Oak Harbor City Councilor Bryan Stucky posted this to his Facebook page on Feb. 18, 2026.
Last year I heard an awful lot of complaints about the smell/seagull poop at the downtown business close to the water during the nesting period. Beyond just the smell, there is also trash that gets spread, as well as large amount of seagull poo/dead seagulls that can cause health issues. Many may remember the issues Safeway had which were circulated over the local media.
A lot of those businesses have taken it upon themselves to find ways to encourage the seagulls go to elsewhere – Spikes on buildings, noise machines, the “Wacky inflatables” etc…They may help a little – but have clearly been overall ineffective.
This is a safe, humane way the city can help. This is just a short term pilot program to see how effective it will be. We will take a look at the results, and evaluate in the future.
