Thousands of New York beachgoers were ordered out of the water on Thursday after two sharks were spotted swimming close to the shore in Long Island.

A lifeguard at Tobay Beach called police after spotting a shark swimming off of the beach, near Massapequa, around 11:50 a.m. The shark was moving from the east end to the west end of the beach. A Nassau County Police helicopter then spotted two 6-foot sharks swimming about 15 feet off the shore, reports WABC.

"It was a really big shark -- it was thin and long and it was scary," said beachgoer Wendy Stechman, according to NBC New York.

Danielle Frangas also said the shark sighting was "scary."

"We saw fins, we saw it swimming on the surface of the water, and we all kind of freaked out. It was going back and forth, and back and forth. It was scary," she said.

As a result, authorities cleared the water, forcing about 2,000 people to stay on the sand. The waters near Cedar and Overlook beaches were also put on alert as a precaution since the sharks were swimming in their direction.

Beachgoers were allowed back in the water around 3 p.m., just hours after the alarm.

In June, an 8-year-old boy suffered from a shark attack off the coast of North Carolina, just two weeks after three other children suffered from attacks off the state's coast.

Brady Noyes was bitten on his foot and leg by a shark while he was swimming about five blocks from a fishing pier at the Surf City beach. He was then treated for minor injuries at the scene. His parents also took him to a hospital as a precaution.

Although he survived with superficial injuries, news about the attack spread quickly in the town, which does not have an official lifeguard staff, WRAL.com reported.

According to Town Manager Larry Bergman, beachgoers swim "kind of at their own risk." Instead of hiring life guards, police officers and water-rescue-trained firefighters patrol the beaches on four-wheelers, he said.