- If you’re one of two people in the world that likes how seagulls sound, here’s an event for you.
Nobody likes seagulls, otherwise known as flying rats. But that’s a disservice to rats — at least rats can be cute.
Seagulls are borderline psychotic, filthy, and will swoop in to steal your fries or ice cream. And that’s without even mentioning the awful, awful noise they make.
Yet despite all this, a Belgian town has decided to honor the birds with a third seagull imitation contest.
The third European Gull Screeching Championship took place on April 23 in De Panne, in the very northwestern coastal corner of Belgium. And it wasn’t as small of an event as you might think.
Instead of a couple of weirdos screeching into a microphone, around 50 people showed up to try their skills. The contestants included both first-timers and seasoned gull-screaming veterans.
See? It’s not just America with bizarre traditions.
Scientifically Judged
Gull screeching is apparently not an activity to be taken lightly. According to the championship website, it’s not an art — it’s science.
“Scientific observation is requested if you want to imitate the sound of seagulls properly,” the organizers state.
Indeed, each contestant’s ear-shredding shriek was judged by what Reuters called a “professional” five-member jury. In total, they could hand out 100 points.
But the judges weren’t just listening to how authentically irritating the contestants sounded — that makes up only 75% of the score. The remaining 15% comes from the participants’ behavior.
That’s right. To get the full score, you have to sound like a seagull, act like a seagull — become a seagull!
Nobody received a full 100 points, so we assume that to score that high, you would have to physically transform into a bird on the stage. Perhaps that’s why many participants wore elaborate seagull costumes.
This year’s overall winner was 21-year-old Dutch architecture student Jarmo Slutter, who scored 89 points. The second place went to Belgian Maren Vancauwenberghe, who also received 89 points.
The difference in their performances that put Slutter above Vancauwenberghe? We’ll be damned if we know.
In the Juniors category (of course there’s a kid’s category), the winner was Belgian Marie Boon, with a score of 87. In the group competition, the winning team with 89 points came from the town of Anzegem in Belgium.
‘The Sound of the Sea’
But why? Why organize a competition about imitating flying vermin?
Well, the answer is pretty simple. The organizers don’t think that seagulls are vermin.
“Gulls are the sound of the sea. When at the sea, you always hear the screeching of seagulls,” the organizers write.
“They are acrobats in the air, giving you the time of your life. A gull screeching brings back good memories.”
We suppose that can be true. If you’re from a coast anywhere in the world, a gull’s shriek will probably remind you of home.
The competition also aims to improve seagulls’ image. And frankly, the birds are falling on hard times.
One of the reasons they flock to steal food from tourists and beachgoers is that their natural food sources are seriously depleted. Almost any beach worth visiting in the world is machine-cleaned of all of the natural garbage that gulls eat.
Additionally, humans have encroached on seagulls’ natural breeding grounds. As such, they have no choice but to seek new nest sites around our homes.
And finally, the 2022 bird flu epidemic resulted in the deaths of thousands of seagulls. A small victory, some might say, but the Gull Screeching Championship hosts don’t feel that way.
“We thought, why not get more sympathy for those seagulls because they are part of the coast? There is no coast without seagulls,” said Jan Seys, president of the championship jury and head of communications at Flanders Marine Institute.
They Do Serve a Purpose
Now, let no one accuse us of being seagull sympathizers. But the Gull Screeching Championship did inspire us to find out if these birds are actually good for something.
And they do indeed have their niche. Since they aren’t averse to eating garbage and filth — whether natural or man-made — they do play a significant role in keeping their environment clean.
Additionally, they may contribute to reducing the effects of climate change. Gulls flocking to garbage dumps eat stuff that otherwise would rot and release methane and other greenhouse gases.
Even their poop is important. Disgusting as gull crap-encrusted park benches are, their droppings — or guano, if you want to be fancy — is a natural fertilizer that contributes to plant health.
They can even save people. According to a story about the Miracle of the Gulls, a flock of seagulls saved the crops of Mormon settlers by devouring the locust swarm that threatened their fields.
And if nothing else, you do have to respect seagulls’ adaptability. Despite the recent setbacks, they’re doing really well at a time when an ever-increasing number of animals is heading toward extinction.
If only the birds weren’t so g*****n irritating.
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