Despite popular belief, sharks are perfectly capable of living in the waters of the estuary as well as the deeper waters near Sandy Hook. This would include the very small species to the giants, with 25 of them being recorded as indigenous to the waters of New York State in total. They were once fairly common to the estuary, as evidenced by records left behind by the Dutch describing them in a way that is unmistakable for any other family of fish, and cousins of sharks like the skates and rays never totally went extinct in the waters off New York or New Jersey. Among the rays and sharks, there are many nomadic species that migrate.