With the Meeuwenteam we climb on the roof of a company in Ostend and what we get to see is downright amazing: everywhere Meeuwen, who come to make their nest here. But here in the industrial zone nobody is bothered by that.
Fabrice Goffin is ships of animal welfare in Ostend: “Outside the center it is less, there is no problem, as long as the companies accept that the seagulls can breed on their roofs.”
But the seagull team finds virtually no eggs and that is disturbing. Would anyone have removed eggs to chase the seagulls here? Destroying seagulls or nests is also illegal and can yield a big fine.
“If you drove away those seagulls, they will come to the center,” says Claude Velter of the Vogelopvangcentrum in Ostend. “These are 200 couples. There are also a 150 couples on other companies. If we chase them, they all end up in the centers of the cities and then it has become completely unlivable.”