So I went for a second time to swim at Rockaway beach by Fort Tilden. I could always find parking because I have the permit...obtained for $50/year, primarily for fishing in the parks nearby.
Loved this open sea beach once discovered. I don't care much for Brighton Beach or Coney Island beach any more. Huge waves are more fun. The color was more blueish green, very soothing for the eyes.
However, when I was swimming the second time last evening (Sunday), around 6:30PM, as I was enjoying the being lifted by the waves, I saw people crowded on the shore to my far left staring into the ocean. I did not care about it at first but as they moved close to me, I began to worry. My first instinct was to fear for something strange in the ocean. But then I thought, they would have shouted to me to get out of the water, which they didn't. So my fear subsided. But looking at them just made me curious, so I had to come up and check out what they were looking at. One of them told me it was a small shark. And behold, I did see the black fin and tail of a shark of about 4 feet. The shark didn't move much, as if it was drunk being hit by so much wave actions. When it actually got washed to shore, I tried to have a look at it while everyone else gathered around the shark on the washed sand to take photos. I didn't carry any electronics since I have no place for them at the time. I wanted to take a look at its mouth, wondering if it was just a sand shark, or some harmless sharks I've seen and swam with in Pulau Paya. But before I could do that, some macho guy grabbed its tail and throw it back to the sea, as if he really cared for the poor washed up creature, while trembling at the same time.
A quick search taught me that one can judge the type of a shark by its tail. Below shows the chart:
I can't find much information on "Sand shark" but I remember a fisherman once showed me how that kind of shark has no teeth, I was convinced such shark exists. Unless this toothless-ness only happen to baby sharks.
Even small sharks with teeth can be aggressive if not carefully handled. It can turn around to bite you:
Anyway, that made me think twice to swim there. I think I'll just do fishing and leave the swimming to during crowded situation or after more research on this topic.