Beach managers on both U.S. coasts are tightening shark monitoring after a string of great-white sightings disrupted the July 4 holiday week. In New York City, the Parks Department cleared swimmers from Rockaway Beach for about a mile in each direction on July 6 after an FDNY drone filmed a shark near Beach 102nd Street. Similar drone detections on July 4 and 5, including one barely 100 feet from bathers, triggered hour-long closures at several Rockaway stretches. Farther north, Massachusetts officials confirmed the first great-white sighting off Woods Hole in more than two decades when two college students encountered and photographed a shark while paddleboarding near Stony Beach on July 4. The episode follows last year’s weeks-long shutdown of Crane Beach on the North Shore, where the Trustees of Reservations said on July 8 that they are deploying additional patrols and a shark-detection buoy for the 2025 season. On the West Coast, fishermen off La Jolla filmed a great white circling their boat during the same holiday weekend, adding to reports of increased activity off Southern California. Marine biologists say warmer waters and rebounding seal populations are drawing juvenile sharks closer to shore in several regions. Authorities from California to New England are relying more heavily on drones, dedicated patrols and real-time apps such as Sharktivity to warn swimmers. While shark attacks remain rare—28 unprovoked bites were recorded nationwide last year—officials advise beachgoers to heed closures and stay near lifeguards as peak summer crowds converge on the water.