Seagull seeks sanctuary after strenuous struggle – with himself!

From this week’s Galway City Tribune – Claddagh Quay was the location of a most unusual melee over the weekend, where the culprit had to be detained for his own safety.

The altercation involved one fellow named Cube who staged a mighty battle against a great rival . . . himself.

Galway & Claddagh Swan Rescue volunteer Troy Gottfredson was called in when a Herring Gull could not contain himself with aggression when confronted by his own reflection on the giant reflective box called Mirror Pavilion installed as part of Galway International Arts Festival.

He seemed to have no interest whatsoever in the slow-moving straw boys depicted on the LED screen by artist John Gerrard.

His attention was purely avian.

“He was constantly attacking his own image in the cube. He was having a right good go at himself,” reveals the charity’s spokesperson Mary Joyce Glynn.

Troy carefully captured the gull and relocated him past the university. He was barely home when word got back from festival staff that the gull had returned. And this time he was even madder.

“They were worried he’d injured himself, so Troy went up again and caught him and this time he brought him to our sanctuary.”

Christened ‘Cube’ by Troy, the gull will remain at the waterside sanctuary at Lough Rusheen Park near Barna until September 26, when the installation moves to Derrygimlagh Bog near Ballyconneely.
This is a shortened preview version of this article. To read more on Cube’s story, see this week’s Galway City Tribune. You can buy a digital edition HERE.