Determined Herring Gull, Eastport (Map 37)

The mackerel are running in Eastport and lots of folks are fishing. So is this juvenile herring gull.

We watched fishermen cast their lines, reel in, sometimes with a line filled with four mackerel but usually empty. Cast, reel. Cast, reel. A young couple at the end of the pier worked to figure out what they were doing. Cast after cast, they came up empty. I heard her tell someone it was their first time fishing for mackerel and they didn’t really know what they were doing. A gentleman walked over to help them. A few minutes later they were casting again.

“Look!” someone yelled. “That seagull’s chasing a fish!” We watched it chase and lose the fish several times.



And then the excitement began. “HEY! THAT’S MY FISH!” The young woman at the end of the pier had something on her line. I thought she was excited about finally catching her fish. She was excited but it was because the gull was also catching her fish.

She leaned back hard and fast, pulling the string of mackerel away from the gull.

It caught up while she reeled in the slack line.

When it had its fish, it started to fly away. The fisherwoman leaned back hard again, yanking the fish and the gull back to the water.

The battle continued for a full minute. While she reeled in slack line, the gull tried to fly away with the fish. She leaned back, bringing them back to the water two more times.

This young gull has learned to be a thief early in life.

In the end, the young woman won and the juvenile herring gull flew. It settled in the water at the middle of the pier and watched other fishermen.