Stone Harbor shark attack: How likely is another encounter in New Jersey?
STONE HARBOR, N.J. (CBS) -- The unofficial start to summer is now just days away and while many are headed to the shore for Memorial Day weekend, you might feel hesitant to get in the water after a teen girl was bit by a shark Sunday in Stone Harbor, New Jersey.
Maggie Drozdowski never expected her first surfing experience would end with six stitches from a shark bite.
"I was in shock and didn't really realize what was going on until I was out of the water," Drozdowski said.
According to the International Shark Attack File, the odds of a shark attack in New Jersey are extremely rare. There have only been 15 unprovoked shark attacks in the Garden State with the most recent in 2006.
"You're about 200 times more likely to drown in the ocean than you are to be bitten by a shark," Gavin Naylor PhD, the Director of the Florida Program for Shark Research, said.
Naylor says it could have been a juvenile sand tiger shark that mistook Drozdowski's foot for a fish, much like what happened last year off the coast of Long Island, New York.
"These young sharks would bite somebody, realize it wasn't what they thought it was and then be as scared as the person who was bitten," Naylor said of the unprecedented string of shark attacks on Long Island in July 2022.
Last summer, at least five people were bitten by sharks in about two weeks off the coast of Long Island. The attacks prompted officials to closely monitor ocean waters and restrict swimming. Naylor says environmental conditions led many bait fish closer to shore.
"If you see fishermen catching, that means there are bait fish in the water, fishermen on one side, sharks on the other," Naylor said.
So how do you know if there's a lot of bait fish in the water? Naylor says you won't know but if there's a lot of people catching fish, that's an indication that they're out there, which could mean sharks aren't too far behind. You can take precautions by swimming closer to shore, going in the water with a buddy, and avoid wearing jewelry which can be mistaken by a shark as a fish scale.
According to a Stone Harbor spokesperson, there are no restrictions planned for beach activities.