BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – What began as bizarre bird behavior
has turned into something out of a horror film for threatened
whales in Argentina, where seagulls have learned that pecking at
the whales' backs can get them a regular seafood dinner. Seagull
attacks on southern right whales have become so common now that
authorities are planning to shoot the gulls in hopes of reducing
their population. Environmentalists say the plan is misguided
and that humans are the real problem, creating so much garbage
that the gull population has exploded. Both sides agree that the
gull attacks in one of the whales' prime birthing grounds is not
only threatening the marine mammals, but the region's tourism
industry as well, by turning whale-watching from a magical
experience into something sad and gruesome. Seagulls around the
city of Puerto Madryn discovered about a decade ago that by
pecking at the whales as they come up for air, they can create
open wounds. Then, each time the whales surface, it's dinner
time: Gulls swoop