Rockaway Beach re-opened for swimming on Wednesday – two days after a swimmer was attacked by a shark there – as the FDNY and NYPD announced they are using drones to scan the waters for shark activity.
The city Parks Department confirmed late Wednesday morning that the beach was open – after it was closed off “as a safety precaution” on Tuesday.
Top FDNY and NYPD officials said that they were using drones to monitor for sharks at Rockaway Beach and other locations.
“The plan is this: that every morning before the beaches open, we will fly drones,” FDNY First Deputy Commissioner Joseph Pfeifer said at the beach Wednesday, adding fire and police boats would also be scanning the water.
“During that time before opening, if we spot a shark, then we’ll make a decision to close the beach,” Pfeifer said.
The fire department’s drones are tasked with scanning for shark activity along a 10-mile stretch of beach in the Rockaways, during the swimming season.
“We will also keep the drones up in the air and marine units out in the water during the day while swimmers are swimming to make sure we don’t see any sharks, and we will keep, after hours, those same drones in the air to provide safety,” Pfeifer said.
The NYPD, which has a larger fleet of drones, is flying in the Rockaways, Coney Island, Orchard Beach and is working on bringing teams to Staten Island as well, Inspector Frank DiGiacomo said.
“We’re going to scan for sharks, and other things also,” the police official said. “We’re also looking for distressed swimmers, any crime – whatever a drone can help us with, that’s what we’re going to try to do.”
The drones will also help to monitor for schools of fish that sharks are often attracted to, Iris Rodriguez-Rosa, First Deputy Commissioner of the city Parks Department, told reporters.
“Well, we know something’s happening and we call that climate change,” Pfiefer told reporters. “The waters are a lot warmer. They’re also a lot cleaner, so we’re getting schools of fish there.”
Drones detected a potential sighting of a single shark on Rockaway Beach around 11:15 a.m. Tuesday, but “of course since we had the beaches closed, it was fine,” Rodriguez-Rosa noted.
“We haven’t seen anything since that,” the commissioner added.
Less than 24 hours earlier – shortly before 6 p.m. Monday – Tatyana Koltunyuk, 65, was attacked by a shark off the shore near Beach 59th Street, sources said.
She lost a large chunk of her left leg, above the knee – “approximately 20 pounds of flesh” – according to sources and a photo of her injury.
Lifeguards spotted her screaming for help in the water — and pulled her to shore, where she was given first aid.
A tourniquet was also applied to her leg to help stem the bleeding before first responders arrived.
Koltunyuk, a Ukrainian immigrant living in Astoria, was taken to Jamaica Hospital, where staff said she was in stable but critical condition Tuesday.
The shark attack is believed to be the first at Rockaway Beach since 1953. A surfer did report a possible shark bite there in September 2017, but experts said his wound was more likely caused by something else.