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Oystercatchers are waging war on NYC's beach drones
- h2odragon 2y agodon't think I have ever met a calm, rational, reasonable seagull.
- klyrs 2y agoNext time, use your towel.
- rkagerer 2y agoBut they aren't seagulls, they're endangered American oystercatchers.
- bwestergard 2y agoRight, not gulls at all. Also, "seagull" is not an ornithologically useful term.
- peanut_worm 2y agoYeah I have heard lots of birders say that but its just a synonym for “gull”, I don’t see why its bad. They mostly live by the sea, seems fitting to me.
- bwestergard 2y agoIt's not a huge deal, but it misleading. Gulls are widespread over land. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ring-billed_Gull/maps-range https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ring-billed_Gull/maps-ra...
- dang 2y agoOk. we've replaced seagulls with oystercatchers in the title above. Thanks!
- averageRoyalty 2y agoI'm glad it's more accurate, but now I'm disappointed. The title has me picturing people in wetsuits with harpoons rising from the water and spearing drones out of the sky!
- kjkjadksj 2y agoNow the title reads like angry fisherman are fighting them. Why even editorialize the source headline?
- peanut_worm 2y agoOystercatchers aren’t endangered, they are pretty common. You can find them on any beach on the east coast pretty much.
- AnimalMuppet 2y agoUpdated: They're not actually seagulls. They're oystercatchers. > We have updated this post to reflect the fact that the birds in this story are not, in fact, seagulls. We regret the error, but also I am not an ornithologist, people.
- kirubakaran 2y ago> are not, in fact, seagulls Journalists are known to be gullible
- taneq 2y agoBoys or gulls, them's smashing pidgeons.
- nicwolff 2y agoLink to actual AP article instead of Gizmodo ad-bait: https://apnews.com/article/new-york-drones-shorebirds-beach-safety-c2cbfb6ca03f771082ff57a28701f915 https://apnews.com/article/new-york-drones-shorebirds-beach-... and, nominative determinism fans, don't miss "said David Bird, a professor of wildlife biology at McGill University"
- dang 2y agoThanks! Url changed from https://gizmodo.com/very-annoyed-seagulls-are-waging-war-on-nycs-beach-drones-2000469990 https://gizmodo.com/very-annoyed-seagulls-are-waging-war-on-....
- ilamont 2y agoSeagulls are underrated IMHO: * Very good at soaring, expending little energy compared to ducks and other waterbirds. * Can take off near vertically from water or land, without requiring a long runway like cormorants. * Highly intelligent including tool use (https://susancunninghambooks.com/blog/2018/8/23/the-secret-life-of-seagulls https://susancunninghambooks.com/blog/2018/8/23/the-secret-l...) * They will eat almost anything and will employ different techniques from hunting for live prey to opportunistic filching of dead fish and other animals' food. * They have an enourmous range and are very adaptable. One South American species nests in a waterless desert and brings water and food from the ocean to its young, a distance of up to 100km. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc331083/ https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc331083/) * Lifespan of many decades
- JohnMakin 2y agoAnecdotally, I'm pretty sure they keep a long memory and can recognize people like corvids are known to do - I used to work near the beach, and a particular seagull would fly up to me, and only me, for a period of about 2 years because I would give him food scraps. Never did it for any of my other coworkers. Was always amazed by that.
- Dunati 2y agoOne of my co-workers gave a seagull a tortilla one day (out the 5th floor window), and it ended up being our unofficial office mascot for years.
- bondarchuk 2y agoI gave a seagull some snack one day and next thing I knew there were a 100 swarming about me, would not recommend.
- olyjohn 2y agoGave a seagull some french fries at the beach. Flock shows up. People downwind were not pleased to be getting pooped on.
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- kwhitefoot 2y agoI hope the birds win.
- banish-m4 2y agoWhile tech advances are cool, I secretly do too. Like Mother Nature's vengeance and reminder that technology isn't invulnerable. Now if critters could just disable Russian tanks, the circle would be complete.
- jimnotgym 2y agoCould one train birds to be an anti drone defence, perhaps?
- inasio 2y agoSee Neal Stephenson's latest, Termination Shock. Eagles trained for drone hunting, with 3D-printed claw protections
- nozzlegear 2y agoAn excellent book, and exactly what I was thinking of as well.
