为什么海鸥总喜欢“去码头整点薯条”？

在海边吃过快餐的人，大多都曾受到过海鸥的“骚扰”。有时候，上一秒你的薯条还在你身边，下一秒，它们就被海鸥抢走。

印着海鸥抢薯条照片的广告牌

2011年，外国网友Hannah Huxford在约克郡海岸的沿海小镇Bridlington就遇到了抢薯条吃的海鸥，并拍下了这张时机绝佳的照片，不久之后火遍全网。十年后，这张“去码头整点薯条的海鸥”的照片被谷歌买下，并出现在了许多地方的广告牌上。

Hannah Huxford encountered the fry-nabbing gull in Bridlington, a coastal town on the Yorkshire coast. Huxford snapped the well-timed photo on her iPhone in 2011; it went viral soon after. A decade later, the fry-stealing gull is appearing on billboards, as part of an advertising campaign for Google.

为什么海鸥对炸薯条等人类美食如此感兴趣？

《英国皇家学会开放科学》杂志曾在2020年发表的一项研究表明，如果在海鸥面前放两个物品，一个是人类动过的，一个是人类没动过的，那些被人动过的东西对海鸥来说更有吸引力。

Researchers recently discovered that food may actually become more attractive to gulls when the birds observe humans handling it first, according to a 2020 study published in the journal Royal Society Open Science.

意思就是说，海鸥会把人类处理的行为当作一个寻找食物的线索。更简单的解释就是， 海鸥和人一样，总觉得别人吃的才真香……

生活在城市环境中的海鸥，常常将人类与食物联系在一起——如人们留下的食物垃圾，以及人们在户外享用的食物。

英国埃克塞特大学共同参与该研究的生物科学研究员Laura Kelley表示，“我们的研究结果表明，海鸥更有可能接近它们看到人们掉落或放下的食物，因此，它们可能会将人们进食的区域与食物联系起来。”

Because the birds seem to be attracted to food items that they've watched humans touch, another of the study's authors, says that it's even more important to properly throw food waste and snack wrappers in the trash. "Our findings suggest that gulls are more likely to approach food that they have seen people drop or put down, so they may associate areas where people are eating with an easy meal," Dr. Laura Kelley said.

图片来源：GETTY IMAGES

那么，如果你想在海边一边欣赏美景，一边享用美食且不受海鸥的打扰的话，又该怎么办呢？

科学家们提出了一个非常简单的解决方案——盯着海鸥看。

2019年，研究人员在《生物学快报》杂志上报道称，海鸥能迅速靠近并抢夺无人看管的食物。但如果你一直盯着这些海鸥看，它们就有可能会马上心虚，然后偷偷溜走。

科学家们在康沃尔郡的海边接近了74只海鸥，并用装满薯条的袋子诱惑它们。其中，有19只海鸥出于好奇或饥饿逗留，科学家便将袋子放在地上，然后撤退到不远处，以蹲伏的姿势等待着，观察海鸥们是否会靠近。

The scientists approached 74 herring gulls in coastal towns in Cornwall, tempting them with weighted bags of fried potatoes. Only 19 gulls were curious or hungry enough to linger, allowing the scientists to place the bag on the ground and retreat a short distance away, waiting in a crouched position to see if a gull would approach.

科学家正在对海鸥进行实验

最终，他们的实验结果表明，如果附近有一个人密切注视着它们，那么海鸥在接近诱人的食物时就会更加谨慎小心。科学家们还发现，当海鸥们被盯着看时，它们对食物的兴趣也会比预期低得多。

Their experiments demonstrated that gulls were more cautious about approaching a tempting treat if there was a person nearby who was watching them closely. However, the scientists also found that far fewer of the birds than expected showed interest in investigating the food at all when being stared at.

此外，Goumas补充说，人们可以通过避开海鸥聚集的区域，并通过密切关注自己食物的方式来免受海鸥的抢夺。

In fact, people may be able to protect their lunches from gulls by avoiding areas where the birds tend to gather and keeping a closer eye on their meals, she added.

“海鸥给人们的印象不好，但其实它们和所有的动物一样，只是想生存下去，” Goumas说。“我们可以尝试通过改变自己的行为，来缓解与海鸥之间的冲突。

"Gulls have a bad reputation but, like all animals, they are just trying to survive," Goumas said. "We can try to alleviate the conflict we have with them by making changes in our own behavior."

编辑：陈月华

实习生：胡湛滢

综合：LiveScience Food&Wine