Seagull Program: First Ocean City, Then The World?

OCEAN CITY, NJ — Ocean City's mayor and business administrator approached the owner of East Coast Falcons in July with urgency.

Mayor Jay Gillian and Business Administrator George Savastano wanted to try implementing the seagull-abatement program in a week. East Coast Falcons owner Erik Swanson said it usually takes six months to a year to prepare.

Nonetheless, the program seemed to work. And Ocean City officials praised how people around the country and the world have taken notice.

Swanson spoke at Ocean City Council's meeting Thursday with his owl, Ozzy, on his hand. In what might be a first in city history, Ozzy used the City Hall floor as his bathroom. Perhaps Ozzy earned that, given how much officials have praised the program's birds.

"What I’m happiest about is that I get phone calls from grandparents saying, ‘I can bring my kids out. I’m not scared of them walking the Boardwalk. I’m not scared of them walking down Asbury Avenue,’" Gillian said.

The Humane Society of Ocean City approved of the program before the City implemented it. But the concept of letting falcons, hawks and an owl scare away seagulls drew some environmental concerns from constituents.

Although Swanson said he can't make any promises, he claimed his GPS-tracked birds haven't captured or killed any gulls so far.

Read more: Ocean City Invites More Birds To Counter Seagulls

Swanson and city officials believe that no other East Coast shore town has implemented this type of program. It's garnered Ocean City plenty of attention.

Swanson said several other towns have reached out to him about implementing this program. Ocean City Public Information Officer Doug Bergen said at Thursday's meeting that he's seen coverage about Ocean City's seagull abatement from media on different continents.

"If you tried to calculate the value of that kind of exposure, I’d say it would amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars, certainly exceeding the amount of money we’ve spent," Bergen said.

The program costs Ocean City $2,100 per day, which will total $65,000 overall for its use through Labor Day Weekend.

East Coast Falcons utilizes six or seven birds in Ocean City, Swanson said. The falcons fly first thing in the morning and cover the whole island. The hawks scout the beach, Boardwalk and individual areas. Ozzy the owl covers the night shift.

Swanson admitted that when Ocean City officials called him, he giggled. Could it really be that bad, he thought. Then he visited Ocean City and realized the problem was no exaggeration.

Officials, residents and visitors dealt with seagulls aggressively pursuing people's food throughout the years, sometimes injuring humans in the process. Gillian warned people in July not to feed seagulls. Ocean City's gulls became reliant on the unnatural food source, he said.

The seagull discussion isn't over. Following Labor Day, Ocean City officials will decide on the program's use next summer. Gillian says he will also sit with Boardwalk merchants and discuss them using closed containers for food.

But the early results look encouraging, Swanson said. A 20-year resident told Swanson that he saw seagulls fishing in the ocean for the first time in this town, the owner said.

"I never realized that eating pizza or French fries on a boardwalk could be that important to somebody," Swanson said.

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