Residents there have complained that flooding from the Great South Bay along Fire Island's northern shoreline has been more frequent and severe since Sandy.

WSJ: The Fire Island Blues

So shark experts Neil Hammerschlag of the University of Miami in Florida, US, and Aiden Martin of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, decided to study the predatory habits of great white sharks hunting off Seal Island, in False Bay, South Africa.

BBC: Earth News - Great whites 'plan' seal attacks

The nearest confirmed sighting of a Great White to the South West coast has been 200 miles away in the Bay of Biscay.

BBC: 'Great White Shark' spotted