- i_am_jl 2y agoSome police forces in the Netherlands were working with anti-drone eagles years ago, though with modern drones I'd be concerned about the eagles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00szWWrTNnE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00szWWrTNnE
- kjkjadksj 2y agoMaybe hire a falcon will be a service before long
- banish-m4 2y agoBirds of prey would probably be better at it and more trainable. I've see way more videos of hawks taking out drones than shore birds.
- averageRoyalty 2y ago> the city struggles to hire lifeguards to staff its beaches They don't go into detail, but surely a fleet of drones with life raft deployment capability is a lot more expensive than just hiring more lifeguards? I suspect if they put the drone budget into lifeguard pay, they'd find quickly they no longer have a problem recruiting.
- throwup238 2y agoWhere are they going to find them? Ocean lifeguarding isn't an easy certification that any kid can do out of high school like the Red Cross pool lifeguard stuff. Most of the people who have it live on the West coast or down south in Florida, where most of the training programs are. Why would they move up to NYC where the weather sucks, they can only work half the year, and the cost of living is through the roof?
- throwway120385 2y agoBecause the city would presumably be paying them a living wage for a full year's work.
- culopatin 2y agoBut that’s more expensive than the drones so here we are, no?
- throwway120385 2y agoYeah, I mean if that's your metric then so be it. I think people might be appalled because they value more than cost.
- culopatin 2y agoThat is the metric of people who handle money and have a budget. Which happens to be the people that make decisions in situations like these and many others. You can be appalled all you want but if your idea is not affordable by the city is just not gonna get done.
- freitzkriesler2 2y agoI hate quadcopter drones like you wouldn't believe. They're so annoying and invasive. I'm glad the birds are pushing back at least.
- peanut_worm 2y agoDrones are one of the worst things to happen to birdwatching
- blackeyeblitzar 2y agoI cannot stand it when people bring drones to what are supposed to be quiet, natural spaces. I see people flying them in parks all the time now. That buzz is very annoying on its own. But I also just do not like the idea that someone may be spying on me or members of my family. It just feels extra predatory when there are children under their cameras. I also don’t get why there is no enforcement, although I am guessing it comes down to mundane things like the politics of funding. I recently saw someone flying a drone at a ferry terminal. There are several signs saying that flying drones in the area is illegal per federal law (which was news to me). But it doesn’t matter when there is no one to enforce these laws - they might as well not exist. And as a private citizen, I always find it awkward to call people out on anything - whether it is a drone, or an off-leash dog, or whatever. Forget the awkwardness, some people can be aggressive. I want to be able to rely on public officers to enforce the law.
- crazygringo 2y agoThese are public beaches for recreation. And the drones aren't being flown by beachgoers, but by the city for public safety -- looking for sharks and swimmers that are too far out.
- kjkjadksj 2y agoThe entire article is about the potentially deleterious effect they are having on local birds. Right now its understudied and evidently not been used for rescues which puts the entire program into question.
- crazygringo 2y agoSure but the commenter I was replying to wasn't talking about any of that.
- JohnFen 2y agoYes, the sound of drones is very hard to tolerate. On the plus side, maybe the drones at the beach increase safety by discouraging people from going there.
- karaterobot 2y agoIf they don't have enough lifeguards on duty, how are the drones supposed to work? They find a person drowning, then communicate that to a life guard who is so far away they can't do anything about it? I get how they could spot sharks in the area and send a signal that can be followed up on, but a person drowning is a pretty time-sensitive situation, so if you don't have someone on hand, what do you do about it?
- crazygringo 2y agoIt explains in the article, it drops an inflatable raft. And then lifeguards have vehicles to get there as well. They're not limited to running on foot.
- kjkjadksj 2y agoHow does a raft administer cpr?
- kimixa 2y agoI guess the goal is that the drone can intervene before CPR is necessary. But there's always a limit in capabilities - providing better access to some help is clearly still of benefit, providing faster access to limited capabilities over a wider area may be a better end result than the same resources being used for higher capabilities, but more limited reach.
- gusgus01 2y agoThe same argument could be made in the other direction though. More, but worse, coverage could lead to behavioral changes that result in worse outcomes. Specifically, people feel more confident and go swimming when normally they'd only do so in lifeguarded waters. Really we need to wait and see what the data shows (if they review it), as the article states for now they haven't performed any rescues.
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- luna4151 2y ago[dead]
- elzbardico 2y agoMy hearth is with the seagulls here. Hope they develop a hatred towards blueetooth speakers too.