[Breaking news update, published at 11:06 a.m. ET]
Parks officials say Rockaway Beach park is closed to swimming and surfing Tuesday, one day after a woman was transported to a hospital after suffering an apparent shark bite near the beach in Queens, New York.
"As a safety precaution, Rockaway Beach will be closed to swimming & surfing today, August 8, due to recent shark activity," said NYC Parks on verified social media.
[Previous story, published at 11:56 p.m. ET, Monday]
A woman was transported to a hospital Monday after suffering an apparent shark bite near a beach in Queens, New York, officials said -- marking the latest in a spate of summer shark bites off the city's coastline.
Emergency personnel responded to the incident at Rockaway Beach shortly before 6 p.m. ET and found the woman had a serious leg injury, the New York City Fire Department said in a statement.
"All indications appear to be a shark bite," the statement said.
The woman -- who officials have yet to identify -- was taken to the Jamaica Hospital Medical Center and was in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries Monday night, the department said.
The injury comes about a month after a string of five likely shark attacks off of nearby Long Island, which prompted local officials to ramp up shark patrols.
The five non-life-threatening bites occurred within two days of one another and alarmed New York beachgoers. The spree of attacks also called to mind a similar series of non-fatal shark attacks last summer that triggered several New York beach closures.
Gavin Naylor, the director of the Florida Program for Shark Research, told CNN last month that swimmers can take precautions to avoid attacks.
"People should always swim in groups. They shouldn't swim too far from the shore, and they should particularly avoid bait fish," Naylor said.
The risk of being attacked by a shark is relatively low, with only 57 confirmed, unprovoked attacks worldwide last year, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History. Of those, 41 were in the United States, with eight non-fatal incidents in New York.
