What You Need To Know About The Great White Shark Headed Toward Long Island!

Shark sightings shut down some Long Island beaches to swimmers on one of the hottest days of the summer this week.

Now there is a great white shark headed toward Long Island from New Jersey on Tuesday.

Residents have been wondering if it’s safe to go in the water.

Chris Fischer, founder of the not-for-profit Ocearch research organization, said a Montauk shark “nursery” has seen a “steady increase” in its population of white sharks.

Female sharks tend to head to Montauk in the late spring and early summer to drop off their pups and then depart; right now, there are a “bunch of baby shark pups” on the South Shore that are about a month old, “under the menhaden, chasing squid and mackerel around,” Fischer told Patch.

Ocearch, like other not-for-profits, have been dealt a heavy blow due to the coronavirus and are short a few hundred thousand dollars for the year, Fischer said. Despite the challenges, teams will head to Massachusetts and later, Nova Scotia this year. "This work is so important to the public and to the future balance of the ocean," he said. "We are going to grind it out. We will find a way."

To donate to Ocearch, click here.

Cox Media Group