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Creative solution for scaring seagulls
With rig operating firms losing hundreds of thousands of pounds a day every time work is halted to clean up seagull droppings, as well as the risk posed to helicopters by the birds, an effective solution was desperately needed.The answer to this age-old problem has seemingly been found in the reinvention of an age-old invention with hi-tech solar powered scarecrows now being used by North Sea oil chiefs to scare away seagulls. As well as firing lasers, the £10,000 mannequins also play bird noises to deter the gulls when sensors are triggered.
One employee, who has worked on the rig for 30 years said; “I’ve spent half my life up there and I know how big a problem the birds are.
“They are unbelievable. Loads of things have been tried over the years but nothing’s worked like this. It is a game changer. It eradicated the problem.”
The aim of these state-of-the-art scarecrows, says creator Terry Christie, is to stop seagulls pooping on rigs and avoid potentially deadly collisions with helicopters heading for offshore platforms.
Terry’s Scaretech Global firm, based in Colchester, is now in talks to install the devices on two oil firm HQs in Aberdeen, and hopes to expand to North Sea platforms.