Woman Taking Picture on Beach Gets 'Violently Humbled' by Seagull

A video of a woman being unexpectedly photobombed while attempting to snap a food picture has gone viral on TikTok.

The moment was captured in a video posted by Abby McNeill (@abbyontour97) and has amassed over 141,000 views since it was shared on July 7. The incident unfolded in the Netherlands, according to the location pinned with the post.

A note overlaid on the clip reads: "POV [point of view]—holding your hot chips [fries] out to take a photo and you get violently humbled by the seagulls."

The footage shows a hand holding out a portion of fries topped with a side of mayonnaise in a paper cone against a beach backdrop. A seagull suddenly flies onto the scene and dives toward the hand, dipping its head into the fries, before the clip ends.

"Yes, I should have known better," the note across the screen says.

A caption shared with the post says: "Savage but absolutely my fault."

Seagulls can be a nuisance, especially during breeding season from April to August, but they are protected under the Nature Conservation Act, notes the website of the municipality of The Hague, the administrative capital of the Netherlands.

"Because seagulls are protected, you are not allowed to remove the eggs of the seagulls from their nest or to damage or destroy them. You are also not permitted to remove any seagull nests or to frighten the gulls on purpose. The municipality is also not allowed to do this," the website explains.

The seagulls spotted on beaches are most likely to be herring gulls, lesser black-backed gulls or great black-backed gulls, says the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), a charity based in the United Kingdom.

While they're typically found around the coast, many seagulls also live inland for some parts of the year. Some species are well-adapted to nesting in urban areas, which are often preferred by them because "there are fewer predators and a constant supply of food," according to the RSPCA.

The charity says: "Gulls are opportunists and will take advantage of whatever food they can find in their environment.

"Snatching food is a behavior that gulls have learnt, and it's reinforced every time they're fed by the public," it adds.

You should keep your food to yourself and try to use resealable food containers where possible to avoid feeding seagulls, the RSPCA advises.

'Worst Nightmare'

TikTok users were amused by the seagull's antics in the viral post.

"Seagull be like: hope you got your photo, because that's all you gonna get!" noted @sniege_kulikausk.

"This is my worst nightmare," said hannah and the original poster replied, "Was so embarrassing tbh [to be honest]."

BobaBola wrote "He even dipped it into the mayo" and the original poster replied, "He didn't even care I paid extra for it."

"It looks like you are literally offering it to the seagull," noted gadeba.

Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via TikTok. This video has not been independently verified.

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