Shark sighting in Long Beach temporarily halts swimming

A reported shark sighting near Long Beach forced officials to temporarily stop swimmers from entering the waters until further notice.

On Facebook, the city released a statement.

“The Town of Hempstead has alerted us to a shark sighting in nearby waters,” Long Beach officials said in a statement.“As a precaution, all City of Long Beach beaches are closed to swimming until further notice. We will update as more information becomes available,”

Town of Hempstead officials said in a statement that a "significant size shark was spotted about 11:30 a.m. offshore of Lido West Beach ."

They added that The shark was spotted by a Town of Hempstead lifeguard on a surfboard. Due to the shark sighting, the lifeguards have red-flagged the strip of water as per the NYS shark protocols.

John McNally, executive assistant to the City Manager, said that officials cleared the water for about an hour or less. No sharks were seen and people were allowed to go back into the waters, but only up to their knees.