Drones to patrol for sharks on Queens beaches
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The city will be deploying drones to patrol Queens’ Rockaway Beach for sharks after a woman was allegedly bit. Photo via FDNY/Twitter
By Ryan Schwach
The city is deploying “eyes in the sky” to patrol the city’s beaches for sharks after a woman was sent to the hospital with an apparent shark bite on Monday.
FDNY, NYPD and Parks Department officials announced the addition of drones to shark surveillance plans on the Rockaway boardwalk on Wednesday morning, saying they will do routine patrols of the water to watch out for sharks.
“The plan is that every morning before the beaches open, we will fly drones,” said FDNY First Deputy Commissioner Joe Pfeifer. “We're working together as partners with the Parks Department and NYPD and our other collaborative agencies to make this a safe place to swim, and we're using technology to protect lives.”
“If we spot a shark, then we'll make a decision to close the beach,” he added.
Rockaway’s beaches were closed to swimming all of Tuesday, and were opened at 10 a.m. on Wednesday after the patrols saw nothing in the water, the Parks Department said.
“We haven't seen anything since [Tuesday] morning at about 11:15[a.m.],” said Iris Rodriguez-Rosa, Parks’ First Deputy Commissioner. “We never had this before, so this is the first, we've never had such an incident happen like this here in the Rockaways.”
The officials say that the drones will be on top of FDNY and NYPD marine units, as well as the NYPD’s helicopters and Parks Department Lifeguards, all of which will contribute to monitoring of the shoreline.
“We will also keep the drones up in the air and our marine units out on the water during the day while swimming is open to make sure that we don't see any sharks,” said Pfeifer.
Officials blamed warmer water due to climate change, as well as cleaner water which attracts more fish, for sharks coming closer to the shore in recent years.
“We know something's happening, and we call that climate change,” said Pfeifer.
The added surveillance comes after a woman was allegedly bit in the leg by a shark on Monday evening, where she was rushed to the hospital and was still in critical condition as of Tuesday.
