NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) -- Rockaway Beach and Jones Beach reopened Wednesday morning to swimmers after a 65-year-old woman was bitten by a shark on Monday evening, authorities said.
NYC Parks Deputy Commissioner Iris Rodriguez-Rosa said Wednesday morning that the department monitor the beaches in conjunction with the NYPD and FDNY using drones.
"We've never had such an incident happen to us here in the Rockaways," she said during a briefing Wednesday morning. "We will definitely be able to determine where there are schools of fish, usually the sharks may follow. So we will carefully look at that very closely to make sure we monitor that and our lifeguards will be looking at it carefully with their binoculars and things of that nature."
"Drone and harbor unit surveillance this morning did not observe any shark sightings, and Rockaway Beach has reopened for swimming as of 10 a.m. NYC Parks, NYPD, and FDNY will continue land, drone, and boat surveillance on Rockaway Beach throughout the day and into the evening," the Parks Department tweeted.
The woman, identified by the New York Post as Tatyana Koltunyuk, a Ukrainian immigrant who lives in Astoria, was bitten on her left leg as she was swimming near Beach 59th Street at Rockaway Beach at 5:50 p.m. Monday.
She sustained severe bleeding and received first aid before being rushed to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in critical condition, officials said. Her condition was updated to “serious but stable,” police said.
"We hope for a full recovery for this swimmer," a Parks Department spokesperson said in a statement. "Though this was a frightening event, we want to remind New Yorkers that shark bites in Rockaway are extremely rare. We remain vigilant in monitoring the beach and always clear the water when a shark is spotted."
On Tuesday, state parks officials confirmed much of Jones Beach — including the Central Mall, East Bathhouse and West Bathhouse — was closed to swimming and surfing due to more shark sightings about 10 yards off the Central Mall.
Jones Beach and other Long Island beaches have since fully reopened Wednesday morning, said George Gorman, regional director for the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
"We surveyed with our drones this morning and the beach was very clear," Gorman told Newsline With Brigitte Quinn.
Hans Walters, a field scientist with the Wildlife Conservation Society’s New York Aquarium, reassured beachgoers should know shark attacks are extremely rare.
“Injuries are relatively minor — it’s a slash or tooth marks,” Walters said. “People get stitches and they walk away. This one seems like it was a little more serious.”
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