Rockaway Beach NY and surrounding areas were closed Saturday night after a shark washed on shore.

The six-foot-long shark caused officials to lock down the beach .

The New York Post reported Sunday that hundreds of beachgoers were forced to temporarily abandon the sandy locale after the shark was spotted near the shore.

After being spotted dangerously close to the shore, police and local authorities had the beach evacuated.

The fish had been seen earlier that day by a few beach-goers but nobody thought it would wash ashore. People tried to push it back into the water but with no success. People just stood around and watched as the shark died beating its fins on the sand. Nobody could help it.

Jose Saavedra, 35, said the shark continued to circle the area for hours, leading authorities to keep the beach closed until later that afternoon.

"I've never seen anything like it," Saavedra told the Post. "The shark was dark gray, and it was pretty big. It kept coming in and out of the shore."

"I'm from South Beach, in Miami, he added, and I've never seen anything like this."

The beach reopened this morning and parks commissioner Adrian Benepe says it is now safe to go back into the water.

This Sunday morning, the shark's lifeless body washed ashore and officials reopened the beach.