{"id":310624,"date":"2026-07-31T12:11:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T12:11:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/310624\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T12:11:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T12:11:13","slug":"nypd-deploys-drones-to-track-sharks-after-rise-in-sightings-off-nyc-beaches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/310624\/","title":{"rendered":"NYPD deploys drones to track sharks after rise in sightings off NYC beaches"},"content":{"rendered":"

With\u00a0shark\u00a0sightings on the rise along much of the\u00a0Northeast\u00a0coast this\u00a0summer<\/a>, the New York Police Department (NYPD) is using drones to patrol city\u00a0beaches, giving lifeguards an aerial view to spot sharks before they get too close to swimmers.<\/p>\n

The NYPD\u2019s Technical Assistance Response Unit (TARU) uses\u00a0drones\u00a0for a wide range of public\u00a0safety\u00a0missions \u2014 from rescuing distressed swimmers and assisting search-and-rescue operations to monitoring crowded beaches and tracking\u00a0sharks\u00a0offshore.<\/p>\n

Working alongside lifeguards, officers in the specialized, high-tech unit patrol the skies above city beaches, providing a precautionary aerial line of defense against the\u00a0ocean\u2019s most feared predators.<\/p>\n

When a shark is spotted \u2014 a scenario that has become increasingly common this\u00a0summer\u00a0\u2014 drone operators immediately alert lifeguards, who clear swimmers from the water out of an abundance of caution.<\/p>\n

According to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, 16 sharks were spotted between July 1 and July 5 off Rockaway Beach<\/a>, with NYPD drones spotting seven of them,\u00a0ABC 7 reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

NYPD is deploying drones to patrol city beaches this summer due to a surge in shark sightings. NYPD \/ Facebook<\/p>\n

NYPD\u2019s Technical Assistance Response Unit (TARU) drones spotted 7 of 16 sharks off Rockaway Beach. NYPD \/ Facebook<\/p>\n

The unit helps lifeguards clear swimmers from the water immediately when a shark is spotted. NYPD \/ Facebook<\/p>\n

While shark attacks in New York remain rare, NYPD drone patrols provide an added layer of protection by helping lifeguards spot sharks before swimmers come into harm\u2019s way.<\/p>\n

According to the\u00a0Florida\u00a0Museum of Natural History, 12 unprovoked shark bites were recorded across more than 150 years prior to 2022, though recent years have seen a temporary spike in non-fatal encounters along Long Island and\u00a0New York City\u00a0waters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With drones serving as an extra set of eyes in the sky, officials continue to work to ensure\u00a0safety\u00a0remains the top priority for visitors while allowing sharks to exist in their natural environment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With\u00a0shark\u00a0sightings on the rise along much of the\u00a0Northeast\u00a0coast this\u00a0summer, the New York Police Department (NYPD) is using drones…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":310625,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[31089,1219,57,9,24,56,63,65,64,103,294,29765,16200,58],"class_list":["post-310624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-atlantic-ocean","tag-drones","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-nypd","tag-rockaway-beach","tag-shark-attack","tag-sharks","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=310624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310624\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/310625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=310624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=310624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=310624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}