A reminder and warning from Ocean City's mayor: Don't feed the seagulls

seagull
Photo credit PA Images/Sipa USA
OCEAN CITY, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — Don’t feed the seagulls — it’s the law in Ocean City. 

The shore town’s mayor, Jay Gillian, wants to remind people how important it is to follow the rules, as the seagulls have become “very aggressive” and people “must stop” giving them food.

But very quickly, it became clear during a visit to the boardwalk Monday that not feeding the birds may lessen the problem, but no matter what, the seagulls are going to eat.

Harrison Johnson, who was visiting from Philadelphia, fought off the birds while eating on a bench.  

“I’m trying to enjoy my fries and the seagulls want them more than we do," he said, as an even bigger onslaught of birds swarmed in. "Look, they just took people's pizza. I see at least 20 to 25 seagulls going after them."

They may look cute and innocent but Ocean City’s mayor says seagulls have become “very aggressive” and is reminding people on the boardwalk DO NOT feed the birds. It’s actually against the law here @KYWNewsradio pic.twitter.com/G3Ob6xVxFv

— Andrew Kramer (@Philly_Kramer) July 22, 2019

Kaitlyn Cullum was one of the victims who lost a slice.

"I left the counter with two slices of pizza and carrying the other slice, and the seagulls swooped down and took all of my pizza slices," Cullum said. "I picked them up off the ground because the seagulls aren't going to win today. I had to throw it away because the seagulls are gross."

Fortunately, Cullum's story has a happy ending.

Fred Liguori and his wife were walking by when this happened, and while he admits “it was pretty funny," they felt bad and bought Cullum and her friend some fresh slices.