Man Wrestling With a Shark in NY
On Sunday, a video emerged of a man wrestling with a shark on a New York City beach. The incident happened at Smith Point Beach on Long Island, where seeing a shark or two is common to see now. Due to increased water temperatures, shark migration, and orcas scaring off sharks from their local environment, sharks can now be seen more than ever. While some beachgoers are okay with this, others are now afraid of the water.
Emily Murray was walking on the beach on Sunday when she witnessed something insane. She saw a man wrestling a shark out of the water. She took out her phone and started recording. It turned out that the man was fishing and he wheeled in a shark. He was trying desperately to pull the shark out of the water and get the hook and fishing line out of its mouth.
The video is short, but in the followed pictures, another man came to the man’s aid. They were able to pull the shark out of the water and remove the fishing hook and line from the shark.
While it was not confirmed what shark it was, it appeared to be a sand tiger shark. These are nonaggressive sharks, but they will attack back if they feel threatened.
Sharks on the Rise
Seeing sharks on Long Island beaches is very common now. Expect to see at least one shark sighting next time you go. Shark activity, sightings, and even attacks are rising this year. Lifeguards were attacked but escaped with non-life threatening wounds. In July, a 41-year-old surfer was bit by a four-foot tiger shark. He survived but was left with a four-inch gash on his leg.
New York is not the only place seeing more shark sightings and attacks. All over the globe, shark activity has increased. A ten-year-old boy lost part of his leg after being attacked while snorkeling in Florida keys. In Australia, a 17-year-old spear-fisher was attacked by a great white shark and is recovering. We need to remind ourselves that the ocean belongs to them. Humans are invading their space as they swim and look for food.
The video of the man wrestling with a shark might be seen inhuman and hard to watch, but it was done for the shark’s welfare. Plenty of sharks in our ocean have fishing hooks and lines hanging from their mouth.
