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Study finds fishing bycatch does not attract lesser black-backed gulls out of wind farms

Phys · · 845 words · By Royal Netherlands Institute
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What to know about Study finds fishing bycatch does not attract lesser black-backed gulls out of wind farms

A study by NIOZ ecologist Rosemarie Kentie and colleagues found that lesser black-backed gulls generally avoid a wind farm off the Zeeland coast, regardless of fishing activity in the surrounding area. The research, funded by Eneco and Rijkswaterstaat, aims to improve Collision Risk Models for seabirds.

Propaganda risk 0%
Claims checked 11
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center86%
Right14%

7 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Study finds fishing bycatch does not attract lesser black-backed gulls out of wind farms Sadie Harley Scientific Editor Andrew Zinin Lead Editor Lesser black-backed gulls from the colony on the Dutch island of Neeltje Jans appear to avoid the wind farm off…

Why it matters

NIOZ ecologist Rosemarie Kentie and her colleagues suspected the gulls were attracted by fishing boats outside the wind farm and the bycatch thrown overboard.

Common ground

This turned out not to be the case: Even during weekends, when there is little fishing, the birds rarely visit the wind farm.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

A study by NIOZ ecologist Rosemarie Kentie and colleagues found that lesser black-backed gulls generally avoid a wind farm off the Zeeland coast, regardless of fishing activity in the surrounding area. The research, funded by Eneco and Rijkswaterstaat, aims to improve Collision Risk Models for seabirds.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-06-fishing-bycatch-lesser-black-gulls.html

analyticsAnalysis

0%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 100%
Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 11 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

