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Governor Andrew Cuomo has launched an investigation after two children were apparently bitten by sharks.
The 12-year-old girl and 13-year-old boy were in the water yesterday near Fire Island when the attacks occurred less than five miles apart.
"The water was cold so I didn't really feel anything and then I saw something next to me and I felt pain and I looked and I saw a fin," Lola Pollina said.
Pollina said her leg started bleeding and she ran out of the water.
The boy had a tooth extracted from his leg. Both kids are expected to be okay.
"I have deployed Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos to lead a multi-agency investigation into the apparent juvenile shark attacks off of Fire Island,” Governor Cuomo said in a statement.
Both beaches where the attacks occurred were temporarily closed to swimmers.
“The State will do everything we can to protect beachgoers and keep the community safe," Cuomo said.
Beaches are expected to reopen on Thursday.
"If they were sharks at all, which I'm still waiting for confirmation, they were tiny baby sharks. The children are going to be fine. Maybe they'll have a scar and a story to tell and honestly sharks live in the ocean. If you go in the ocean, sharks live in the ocean," one woman told WOR's Alice Stockton-Rossini.
Photo Credit: Alice Stockton-Rossini