- A dead great white shark washed ashore on a Long Island beach on Wednesday, police said.
- A resident took a photograph, but the shark had washed back into the sea before police could secure it.
- Over the summer, there have been several shark attacks and sightings in New York state.
A dead, great white shark washed ashore on a Long Island beach on Wednesday morning, police said.
The shark, reportedly between seven and eight feet in length, was spotted on the Ocean Beaches in the village of Quogue, according to a Facebook post by the Quogue Village Police Department.
The sighting was reported by a local resident, who took photographs of the shark, but the animal had washed back into the sea before authorities could secure it, police said.
The images show the motionless shark lying on the sand with its formidable sharp teeth displayed.
Police said the department has been in contact with the South Fork Natural History Museum Shark Research and Education Program. According to the New York Post, the museum is trying to locate the shark's body to investigate the cause of death.
"Different species wash up on the beach quite often, but when it's a vulnerable species like a great white, we would perform a necropsy," said Frank Quevedo, the museum's executive director, per the Post.
The police have urged swimmers to be cautious following the shark sighting. "At this time, we are cautioning swimmers and boaters in the area to be aware of this ongoing situation and to keep distance to allow the Law Enforcement to monitor this event," the department said in the Facebook post.
The dead shark sighting follows a spate of attacks and sightings over the summer around New York.
A surfer was bitten by a shark off Fire Island on Wednesday night, marking at least the sixth Long Island attack this summer, per the New York Post.
On Tuesday, all beaches on the Rockaway peninsula in Queens, New York, were temporarily closed for swimming after officials reported "multiple shark sightings" near the shoreline, officials said, Live Science reported.
A day earlier, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul told a press conference she had ordered state agencies to protect beachgoers by expanding shark patrols.
"Whether it's land, sea, or air, we are going to be having more robust patrols on the shorelines," she told reporters on Monday in Suffolk County, per the Post.