Ebb & Flow
Peter K. Prybot
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Five workers at the busy Pigeon Cove Whole Foods at the Head of the Harbor have formed an unofficial new team — the Brothers of Mercy —there this summer that saves the lives of hooked and entangled seagulls.
"Brothers" Domenic Giovinco, Bob Anderton, David Coll and Al York, all members of the company's official Wharf Team, along with fellow Freezer Team member Bryan LeClair, have so far completed 10 successful mercy missions on the wharf this year.
The impacted gulls, many already emaciated and either hooked in the mouth, wing or foot, or entangled with monofilament fishing line that sometimes cuts right down to the bone or prevents food intake, journey to the Pigeon Cove Whole Foods' wharf for food, especially fish offal from its processing line that comes out in gurry vats.
"Some of the birds are so bad off, they just want a place to die," Anderton said.
"When they are sick, they will stand around a corner of a building alone," LeClair added.
Most of the hooked and entangled gulls have fallen victim to the baited hooks of increasing numbers of seasonal fishermen who cast their lines from the port's wharves or from their boats.
This problem is not new.
"It's wrong when a fisherman just cuts his line and doesn't make an effort to clear his gear from a bird," Anderton said. "I've snagged a gull before (while fishing for stripers). You just reel it in as gently as possible.
"Yeah, you're annoyed," he added, "but you should at least try to get the hook out."
Some of the hooked gulls also break the fishing lines during their escape attempts.
"The big question is (once you have spotted an impacted gull), can you catch it?" Coll explained.
Such gulls often land on or alongside the usually covered gurry vats lined up alongside the wharf during much of the day.
"If I see one," said Giovinco, "I'll get Bob or someone else and say, what do you think? Can we catch it?
"This is not just a one-person job," Giovinco added.
If the job is doable, "... when the moment is right, we'll throw a sweatshirt or blanket over the gull (to initially catch it and) to not hurt it further," he said.
Other times, they will either grab onto an unsuspecting gull that's busily competing with healthy birds atop a gurry pile, or if it's trailing a long fishing line, snag this and gently pull in the bird.
Once the bird is captured, one "brother" will hold the gull down while the other, aided by a knife and sometimes pliers, will remove the fishing gear.
"You have to watch out for that beak. It can get you even if you have cotton and rubber gloves on," said Giovinco. The birds will also go for the eyes if given the chance.
"Most of the time, the gull will try to bite you at first," Anderton said. "Once it realizes that you are helping it, the bird will calm right down."
"Once you free the bird, it will usually sit there for a while before taking off," Giovinco said. The "brothers" usually attempt to feed their latest mercy mission before sending it off.
So far this summer, "we've had three throat (hook removals), four (hooked) by their wings and three (hooked) by their feet," explained Giovinco.
One of the latter birds could only hop around on the ground, since a single hook came up through its left foot and down through its right foot.
They have even had some cases where the gulls "... are hooked so badly in their throats that we had to just cut the line (close to the hook) and hope that the bird can still swallow," Giovinco said.
The gull will live if it can eat. Many hooks on the market today are made of ordinary steel, and they will eventually rust out.
It's no secret that many Gloucester waterfront users consider gulls to be boisterous, pesky "flying rats" or "garbage disposals" that mess profusely on buildings, boats and vehicles.
So, not surprisingly, the "brothers" have also come upon deliberate acts of animal cruelty designed for a slow death.
"We've had zip-ties wrapped around their legs and even masking tape wound around their beaks," Giovinco said. "Come on. We all know they are pains in the butt, and they poop everywhere, but they are animals."
"I just feel bad for them the same way I would for one of my pets," York said.
"You see them hurting, and why not help? They are living creatures," LeClair said.
"You would think they (the freed birds) would thank you — and not crap on us all the time," Coll joked.
Gloucester lobsterman Peter K. Prybot writes regularly for the Times on the fishing industry and other local issues.
