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Riverhead Fisherman's Facebook Shark Video 'Liked' By Thousands

A video taken by a local fisherman of a shark making the rounds off the Long Island coast has been viewed tens of thousands of times.

Alfred Allen took a video of what appears to be a shark at a beach in Riverhead Monday, July 15.

Alfred Allen took a video of what appears to be a shark at a beach in Riverhead Monday, July 15.

Photo Credit: Alfred Allen

It was spotted in Riverhead on Monday, July 15 had 40,000-plus views Wednesday evening, July 17.

Alfred Allen is a New York State licensed fishing guide and owner of  Long Island Stripers Surfcasting Guide Services. He saw a fin sticking out of the water of what he believes was a shark around 7 p.m. and shot the video.

"I had just pulled up on the boat ramps in my Jeep and saw something that caught my eye but it went out of sight briefly. As I got out of my vehicle some fisherman on the ramp saw it too and it was definitely a shark fin headed toward the bathing area," he told Daily Voice.

Other people around starting yelling for people to get out of the water. It was hot and there were "plenty of people on the beach who saw it," he said.

"It started heading for really shallow water and I tried to see its body but couldn't. I felt at that point it was acting strange, disorientated. It headed back out and turned back toward the ramps and after it passed by it came up for the 30 seconds that I shot. It then hung around some rocks, again in pretty shallow water, before it went out of sight. I left soon after that."

Allen thinks the shark may have been injured or sick. Someone from the Department of Environmental Conservation called him, likely from hearing about the shark sighting through social media.

"It may have been a juvenile that was just acting dumb," he said. "It didn't seem to be feeding and never posed a threat but it sure has gotten a lot of people excited."

The DEC official asked him to fill out a "shark sighting" report.

Seeing a shark so close to the beach is a first for him, Allen said.

"I have lived and fished near the same beach since 1986. never saw a shark finning in the Sound near the shoreline."

Click here to see the shark video

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