Bangor Daily News interviews Shannon Prendiville on shark attacks on seals; 'Charleston Chew' on video

Shannon Prendiville, animal care technician at the UNE Marine Animal Rehabilitation Center (MARC), was interviewed at length in an Aug. 6th Bangor Daily News story and video on shark attacks on seals.

A injured seal, named "Charleston Chew" by center staff, became the object of media attention after it was found off Cape Elizabeth and brought to MARC last week with a number of shark bites, the same week that sharks were sighted off the coast of Wells and Boothbay Harbor.

Prendiville explained that "we see a handful [of seals with shark attack wounds] each year. I don’t think we’re seeing a particularly large number this year. We don’t want to scare people by saying there are sharks everywhere, and they can’t go into the water."

Prendiville said her center receives between 100 and 110 patients every year, and about 80 percent of those are seals of one kind or another — the rest are mostly sea turtles. Of the various kinds of seals admitted, a relatively small 5 percent to 10 percent have traumatic injuries caused by shark attacks or boat propellers. Read the entire story and watch a video of Prendiville and Charleston Chew.

WGME13 also did a short story on Chew. Watch the video.

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The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.