It's been about a month since I have been able to visit my new boat, which I did over the weekend. The problem is I have two hatchlings living near the cockpit. Momma seagull was not happy when I boarded but she did not attack me. Yelled at me a whole lot.

The question I have, do I just let them stay till they can fly or can I bring them somewhere to grow till they can fly?

My deck and topsides need a good scrub,but I didn't want to spray or scrub anything, as to not endanger them, So, till I can evict them or they can fly on there own, my boat remains a very dirty and may attract NSW maritime .

Seagulls are not endangered but actually are way too high in population. They are only found in the numbers we see them in urban areas where they can scavenge for food. Go cruising and they are rare. If you had an osprey or tern or a rare bird on your boat then I would say be nice. But seagulls are like rats, they breed more because other people feed them food. They they attack other species and drive them away from their local zones. You don't have to be nice at all to seagulls. Scrub away with a waterblaster would be good.

Not sure how it is in other states but here in WA they are a protected species, which is government speak for not endangered, but you still can't run around culling them. The government does that for you.

but I wouldn't think relocating the nest/hatchlings ashore somewhere safe could be regarded as doing them harm. Only danger there is the mother may abandon them after human contact, but no physical harm caused by you. Best course of action might be to look up the government body responsible for wildlife in your state and see what they've got to say about the situation, that's if you care enough about it to leave them be if necessary.

i do agree with Kankama, they are a pest, same as rats. They thrive from scavenging off humans, and can reach plague proportions if left unchecked.

A mate was in exactly the same situation, he made a nice nest for the hatchlings in the anchor well and carefully relocated them, they immediately ran off jumped overboard and were instantly picked off by a eagle !

I have a swallows nest on the davit under the solar panel with a baby in it. National Parks said I need a licence to move or harm to do anything about it while there's a baby or eggs in the nest.

I had wood swallows nesting in the boom bag & I was happy to leave them because they kept the gulls away, sometimes got a bit shirty with me but came to understand I wasn't going to eat their baby's and tolerated me

Select to expand quote

fretbrner said..
It's been about a month since I have been able to visit my new boat, which I did over the weekend. The problem is I have two hatchlings living near the cockpit. Momma seagull was not happy when I boarded but she did not attack me. Yelled at me a whole lot.

The question I have, do I just let them stay till they can fly or can I bring them somewhere to grow till they can fly?

My deck and topsides need a good scrub,but I didn't want to spray or scrub anything, as to not endanger them, So, till I can evict them or they can fly on there own, my boat remains a very dirty and may attract NSW maritime .

Do what ever you have to do to regain control of your stuff, it's yours not theirs,,, just don't post anything more about the subject..

Select to expand quote

troubadour said..
I have a swallows nest on the davit under the solar panel with a baby in it. National Parks said I need a licence to move or harm to do anything about it while there's a baby or eggs in the nest.

Take your boat out and put the sails up in a good blow.

Select to expand quote

Kankama said..

troubadour said..
I have a swallows nest on the davit under the solar panel with a baby in it. National Parks said I need a licence to move or harm to do anything about it while there's a baby or eggs in the nest.

Take your boat out and put the sails up in a good blow.

Did that last Wednesday for the weekly twilight race and will do it again this afternoon. Hopefully the little bugger grows some wings and flies off.