Long Island has experienced many shark sightings in the past few years, but some claim that 2021 was a bit "sharkier" than usual. Videographers have shared drone footage of the feeding frenzy of sharks near the island and recording more or less 20 sharks swimming near the coast at Nassau beach in the summer.
It seems that shark sightings will also be abundant this year, as a fisherman has just seen a struggling shark on the Long Island coastline. With new sightings of sharks from time to time, this begs the question: Could there be more sharks in the waters surrounding the island?
The fin of a shark breaks the surface near the 'Miracla' beach, 20 August 2007, in Tarragona city.
Mako Shark Struggling to Go Back to Sea
On Tuesday, May 31, the Jones Beach Lifeguards Corps shared a video of a shark via Twitter struggling to go back to the sea on the shoreline. The post says that this incident happened at Point Lookout just north of the Loop Parkway Bridge.
According to CBS News, the fisherman who first saw the shark pulled over to help it but couldn't get it back to the water. He immediately called the state Department of Environmental Conservation as well as the constable of the Town of Hempstead Bay.
However, they were shocked that the shark was already gone when they arrived. Fortunately, he was able to capture a video of the shark and share it with authorities.
Experts believe that the stranded shark was a Mako shark because it has no pectoral fin. They estimated the shark to be about 10 feet (3 meters) long.
ALSO READ: 5-Foot Rarely Seen Frilled Shark With 300 Sharp Teeth Captured Off the Coast Near Portugal
Fastest Shark Species
Mako sharks are from the genus Isurus. There are two types of mako shares - shortfin and longfin. They are swift, active, and potentially dangerous sharks of the mackerel shark family, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.
The shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus) lives in tropical and temperate seas. Meanwhile, longfin mako (Isurus paucus) lives anywhere around the tropical seas of the world.
In Australia, these sharks are also called sharp-nosed mackerel sharks or blue pointers. As for their appearance, they have relatively slender and pointed snouts, crescent-shaped tails, and long slender teeth. Its body coloration could range from blue-gray to deep blue and is white ventrally.
The largest adults could reach 14.8 feet (4.5 meters) in length and weigh up to 1,100 pounds (500 kilograms). They prey on different types of fish, including herring, mackerel, swordfish, and also on small cetaceans.
Amazingly, mako sharks are the fastest shark species in the world per Smithsonian Magazine. Although typically seen in tropical waters, they are also known to travel to cooler waters at times and swim with moving speeds of 31 miles per hour (50 kilometers per hour) with bursts of up to 46 miles per hour (74 kilometers per hour).
Due to that, mako sharks are considered a prized catch among recreational fishermen and are sought after by commercial fisheries for the production of shark fin soup, leather, and oils. However, the activity has led the International Union for Conservation of Nature to list the shortfin mako shark as a vulnerable species.
RELATED ARTICLE: 11-Foot, 500-Pound Pregnant Hammerhead Shark Found Dead on Florida Beach Likely Due to Fishermen's Recreational Activity
Check out more news and information on Sharks in Science Times.