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A drone in the sky? At NY beaches, it might be spying on sharks.
By
Jon Campbell
Published Jul 14, 2023
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Mike Groll/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul
By
Jon Campbell
Published Jul 14, 2023
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Gov. Kathy Hochul is marking Shark Awareness Day — an annual date to highlight sharks and their role in the ecosystem — by deploying 60 drones to spy on the marine predators and raise alerts if they get too close to shore.
Hochul, a Democrat, held a news conference at Jones Beach on Long Island on Friday to tout the new camera-equipped machines, which the state purchased and distributed to local governments after a series of shark encounters off the island’s south shore last year.
All told, the state set aside $1 million for the drones and associated training, according to the governor. They’ll be distributed to coastal communities from Long Island to New York City to Westchester County beginning Friday, she said.
“We're going to be harnessing the power of technology, the human capital of our lifeguards, and making sure that we're doing everything we can to literally take the bite out of any future shark encounters,” she said.
The drone deployment comes amid a rise in shark encounters in New York waters in recent years.
Last year, there were eight shark encounters, up from just one in 2012, according to Hochul. So far this year, there have been at least five shark attacks — at least four of which were over a short period around the July 4 holiday, she said.
“If you look at that number, it looked like we were on pace to break last year's record, but it seems to have abated, at least temporarily,” Hochul said.
Hochul posed for a photo op with the red drones and showed off footage, which showed a single shark swimming around the ocean as the machine captured video overhead.
“We want to make sure that none of our communities ever appear on Shark Week,” the governor said.
The governor’s press conference was about eight miles away from Gilgo Beach, where the remains of multiple women were discovered in 2010 in a long-unsolved case that coincidentally resulted in the arrest of a suspect on Friday.
Hochul began the event by offering words of solace for the community and the families of the victims, before holding a moment of silence. Then she transitioned to her press conference’s originally planned topic.
"Today, we are here to talk about making our beaches safe in another way, safe from another kind of predator — the sharks,” she said.
Tagged
new york state
new york city
public safety
Kathy Hochul
Politics
Jon Campbell
Jon Campbell covers the New York State Capitol for WNYC and Gothamist. Prior to that, he covered the Capitol for more than a decade for the USA TODAY Network. He has twice earned the Walter T. Brown Memorial Award, an honor given annually by the Legislative Correspondents Association alumni for outstanding state government coverage. Jon grew up in the Buffalo area and graduated from the University at Albany. Got a tip? Email Jon at [email protected] or Signal at JonCampbellNY.90.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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