If you visit the beach, you will know the havoc that seagulls and other birds can cause.
First, if you're eating, the birds always seem to be circling, waiting for you to look away from your plate. Sometimes birds can be incredibly aggressive, dive-bombing your table or literally trying to take food out of your hands.
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Having birds around is also difficult because birds do not practice any type of good bathroom hygiene. They go wherever they are and their stuff can create messy seats and tables and/or end up in your food.
And although some people say it's good luck when a bird poops on you, few actually believe it.
A Royal Caribbean crew member, Bryan James, a guitarist for the cruise line, shared how birds are kept away from cruise ships when they are in port. It's actually a pretty clever method that you may not have even noticed when you're on board.
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This is how Royal Caribbean keeps birds away
Transcription:
A little-known fact about cruise ships is that they play bird sounds through the speakers so other birds don't land all over the ship. And there are dozens and dozens flying everywhere right now.
I guess it's like eagle sounds or, I don't know, dinosaur sounds that keep them away because if it were seagulls that were making the sound too, I feel like they would want to join them and be their friends.
So the speakers look like this. They are like megaphones placed all over the front of the boat and are quite loud.
They're in a place where a lot of people just don't hang out, so I guess you don't really notice, but whoever thought of this, genius!
Royal Caribbean has one more trick
What James didn't share is that Royal Caribbean uses a different tactic on its Perfect Day at CocoCay private island.
If you look up when you are on the island, you will see false eagles “flying” over various parts of the island. This also apparently deters other birds from becoming a nuisance on the island.
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This tactic, however, is less successful, as anyone who has had lunch at one of the two main barbecue places in CocoCay knows. Some seagulls, perhaps the smartest ones, still hover around the food areas, waiting for people to leave their trays.
Because some passengers do not properly clean up after themselves, food is often left for the birds.
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