Herring Gulls on Display: An Awareness Campaign at De Ploate Hostel

11/07/2024

As part of an ongoing research project about how rooftop breeding impacts the reproductive success of Herring gulls, nests on the rooftops of several buildings in Ostend, including youth hostel De Ploate, are being studied throughout the entire breeding season. De Ploate embraced this project not only for its research purposes, but also to launch a unique awareness campaign, sharing the wonders of the Belgian coastal wildlife with the guests of the youth hostel. They installed wildlife cameras on their rooftop to capture the entire nesting and chick-rearing process, streaming it live on a screen in the hostel lobby. Guests had a front-row seat to the wonders of new life: from watching devoted parents incubate and guard their eggs to the first peeks of a newly hatched chick and ultimately, the first wingbeats of a young gull preparing to leave the nest. It’s a captivating story of new life and the resilience of nature, unfolding right before their eyes.