Whom did newspaper reporters in New York contact regarding shark attacks? Why did they contact this man?

In New York City, some newspaper reporters visited the office of Dr. Frederic Augustus Lucas, director of the American Museum of Natural History. Lucas had sent Dr. Nichols to the scene of the shark attack on Charles Bruder. The reporters had endless questions about man-eating sharks for Dr. Lucas. The reporters believed a knowledgeable man such as Lucas could accurately answer their questions about man-eating sharks.