Oyster Bay starts its lifeguards early

The Town of Oyster Bay began seven-day lifeguard coverage at Tobay Beach a week early this year after unusually warm weather brought people to the shore.

Lifeguards were to begin seven-day stints at the South Shore beach and all other town beaches last Saturday. But town spokesman James Moriarty said they started at Tobay Beach June 18 "because we had available a limited number of lifeguards and the weather had been warm, so we were able to assign lifeguards to a limited area of the beach. It was a safety measure because people were going down to the beach so we thought it would be the prudent thing to do."

The town assigned 25 lifeguards to work the extra week and says it has not yet calculated the salary cost.

Other towns kept to their original lifeguard schedules for public beaches.

Lifeguard coverage along the South Shore ocean beaches has received increased attention in the past few years because of an increase in drownings and rescues caused by rip currents.