School’s in session.
Great white sharks swarmed the New York and New Jersey coasts at record levels this summer with an incredible number of apex predators also being born in the area, experts told The Post.
The region’s Atlantic shores have seen a marked increase in the creatures of “Jaws” fame — and a boom in all ocean life — which is turning casual swims into ocean safaris, according to sea-life non-profit OCEARCH.
“You guys are right in the heart of the white shark’s primary nursery,” said Chris Fischer, OCEANRCH founder and expedition leader. “These white shark pups are dropped off right there in New York-New Jersey … in the May to June timeframe every year.
“So what’s happening with the white sharks and increase in sightings is that the nursery is getting fuller and fuller.”
OCEARCH warned that folks walking from the shore are entering not placid waters but an “ocean safari.”
“We’re dealing with a situation where you step in our ocean you’re going deep into the wild in just a few steps,” Fischer said.
Great white sharks take 30 years to reach sexual maturity and female sharks produce a litter of roughly 8 pups every two years.
“We started protecting our white sharks about 30 years ago, so we’re just starting to get more and more mature animals that are having more and more babies that are filling up the nursery,” Fischer told The Post.
“We are really in the midst of this great return to abundance,” he said, adding, “Its the biggest story that no one is talking about in our oceans.”
The NYPD reported two separate shark incidents in consecutive days at Rockaway Beach on July 4 and 5, both of which prompted closures of the popular haunt.
One of the slippery beasts was spotted by NYPD drones to be just 100 feet away from Rockaway revelers in the area of Beach 113th and Beach 115th streets.
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