"I am so impressed with how close they are to shore, and you see this big fin coming up and going down again and they're going back and forth, back and forth," said beachgoer /*Pat O'Malley*/
That is why there are bright red warning signs up – to tell surfers and swimmers to not even think about getting in the water. The /*Southampton*/ Marine patrol boat crew is trying to figure out what kind of sharks they are dealing with, and why they are not leaving.
/*Westhampton Dunes mayor Gary Vegilante*/ said, "If I had my choice I would swim with basking sharks, not predator sharks. The difference – basking sharks are very large animals that primarily eat plankton."
About fifty people were in the water on Tuesday afternoon when the sharks were first spotted. They were quickly called out, and lifeguards and parks police have been keeping an eye on the beach ever since – now it's sunbathing and shark spotting only.
Beachgoer /*Patty Slack*/ said, "He came right where that second wave is. He came like fifteen feet from us. It's pretty cool."
Another beachgoer, Bernadette Nobile, added that "it's exciting, but a little nerve-wracking. I don't know if my kids will get back in the water after this. The only time we've seen something like this is in an aquarium."
