It would seem the Ear has been exceedingly remiss in not reporting on the results of the European Gull Screeching Championship in April in De Panne, Belgium. The star of the day was the juvenile winner, a 9-year-old British boy named Cooper, the BBC says, whose sea gull impression is utterly uncanny, and scored 92 out of 100 points.

He was inspired to become Seagull Boy when he was nipped by a gull while eating a tuna sandwich (like when Peter Parker got bitten by a spider and became Spider-Man).

“I feel like they are a really nice animal, I like them because of their noise,” Cooper said. “Sometimes they can be a bit scary, and I’m still a bit wary of eating at the beach, so that’s why I eat in a small tent.”

The competition “is more than fun and entertainment,” said marine biologist and contest judge Jan Seyes, “it is also meant to elicit some sympathy for sea gulls, which are an essential element of our coasts, but are often maligned as ‘rats of the sea.’” (Photos: Petr Kratochvil/BBC)