--- description: They were swimming just 15ft off the coast title: Sharks Spotted Off New York Beaches image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt32795d730672087b/69885c49196cf483be0373d6/shark.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Sharks Spotted Off New York Beaches by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 24, 2015 11:56 AM CUT  Shark 2 Shark 2Getty Images by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 24, 2015 11:56 AM CUT Thousand of swimmers were ordered out of the water on Thursday after two sharks were spotted swimming close to shore in Long Island. A lifeguard initially spotted a shark swimming off shore, [reports ABC News](http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/sharks-spotted-york-beaches-32653711 "undefined"). Police helicopters later spotted two 6ft long sharks swimming up the coast that who were a mere 15ft from the beach. “It was a really big shark — it was thin and long and it was scary,” [said beachgoer Wendy Stechman to NBC](http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Shark-Evacuation-Water-Ocean-Long-Island-New-York-Lifeguard-Tobay-Beach-Oyster-Bay-318313831.html "undefined"). After 11 shark attacks off the coast in North and South Carolina, authorities took no chances and ordered swimmers out of the water around noon. Swimmers were allowed back when lifeguards sounded the all-clear at 3pm. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3970818/sharks-new-york-beaches/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3970818/sharks-new-york-beaches/"},"headline":"Sharks Spotted Off New York Beaches","datePublished":"2015-07-24T11:56:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T09:33:18.752Z","description":"They were swimming just 15ft off the shore","url":"https://time.com/3970818/sharks-new-york-beaches/","keywords":["New York"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt32795d730672087b/69885c49196cf483be0373d6/shark.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tara John","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tara-john/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt32795d730672087b/69885c49196cf483be0373d6/shark.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Shark","caption":"Shark","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3970818/sharks-new-york-beaches/","name":"Sharks Spotted Off New York Beaches"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Surfing Champion Fends Off a Shark By Punching It - World Surf League","description":"Australian surfing champion Mick Fanning escaped uninjured after being attacked by a shark Sunday during a competition in South Africa.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/i5BzDHku/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-07-20T02:50:16.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/i5BzDHku.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3970818/sharks-new-york-beaches/","duration":"PT1M34S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3970818/sharks-new-york-beaches/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```