The Discovery Channel’s popular series “Shark Week” is inciting panic in New York beachgoers.
Lifeguards freaked out and shut down two sections of the beach at Long Island’s Robert Moses State Park early yesterday after they thought they saw one of the man-eaters.
For three hours, state Park Police searched high and low, but the “shark” turned out to be two dolphins lunching on bunker fish, authorities said.
Parks officials blamed the false alarm on the heightened awareness that inevitably follows the cable channel’s annual week of shark-related programming.
“We do receive a spike in shark-sighting reports every time,” said George Gorman, deputy director of the state Parks Department.
“Shark Week” aired last week Aug. 4 through Aug. 9.
Still, all possible shark sightings are taken seriously — and yesterday’s scare was no exception.
“They saw what looked to be a large fish in the water off of Field 3. It happens every year, but we can’t take the risk,” Gorman explained.
“We have to get everyone out of the water. We get the people out and react.”
The beaches were deemed shark free and reopened in the early afternoon, authorities said.
Last Saturday, Robert Moses State Park was hit with another bogus shark sighting.
Several hundred people had flocked to the beach for an afternoon swim, but they, too, suffered from “Shark Week” fever.
Surfers spotted a dark mass in the water that they believed was a shark and quickly reported it.
No shark was located, officials said.
Park Police still shut down the entire beach and searched in helicopters for the predators, but called off the hunt after an hour, authorities said.
The Discovery Channel has been hosting “Shark Week” since 1987. Some of its most frightening shows include “I Escaped Jaws,” “Shark Apocalypse” and “Spawn of Jaws.”
Last Wednesday, a dead baby shark was found riding the N line in Manhattan after someone tossed it onto the train in Brooklyn.