Swimmer bitten in shark attack on Seaview Beach, police say

A 49-year-old swimmer on Fire Island was bitten on the left wrist and buttocks Wednesday evening by a shark, Suffolk police said.

The man from Arizona was waist deep in the water at Seaview Beach when the incident happened at 6:05 p.m., police said. He was taken by Suffolk police helicopter to Stony Brook University Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, police said.

Lifeguards leave at 5 p.m., when the beach is closed; the swimmer, who was with his 15-year-old nephew visiting from Arizona, was in the water after hours, Ocean Beach fire chief Ian Levine said.

There have been a spate of shark attacks on Long Island this summer including on Fire Island.

Among them: Last week, when a lifeguard swimming about 150 to 200 yards off Ocean Beach on Fire Island as part of an 11 a.m. training exercise was bitten on the foot.

Earlier Wednesday, a surfer was bitten on his left calf at Smith Point County Park in Shirley. That area was the same stretch of water as where a lifeguard was bitten on July 3 by a shark on the chest and hand.

With Craig Schneider