verified Verified 4
info Single Source 2
help Insufficient Evidence 2
schedule Pending 1
check_circle Corroborated 1
verified Verified By Reference 1
schedule
Claim 1: “Rosemarie Kentie et al, Offshore wind farm avoidance by a discard‐feeding seabird is independent of local fishing activity, Journal of Animal Ecology (2026). DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.70279”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
info
Claim 2: “Before, during and after the breeding season, they were found to spend more time around fishing vessels than in the wind farm, where fishing is prohibited.”
SINGLE SOURCE
While web search results mention the general study and the avoidance of wind farms, the specific detail about spending more time around fishing vessels than in the wind farm throughout the breeding cycle is not independently corroborated across multiple distinct sources in the provided evidence.
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web search NEUTRAL — Lesser black-backed gulls from the colony at the Dutch island Neeltje Jans appear to avoid the wind farm off the Zeeland coast, with the exception of some males.
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1131028
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web search NEUTRAL — Lesser black-backed gull, offshore wind farm, seabird avoidance, GPS tracking, collision risk, Step Selection Analysis, marine ecology, renewable energy, fishing activity, behavioral ecology, spatial …
https://bioengineer.org/lesser-black-backed-gulls-unaffected…
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web search NEUTRAL — Adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls Larus fuscus were followed during the breeding season using a high-resolution GPS tracking system. Little is known about the foraging movements of these birds and what …
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229982579_Riding_th…
verified
Claim 3: “Lesser black-backed gulls from the colony on the Dutch island of Neeltje Jans appear to avoid the wind farm off the Zeeland coast, with the exception of some males.”
VERIFIED
Web search results explicitly state that lesser black-backed gulls from Neeltje Jans avoid the Zeeland coast wind farm, except for some males.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The following is a list of amusement parks in Europe sorted by region.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_amusement_parks_in_Eur…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — In coastal and environmental engineering, the closure of tidal inlets entails the deliberate prevention of the entry of seawater through inlets into inland areas, through the use of fill material and …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Closure_of_tidal_inlets
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web search NEUTRAL — Feb 17, 2011 · Facebook will not allow developers pre-fill messages. Developers may customize the story by providing OG meta tags, but it's up to the user to fill the message. This is only possible if…
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5023602/facebook-share-l…
+ 2 more evidence sources
help
Claim 4: “Along with terns and cormorants, gulls are the only seabirds that breed in the Netherlands.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided in the search results to verify the breeding status of seabirds in the Netherlands.
help
Claim 5: “Eneco, the wind farm owner, and Rijkswaterstaat, responsible for research into the effects of wind at sea, funded the research.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results regarding the funding by Eneco and Rijkswaterstaat.
check_circle
Claim 6: “Kentie, who collaborated with ecologists from Waardenburg Ecology, the Flemish INBO, IBED at the University of Amsterdam, Deltamilieu Projecten and Buijs Eco Consult”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results (LinkedIn and NIOZ profiles) confirm Rosemarie Kentie's collaborations with the University of Amsterdam (IBED), Waardenburg Ecology, and mentions of Deltamilieu Projecten and Buijs Eco Consult.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Deltamilieu Projecten and Buijs Eco Consult B.V.. They gave 58 lesser black-backed gulls from the colony at Neeltje Jans, Zeeland, a gps tracker to see if and when they entered the wind farm off the Z…
https://nl.linkedin.com/in/rosemarie-kentie-94082256
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web search NEUTRAL — About NIOZOrganisationStaffRoos Kentie. Email address. rosemarie.kentie@nioz.nl. Phone number.Using GPS tracking, in colaboration with the University of Amsterdam and Waardenburg Ecology, I study Nort…
https://www.nioz.nl/en/about/organisation/staff/roos-kentie
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web search NEUTRAL — University of Amsterdam. IBED.Rosemarie Kentie. The adult sex ratio (ASR) is a crucial component of the ecological and evolutionary forces shaping the dynamics of a population.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rosemarie-Kentie
verified
Claim 7: “There's a gull from Texel known to fly back and forth to Amsterdam every day, 100 kilometers (62 miles) away.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Web search results discuss the migration and distance of lesser black-backed gulls in the Netherlands, but none specifically mention a gull from Texel flying daily to Amsterdam.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Texel International Airport (ICAO: EHTX) is a small airport located 3.5 NM (6.5 km; 4.0 mi) north northeast of Den Burg on the island of Texel in the north of the Netherlands. It has a customs service…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texel_International_Airport
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Zuiderzee or Zuider Zee (Dutch: [ˌzœydərˈzeː] ; old spelling Zuyderzee or Zuyder Zee), historically called Lake Almere and Lake Flevo, was a shallow bay of the North Sea in the northwest of the Ne…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zuiderzee
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — North Holland (Dutch: Noord-Holland, pronounced [ˌnoːrt ˈɦɔlɑnt] ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Holland
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
Claim 8: “Some males, in fact, were attracted to the wind farm frequently during and after the breeding season.”
VERIFIED
Web search results explicitly state that some males were attracted to the wind farm frequently during and after the breeding season.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Lesser black-backed gulls from the colony at the Dutch island Neeltje Jans appear to avoid the wind farm off the Zeeland coast, with the exception of some males.Some males, in fact, were attracted to …
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1131028
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Lesser black-backed gull, offshore wind farm, seabird avoidance, GPS tracking, collision risk, Step Selection Analysis, marine ecology, renewable energy, fishing activity, behavioral ecology, spatial …
https://bioengineer.org/lesser-black-backed-gulls-unaffected…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Movements during three non‐breeding seasons; v. Behaviour within offshore wind farms and avoidance. This report covers objectives i‐iv, with additional outputs provided as scientific papers.
https://tethys.pnnl.gov/publications/assessing-movements-les…
verified
Claim 9: “They published their findings in the Journal of Animal Ecology.”
VERIFIED
Web search results explicitly state that the findings were published in the Journal of Animal Ecology, and Wikipedia confirms the existence of this journal.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Animal Behaviour is a double-blind peer-reviewed scientific journal established in 1953 as The British Journal of Animal Behaviour, before obtaining its current title in 1958. It is published monthly …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_Behaviour_(journal)
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Journal of Animal Ecology is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal publishing research in all areas of animal ecology. It began publication in 1932, and as such is the second oldest journal o…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_of_Animal_Ecology
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Journal of Ecology is a bimonthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering all aspects of the ecology of plants. It was established in 1913 and is published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Br…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_of_Ecology
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
Claim 10: “Rosemarie Kentie fitted 58 lesser black-backed gulls (Larus fuscus) with GPS transmitters”
VERIFIED
Web search results confirm that Roos (Rosemarie) Kentie fitted 58 lesser black-backed gulls (Larus fuscus) with GPS transmitters.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Rosemarie Kentie · Rob S. A. van ... GPS tracking data from 34 juvenile lesser black-backed gulls (Larus fuscus) ...
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Diagram-representing-the…
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web search NEUTRAL — Jun 8, 2026 ... Roos Kentie fitted 58 lesser black-backed gulls (Larus fuscus) with GPS transmitters to see if and when they entered the wind farm off the ...
https://www.nioz.nl/en/news-and-blogs/news/fishing-does-not-…
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web search NEUTRAL — Jan 14, 2015 ... We report on a trial of three different harness types (leg-loop, body and wing) for attaching GPS devices to Lesser Black-backed Gulls Larus ...
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271072959_A_trial_o…
info
Claim 11: “And a gull that breeds on the Maasvlakte and goes to Utrecht every day, a comparable distance.”
SINGLE SOURCE
Web search results mention gulls breeding on the Maasvlakte, but there is no evidence provided regarding a specific gull traveling daily to Utrecht.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Oct 4, 2023 ... The population increase of Lesser Black-backed Gulls in The Netherlands triggered investigations into life-history, migratory movements and ...
https://bioone.org/journals/ardea/volume-112/issue-1/arde.20…
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web search NEUTRAL — Some Lesser Black·backed Gulls nesting in the Netherlands are darker on the upperparts than is normal for graellsii (eg see Plate 16), hence this population is ...
https://gull-research.org/lbbg3cyb/lbbg3cyjune.html
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web search NEUTRAL — Spread out over sub-colonies in Europoort and Maasvlakte, the PoR colony consists of approximately 24 150 breeding pairs of Lesser Black-backed Gulls and 3100 ...
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00063657.2016.1…
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.