Have you ever managed to eat a fish sandwich or a portion of chips undisturbed at the Alter Strom in Warnemünde or at the harbor promenade in Kiel? There are usually small thieves lurking nearby who will suddenly and quickly pounce on your food.
30 seagull attacks alone was registered by the operators of the “Wal-Standbar” in the first three days after the season opened in early June. And the trend is rising!
Curious: German seagulls are considered particularly aggressive and wittywhen it comes to hunting prey. And they seem to be much bolder than their counterparts in Italy. This is also shown by some crazy videos!
We humans are one of the reasons why the seagulls are so keen on our snacks! “When we feed seagulls, they eventually see human food as their natural right and grab it,” says behavioural researcher Enrico Alleva.
Seagulls look for other food sources
Seagull researcher Prof. Stefan Garthe from Kiel also points out that fishing has been declining for years and that landfills are being closed. Seagulls are forced to look for other sources of food. “And the difference between what is feeding and what is the ice cream cone that you carry in front of you is impossible for seagulls to differentiate,” says Garthe.
Cities like Kiel have already introduced a strict feeding ban. Anyone caught for the first time has to pay 50 euros. Notorious constant feeders are being fined up to 5000 euros in Warnemünde, Wismar and on Sylt.
Bar took out seagull insurance
The operators of the snack bars have long since reacted. Several have enlarged their roofs or put up extra umbrellas. And they also warn unsuspecting customers about seagull attacks. It is not uncommon for the birds to be clever enough to swoop down and steal the fried fish, leaving the startled tourist with nothing but the bread roll in his hand…
The “Whale Stand Bar” even took out seagull insurance. For every stolen dish there was a free replacement!
The phenomenon of so-called “gull gangs” is also known on England’s coasts. Herring gulls in particular regularly attack snack bars and have injured small dogs and even children.
A different picture can be seen in many places in Italy: At the famous beach of Anzio, about 60 kilometers south of Rome, residents and tourists describe the seagulls as exemplary, polite and reserved, reports the “Tagesspiegel”.
Behavioral researcher Enrico Alleva, however, explains this observation as follows: There are of course different types of seagulls. However, “in Rome itself they also behave quite aggressively,” says the expert.