Thug seagulls filmed causing chaos in Tenby in pincer attack on tourists eating outside pub

Wales Online

14-06-2025

Thug seagulls filmed causing chaos in Tenby in pincer attack on tourists eating outside pub
A video captured the well co-ordinated theft that happened in broad daylight and caused shouts and the sound of smashing items
There was chaos outside a Tenby pub when seagulls swooped down on a woman peacefully having some food on an outside table.
There was shouting and the sound of items crashing to the floor from the table as the large and brazen birds helped themselves to whatever was on there.
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For a number of years now seagulls have been a problem in Tenby, often swooping down to grab chips and other food items directly from people's hands or laps.
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Research in 2024 saw whichbingo create a list of the top spots to potentially have your grub pinched by a seagull and Tenby appeared at number 14.
The sight of a seagull swooping down onto an unattended plate outside the Lifeboat Tavern will only add to the growing list of videos shared on social media platforms of the food thieves in action.
The poor woman sitting at the table can be heard shouting with shock as up to five gulls swoop, steal, and even manage to break a glass, before a heroic diner at a nearby table rushes to shoo them away.
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Bird one has landed, bird two is on its way
(Image: Jo Ridout, WalesOnline )
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The tavern, located in Tenby's main high street and looking stunning painted in a rich shade of red, has been run by the same family since 2003 and is popular with local residents and visitors.
The establishment offers cocktails and coffee and is known for 'hearty homecooked food' which clearly also appeals to a more discerning seagull palette than a boring Greggs sausage roll from a few blocks up the street, or your regular ice cream from a beachside kiosk, stolen from you while sitting on the soft sands of South Beach.
Bird three is looking to land
(Image: Jo Ridout, WalesOnline )
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Of course, the Lifeboat Tavern is not the only place where seagulls roam, looking to find their next 'takeaway' meal, they can strike anywhere - a beer garden, a pavement alfresco dining area, or even just as you're strolling down the street enjoying your tasty food - until you're not because it's in the gull's mouth and flying away.
The popular Pembrokeshire coastal town has become potentially more famous than the only other Welsh location on the seagull attack list - Aberystwyth, Ceredigion appearing at number 12 - arguably because of a single gull who local people have named Steven Seagal.
Birds 3, 4 and 5 are circling above ready to swoop down
(Image: Jo Ridout, WalesOnline )
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Jan Riley, who works at the Pembrokeshire Pasty and Pie Company at St George's Street in Tenby, told WalesOnline all about Steven in 2024. She said: "We've got a church over the road and it's basically on the corner of the gate and it still sits there and waits until you pass and he's on you. It could be the same one because he's quite clever.
We watch him waiting there and he's hoping the people passing don't spot him. We do get it quite regularly because people come back and say: 'You'll never guess what, he's taken my pasty. It happens quite often."
Hero diner saves the day but not before the seagulls have smashed glasses as well as stolen leftover food
(Image: Jo Ridout, WalesOnline )
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Jonathan May at the Three Mariners Pub, which is directly opposite Steven's plinth, said: 'He's there right now. People love him. He's the most famous seagull in history.'
Seagull food stealing happens across the UK, from steak in Padstow to chicken takeaways in Swansea, not just at the 16 locations the research by whichbingo mentions, however the frequency of theft has led to the creation of a pecking order of places you're most likely to get a gull guzzling your grub.
Locations with the most seagull attacks 2024 according to research
1. Brighton, East Sussex
2. Blackpool, Lancashire
3. Scarborough, North Yorkshire
4. Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire
5. Padstow, Cornwall
6. Skegness, Lincolnshire
7. Wembury, Plymouth, Devon
8 Whitby, North Yorkshire
9. Filey, North Yorkshire
10. Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset
11. Portobello Beach, Edinburgh
12. Aberystwyth, Ceredigion
13. St Ives, Cornwall
14. Tenby, Pembrokeshire
15. Broadsands, Devon
16. Cromer Beach, Norfolk
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Seagull expert Prof Paul Graham at the University of Sussex told the BBC in 2024 that we should respect seagulls as "clever birds". "When we see behaviours we think of as mischievous or criminal - almost, we're seeing a really clever bird implementing very intelligent behaviour," he said.
Prof Graham added that when excluded from their natural habitats by human activities, species that could adapt to urban life, such as the herring gull, "have little choice but to move into urban areas to pick through our waste."
The perpetrators leave the scene of the crime
(Image: Jo Ridout, WalesOnline )
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Dr Neeltje Boogert, a research fellow in behavioural ecology at the University of Exeter, recently shared her tips on how to avoid seagulls stealing your food with The Daily Mail. She said: "Gulls need an easy or unobstructed approach and escape route if they're going to steal your food.
"They will approach from behind, which is blocked when you're standing against a wall, and they're not comfortable flying underneath roofs, parasols, umbrellas or bunting."
Dr Boogert also suggested wearing contrasting patterns and colours such as leopard print or black and white stripes.
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And if all that fails - try a staring contest. She added: "Gulls find the human gaze aversive and are less likely to approach your food when you're staring them down."