James Sulikowski sought out for shark expertise by 'Bangor Daily News' and 'Portland Press Herald'
James Sulikowski. Ph.D., professor of the Department of Marine Sciences, was cited as a shark expert in interviews with the Bangor Daily News and the Portland Press Herald following a series of shark sightings over the weekend.
In the Bangor Daily News article, Sulikowski explained that an increased presence of sharks in the state is positive news because it represents repopulation of a threatened species. Due to shark-hunting, great whites have struggled to recover their numbers, posing many concerns for researchers and marine experts over the years.
He continued by arguing that sharks help make the ecosystem stronger by illuminating sick or injured prey. 鈥淪harks keep the oceans clean and play important roles as apex predators,鈥 he stated.
In both articles, Sulikowski reported that the sharks sighted last weekend were most likely basking sharks, a large but non-threatening breed.
"Maine is a pretty sharky area," he noted in the Portland Press Herald article, listing several shark species, such as porbeagles, sand tigers, threshers and great whites, that can be found in Maine waters.
Sulikowski explained in both articles that even if the weekend shark sightings had been great whites, humans would likely not be threatened. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got a better chance of being bitten by another human being or a dog than a shark,鈥 he said.