‘Seagull Grandma’ Wishes for Birds’ Return

Since the country’s worst oil leak off the coast of Taean County in last December, an elderly lady identified only as “Kim” has gone out to the beach to see the horizon every day.

Owning a store 20 meters from the beach, Kim said she looks for seagulls. She even sings the famous Korean song “Seagulls in Busan” but uses the word “Taean” instead of “Busan.”

Unfortunately, Kim has not seen a seagull since late December last year. She had cause for hope around 20 days after the spill, when ten seagulls appeared in the sky. But they disappeared soon after.

Kim said she loves seagulls, earning the nickname “seagull grandma” from her neighbors. Whenever she held snacks in her hands and called out to the birds, hundreds of seagulls flew around her.

So how did the seagulls respond to the old lady’s overtures?

“Seagulls seemed to recognize her voice or body position,” said Kim’s neighbor Guk Yeong-ho.

Photographers used to ask Kim for help when taking close pictures of seagulls due to her reputation as the “seagull grandma.”

Kim has loved seagulls for a long time. She spent her childhood nearby Cheonsu Bay, where migratory birds visit every year. There, she became familiar with seagulls. Her mother used to tell her stories about seagulls every night.

The twittering she heard in nearby Mallipo after getting married even reminded her of the sound of the spinning wheel her mother used.

After her husband passed away in 1995, she grew even closer to seagulls.

“My husband was a warm-hearted person, but never came back after his death,” she said. “But seagulls are different. They always come back to me. Seagulls are better than human beings.”

Kim’s love for seagulls grew stronger with time. Whenever she found seagulls with broken wings, she took them to veterinary clinics and released them after treatment. She also fed them every two or three days in the clinics to help their recovery.

But seagulls around Taean County disappeared shortly after the oil spill on Dec. 7.

“Seagulls rarely come to the beach in winter when they have difficulty finding food there,” she said. “But they used to come back to this beach in relatively warm days. They’ve recently avoided this beach due to the oil smell, however.”

Choking back tears, she said, “They are finicky eaters like people. They don’t eat rotten fish guts. They are very sensitive to contamination.”

She even asked residents of neighboring islands such as Gaui and Ong to find out if seagulls had come back, all in vain.

“I hope sea gulls come back and fly again in nearby Mallipo beach,” she said.

mhjee@donga.com