Listening to it, keeping your eyes closed, it is difficult to believe that those shrill cries do not actually come from a seagull. But it’s like this: Cooper Wallace, a 9-year-old English boy, has learned to imitate the chirps of seagulls so perfectly that he has secured first place in the Europees Kampioenschap Meeuwenschreeuwen, the bizarre European seagull screeching championship that every year – the 2024 edition was the fourth – it is held in the Belgian coastal town of De Panne and rewards competitors who manage to imitate the call and behavior of seabirds in the most authentic way possible.
Three categories awaited the participants this year: in addition to the competitions for adults and children, there was also one “for a colony of seagulls”, in short for a group. Cooper defeated all 56 competitors: the “seagull boy”, who appeared on stage dressed as the protagonist of the successful cartoon version of Richard Bach’s novel, scored 92 points out of 100. There is no one like him. Hearing him while he performs is even disturbing. “It takes serious scientific observation to correctly imitate the calls of seagulls”, explain the promoters of the singular competition which, even if it seems like a bizarre idea, was born with very serious reasons.
“It is much more than just fun and entertainment – Jan Seys, a marine biologist and one of the judges, said in an interview with the BBC – our championship aims to arouse sympathy for seagulls, which are an essential element of our coasts but they are often maligned as ‘sea rats.’” Seys explains that these birds that the competition calls “the sound of the sea” have a fairly broad repertoire, ranging from alarm calls to those that make it clear that they don’t want intruders in theirs. territory The very young winner captured this variety perfectly, «in his performance Cooper managed to bring together different types of calls and each of them was incredibly similar to that of a real seagull. He was not only the best among the young participants. but the best of all those who took part in the championship”, declared the marine biologist. The rest of the jury, made up of seagull researchers and local politicians who deal with these types of animals, had the same impression.
For the “seagull boy” it all started when he was pecked by one of these birds while he was eating a tuna sandwich on a beach in Wales. If Peter Parker became “Spider-Man” after being bitten by a radioactive spider, he would have become “Seagull boy” after the seagull bite. So he started studying them and imitating their verses. Always with great respect, for him seagulls are “really nice animals” that “he likes for the noise they make”. But he still doesn’t feel entirely comfortable with them, as he explained in a post-race interview: “I’m still a little wary when it comes to eating on the beach.”
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