Sections of Coney Island were off limits to swimmers Tuesday after reports of a possible shark sighting no more than 150 feet off-shore.
The sighting, captured in cell phone video seen in the video above, caused the city parks department to order swimmers out of the ocean on a hot summer day.
"When we got here to the beach they were talking there was some sort of sand sharks swimming around and they wouldn't let us inside the water," said a beachgoer.
"They said don't go in the water because it has sharks," said another. "I was a bit worried, but I just stay away. I just followed the instructions."
In a statement, the city Parks Department said, "Out of an abundance of safety, Parks closes beaches to swimmers when sharks are in the immediate area. Because sharks have been sighted in certain areas of Coney Island Beach today, Parks has closed specific stretches of beach and will continue to monitor the situation."
As of 12:45 p.m. swimmers were being allowed back into some sections of the water, but lifeguards stayed close to water as a precaution.
"I'm not afraid, because, I don't know, sharks don't attack that often," one man said. "I think it's mostly hysteria."
"I was pretty concerned about the kids," another beachgoer said. "They came to the beach just to run into the water, and they couldn't run in to the water."
New York Aquarium officials said there are about 25 difference species of sharks in New York waters.
But aquarium experts said it is unusual to see a shark so close to shore. There was some concern that this shark might have been distressed.
After looking at the video and a photo, however, officials at the aquarium said it appeared to be fine.
"What we do know, I think, is that there's food, fish in the area. Animals come in to feed," New York Aquarium Director John Dohlin said. "The behavior we saw was consistent with feeding behavior, so that's not uncommon that we'd see animals coming in and following their food supply."
Parks department officials said they will continue to monitor the situation.