In defence of seagulls
An icon of Kiwi summer.
Kia ora, welcome to Future Proof brought to you by AMP. I’m Ellen, thanks for joining me this week.
Image credit: Ellen Rykers.
One summer day a few years ago, soaking up the sun at the beach, I watched as a young tarāpunga red-billed gull begged for food from its parent. The dutiful parent opened its beak and proceeded to regurgitate an entire thick-cut hot chip, still intact, onto the sand. I was both mildly grossed out and impressed. A true feat of seagull* enterprise.
I was less impressed with anti-seagull commentary from RNZ’s Saturday Morning host, Susie Ferguson, who last weekend expressed her distaste for the birds she described as scavengers.
I prefer the terms “resourceful” and “food waste heroes”. We have modified our environments so much, pushing nature out, but then get upset when one species has the chutzpah to adapt and rifle through a bit of our slobby rubbish? Yes, they may be chip thieves with sneaky one-foot balancing skills, but this is part of their beach pirate charm. Watching a red-billed gull arch its neck and scream with rage after its rival wrestled away a sandwich crust is beach-watching hilarity only surpassed by watching someone topple off a stand-up paddleboard.
As the folks at the Predator Free New Zealand Trust point out, Aotearoa is actually home to three gull species. There are the big boy karoro black-backed gulls – I’ve seen one karoro unzip a beach bag to raid a bag of crisps, and another patrolling for unattended scroggin near the top of the Tongariro crossing. Tarāpuka black-billed gulls find homes in braided rivers and half-demolished office buildings.
Their cousins, tarāpunga red-billed gulls, are your classic seaside scallywags with sick dance moves. But they have a softer side too that is pure #CoupleGoals. As part of courtship, males will feed females tasty snacks. The couple will then share all co-parenting duties equally. At the Kaikōura breeding colony – monitored every year since 1964 by scientist Jim Mills – 83% of pairs will stay loved up from one season to the next. The longest known gull relationship lasted 17 years.
Although they may seem ubiquitous, tarāpuka and tarāpunga are in trouble, with both classified as At Risk – Declining (in contrast, North Island brown kiwi are “Not Threatened”). In the case of red-billed gulls, dramatic population declines since the 1960s have been driven by introduced predators and climate change-induced shifts in krill distribution (yes, the chippie thieves still rely on natural krill as part of their diet).
Seagulls are just doing their best in a world we’ve stuffed up, and you have to admire their talent for learning how to swindle snacks out of us. They’re a quintessential part of Kiwi summer, like Frujus and bread-clip jandals. Our coastlines would be boring and bland without them.
*Some bird nerds abhor the term “seagull” because not all gulls live near the sea (see: tarāpuka). I am not one of these birdsplainers, and embrace the colloquialism.
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AMP supports companies that are making a positive impact on the world while avoiding those that are causing harm. AMP is also working to reduce its own carbon footprint and achieve a net zero outcome by 2050 or sooner.
World’s migratory species in dire state
One-in-five migratory species listed under an international convention is threatened with extinction, a landmark UN report finds. Migratory species travel vast distances across national borders – including birds like kuaka bar-tailed godwits that fly between New Zealand and the Arctic, whales that swim thousands of kilometres, and eels that travel from our rivers all the way to Tonga to breed. Almost half (44%) of all species assessed are suffering population declines, while 75% are impacted by habitat loss and 70% by overexploitation. “International cooperation is needed to map and protect migratory sites and combat overexploitation,” says Nic Rawlence from the University of Otago. “If nothing changes, we will lose some of the biggest spectacles of the natural world.”
How to shrink your carbon footprint by 75%
The average New Zealander’s carbon footprint is about eight tonnes. In this episode of When the Facts Change, Bernard Hickey talks to writer, consultant and climate justice campaigner Emily Mabin Sutton about how to cut your personal carbon emissions down to just two tonnes – the level we need to stick within 1.5 °C of warming.
Environmental impact of AI under scrutiny
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) relies on data centres that churn through energy and water – but right now, it’s impossible to say exactly how many emissions your ChatGPT request generates. The International Organization for Standardization is set to release sustainable AI standards later this year. But by 2026, data centres worldwide are projected to consume roughly the same as Japan’s electricity consumption – around 1,000 terrawatts. These data centres don’t just fuel our growing AI appetite, but also other energy-guzzling activities like bitcoin mining.
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The Spinoff and Boring Oat Milk with the support from Coffee Supreme proudly presents Boring Breakfast - Wellington.
As a compact city with an outsized culinary reputation, Wellington has always taken hospitality very seriously. But as the city moves forward from the disruption of the early 2020s, how do those within the sector feel about its current state?
Join us as Boring Breakfast visits Te Whanganui-a-Tara for the very first time, with host Sophie Gilmour (Delicious Business) welcoming guests Douglas Johns (Coffee Supreme), Juno Miers and Thomas Adam (Margot) to discuss what they do, why they do it and their hopes for the city's hospo future.
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Image credit: Nima Sarikhani/Wildlife Photographer of the Year.
To finish this issue, this heart-melting photo of a polar bear napping on a chunk of ice has been voted the winner of Wildlife Photographer of the Year People’s Choice Award. Climate change is melting sea ice in the Arctic Sea, forcing polar bears onto land for a feed where they’re at risk of starvation, new research out this morning finds. Amateur photographer Nima Sarikhani, who snapped the shot near Svalbard, Norway, says, “This photograph has stirred strong emotions in many of those who have seen it. Whilst climate change is the biggest challenge we face, I hope that this photograph also inspires hope; there is still time to fix the mess we have caused.”
Climate change is just unbearable, so let’s keep it chill,
Ellen
Got some feedback about Future Proof or topics you’d like covered? Get in touch with me at futureproof@thespinoff.co.nz
Seagulls are so misunderstood and maligned. Susie Ferguson (although I didn't hear her comments), is being typically urban and arrogantly human. I know heaps of 'animal lovers' who only love animals that keep a respectful distance from them. As soon as an animal comes into 'your' space, it is instantly resented. Up here in Russell, the generally-rare weka is fairly common, but people hate them because they can dig up garden plants and - horror! - come into the house and leave a mess. There is no thought of the incredible privilege of living in such close proximity to a rare bird. I regard the Korero Black-backed gull almost as a totem animal. They are so canny, adaptable and resilent, such fine parents and so resourceful - all traits that we admire in human beings. I reckon that they are one bird who will still be around, even when we have trashed most of the planet, because they will learn and adapt. Gulls are brilliant birds.
I once rang a bird rescue place up in the far north, to help me with a gull I'd found with a broken wing. They laughed at me on the phone. Said 'but its just a gull'. I was mortified. What does that even mean??!!! It was a beautiful bird and needed help. Cant stand spp snobbery.