Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Friday the state is deploying 60 drones to beaches along Long Island, New York City, and Westchester County to help with shark spotting after five attacks this year.
At a news conference at Jones Beach in Nassau County, Hochul said the drones will provide an unblinking “eye in the sky” to enhance safety for beachgoers, with three sweeps a day — at the beach opening, around midday and at closing..
“If the message can get out to the sharks: we are watching… from land and sea and air” Hochul said.
As part of the $1 million plan, the state has activated scores of drones — adding dozens to the already existing set of 18 — with the hope of protecting against dangerous shark encounters.
The money will also go toward training and certifying drone operators to use the equipment that Hochul showed off at the press conference.
“People didn’t think a lot about sharks until 1975 until Jaws premiered in all the theaters,” Hochul said. “We went from having once shark encounter in 2012 to eight a decade later.”
On Friday, 13 sharks were seen lingering off the coast of Long Island, according to Ocearch Shark Tracker — most of them white sharks.
The increased number of sharks lingering along the coastline is due to cleaner water off the New York coast and their food supply — seals and fish — moving closer inland.
In addition, pay rates for lifeguards have gone up to encourage young people to “work here instead of flipping hamburgers” and better protect the ocean beaches.
“We need you, we need you, we need you to help protect our families and our children in particular,” Hochul urged.
“[We’re] making sure we’re doing everything we can to literally take the bite out of any shark encounters.”
Erik Kulleseid, the state’s Office of Parks’ Recreation and Historic Preservation commissioner, said there are 13 species of sharks that swim near the New York coastline, and that “they’ve always been there and we have to share the ocean with them.”
