Fire Island beach remains closed after shark sightings, Brookhaven Town official says

Shark-tempting bunker fish feeding just 15 yards off Davis Park Beach at the Fire Island National Seashore in Patchogue led officials to bar swimming there for the second day in a row, Brookhaven Town spokesman Jack Krieger said Tuesday.

On Monday, the town closed the beach to swimming due to shark sightings, which have become more common on Long Island since late July and triggered off-and-on halts to swimming at ocean beaches along the South Shore.

Islip also briefly closed some Fire Island beaches twice, once on Monday and again on Tuesday following reported shark sightings off Kismet, town spokeswoman Caroline Smith said.

A shark was sighted about 50 yards off Kismet at about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, she said in an email. A sighting had been reported at about 11:35 a.m. Monday, she said. Bathing was temporarily banned in both cases, she said.

Red and purple flags were raised at other nearby beaches to warn bathers that "dangerous marine life" had been detected, Smith said.

State park beaches, meanwhile, opened on time Tuesday morning, as no sharks were seen, said George Gorman, the Long Island regional director for the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

There were no shark sightings in Hempstead as well, and no swimming restrictions at the town beaches, town spokesman Michael Caputo said.

County, state and local authorities have increased patrols by air, sea and land because sharks appear to be increasingly swimming closer to shore, though they point out attacks are rare.