Shark tooth fragment found in leg of boy attacked off New York's Fire Island

ISLIP, N.Y. -- Officials have confirmed one of two children bitten in the leg off New York's Fire Island was bitten by a shark. The state Department of Environmental Conservation says a tooth fragment removed from a 13-year-old boy's leg is consistent with a shark's tooth, but it could not determine what species of shark due to the tooth's condition.

Officials could not confirm Thursday if the fish that bit a 12-year-old girl a few minutes before the boy at Sailors Haven beach was also a shark. But  Lola Pollina told CBS News there's little doubt the creature that chomped on her leg was a shark.

"It was a 10-inch orangey body and then there was a fin and then I got out, and my leg was bloody," Lola said. "We went to the lifeguards, we ran up to them and they kind of bandaged it."

Both children were bitten Wednesday, prompting officials to temporarily close the beaches.

The children are expected to fully recover.

The state Parks Department is extending lifeguard coverage until 8 p.m. Friday, and drones will be deployed to monitor the waters.

Officials call these incidents incredible rare, but say summer is shark mating season and anything is possible, CBS New York reports.

"Sharks are afraid of humans. They do not want to be near humans. They are part of the natural environment," said State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos. "We just urge anyone at the beach to be aware, be smart."

"If there was other food fish in the area where these kids were swimming, especially if they were younger ones, they are learning, they are inquisitive, and they may have just come up and just sampled and said, 'oh no, no thank you,' and then swam off," Joseph Yaiullo, curator at the Long Island Aquarium, said.

"Avoid usually like mornings, dawn and dusk periods where the light is low. Sharks will often feed during that time as well," he added.