A 65-year-old woman was attacked by a shark at a popular New York City beach earlier this week. According to the New York Times, Tatyana Koltunyuk was swimming at Rockaway Beach near 59th street on Monday, August 7 when the attack occurred.
Koltunyuk was reportedly swimming alone when lifeguards heard her yelling for help. The lifeguards were able to successfully remove her from the water. The shark had bitten Koltunyuk on her left leg, and officials immediately applied a tourniquet before transporting her to a local hospital for treatment. At the time, she was in critical condition.
In a statement on Tuesday, August 8, city officials said that Koltunyuk was in “serious but stable” condition. The shark bit off a chunk of flesh that resulted in a wound “several inches wide and deep,” the Associated Press reports.
“Though this was a frightening event, we want to remind New Yorkers that shark bites in Rockaway are extremely rare,” said an NYC Parks Department spokesperson in a prepared statement. “Prior to today, we have no reports of shark bites on Rockaway Beach in recent memory.”
Earlier this summer, Field & Stream reported on a recent spate of shark attacks in New York state, likely resulting from years of successful marine conservation efforts in the area. What makes this week’s attack particularly noteworthy is that it occurred within New York City limits—and that it was far more serious than other recent New York state shark attacks, which have primarily been caused by small sharks that leave minor wounds.
Gavin Naylor, Program Director for the International Shark Attack File, told the AP that Koltunyuk’s bite mark was most consistent with that of a young great white shark, though he hedged that it could also have been from a bull or sandbar shark. “This is a very severe injury from something that’s powerful and unambiguous,” he said. “It’s very deliberate.”
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Following the attack, officials closed Rockaway Beach and searched the nearby waters with drones and boats but did not spot any sharks. On Wednesday, August 9, officials reopened the beach to the public.
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