The sea creatures that forced beachgoers out of the water at Robert Moses State Park Monday were actually two dolphins, according to a New York State Parks department official.
The beach originally reported a possible shark sighting around 10:50 a.m. at Field 3, which forced lifeguards to pull swimmers out of the water, George Gorman, Long Island regional director of New York State Parks, told the Press.
About two hours later, a Suffolk County police helicopter spotted a pair of dolphins near the water tower and officials reopened the beach around 1:15 p.m., Gorman said.
Lifeguards took extra safety measures, Gorman noted, because they could not identify the sea creatures at first glance. Lifeguards at Field 3 immediately pulled swimmers out of the water and notified their colleagues at Fields 2 and 5.
“It was a little bit of a concern, obviously,” Gorman added.
Dolphin sightings off of Robert Moses are not rare. Gorman also noted that they have been seeing “more sea life than ever before.”
News of a possible shark sighting spread quickly on social media sites like Twitter, where some users predictably referenced recently passed Shark Week, and Sharknado, a Syfy movie that has developed a peculiar cult following.
The scare followed two shark sightings in about a week to the west in Atlantic Beach late last month.
