A rise in shark sightings and a confirmed shark bite have put beachgoers along the eastern coast of the United States on heightened alert during an early summer surge in encounters. A man swimming at Jones Beach State Park on Long Island, New York, over the Fourth of July weekend suffered non-life-threatening lacerations to his foot, in a bite that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation attributed most likely to a small sand tiger shark. The incident matters because it forms part of a wider pattern of sightings, beach closures and attacks that has prompted safety warnings for the public.

Recent events cited alongside the Long Island bite include a beach closure in New York owing to bull sharks, a swimmer bitten in Queens, and a child attacked in knee-deep water in Florida. Chris Fischer, founder of the shark research organisation OCEARCH, told Fox News that shark populations have rebounded to levels last seen in the 1960s. He advised beachgoers to swim in quieter areas of the ocean and to avoid the water when bait fish are active, as these conditions draw sharks closer to shore.