Long Island, but treacherous."
"So you need to be careful at all times."
One shark expert said that bites were definitely from a shark.
George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File maintained by the Florida Museum of Natural History, told ABC News that the bites were "definitely" from a shark.
Burgess said that the size and shape of the bites, and the tooth embedded in one victim's leg, indicate that the shark is either a small shark of a larger species, or a species small in size.
He said it was unlikely that it was a great white shark, because such a shark would likely have caused far more grievous injuries, and the victims may not have been able to walk around afterwards.
He said, however, that he would need to look at a better picture of the tooth to be able to make any definite assessments.
The attacks come just days before the July 22 start of Discovery Channel's annual "Shark Week" programming marathon, now in its 30th year.
Kaynak:Abcnews