A woman was critically injured when a shark bit her on the leg while she was swimming off a New York City beach.

The 50-year-old woman was swimming off Rockaway Beach just before 6pm on Monday when the shark bit her on the left leg, the city’s parks department said.

Lifeguards pulled the woman from the water and administered first aid.

She was taken to Jamaica Hospital in a critical but stable condition with severe cuts to her thigh, a police spokesperson said.

Lifeguards cleared all swimmers from the water and the police used a helicopter to search the area for sharks but did not find any, the parks department said.

Rockaway Beach was closed to swimming and surfing on Tuesday as a precaution.

Experts say shark bites are extremely rare, with only 57 unprovoked bites last year, according to the University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File.

The shark bite occurred amid a rise in sightings at New York City and Long Island beaches due to factors including improved water quality and thriving populations of the bunker fish that sharks feed on.

The incident at Rockaway Beach was the first reported in recent memory, the parks department said.

There have been at least five instances of sharks biting swimmers and surfers at Long Island beaches this summer. There have been no deaths.