Why are seagull eggs sterilized on the coast?

It’s beautiful, a gull. When you are a tourist, passing through the coast. But for residents, these birds can be a real source of nuisance. The cries they utter during love parades, their droppings, their unfortunate tendency to steal everything that falls under their beak (laundry, cables …) and, also, their slightly spitting side exasperate those who live on the edge. of the sea.

“Over the years, populations of gabians [le nom occitan du goéland] are becoming too many, confide in 20 minutes the services of the municipality of Frontignan La Peyrade. This overcrowding inevitably leads to problems of cleanliness, hygiene and health security for the inhabitants. “The gulls are” strong enough “to” take out the trash bags from the baskets and disembowel them “, deplores the mayor of Palavas-les-Flots, Christian Jeanjean (LR). “And it strews dirt all over the place. Compactors are being installed to avoid this kind of inconvenience. “

By exemption from the State

In the Hérault, to try to regulate (a little) this invasive population, many communities of the littoral call upon specialized companies, which lead in the nests, campaigns of sterilization of the eggs of gulls. As the species is protected, they can only be carried out with a dispensation from the prefecture services. This is the case in the Land of Gold. But also in Mèze, Sète and Cap d’Agde. But also in Frontignan La Peyrade, where the operation began on April 15.

The eggs are thus coated with vegetable oil, usually twice, about ten days apart. This allows “that there is no more gas exchange between the egg and the outside, which prevents development”, because there is not the necessary oxygen, explains Camille Fraissard, project manager. to the Bird Protection League (LPO), which closely monitors these sterilizations. There is not yet, during this operation, a baby seagull in the egg: it is carried out “at the embryonic stage”.

An operation far from trivial

This sterilization thus makes the parents believe that the eggs will hatch, and allows them to continue to incubate them. If we do not destroy them directly, it is because this would immediately lead to new spawning. “This makes it possible to stabilize the gulls in a place, and to prevent them from moving, that they do a replacement laying a few meters away, often on the same building or nearby, which would cause new nuisances for the residents ”, continues Camille Fraissard.

In addition to this, you need to know more about it.

But sterilization of gull eggs should only be done as a last resort. Communities must, first, prevent gulls from having easy access to garbage, by adopting sound waste management, and prevent them from finding cozy shelters on buildings. Because this sterilization of gull eggs is far from trivial: it remains a “compromise” to find, between the protection of this species and the reduction of the nuisances it causes.