Here you see the Fishing Vessel Dear Abbie: and some of her groupies out and about last week despite the rain. The birds appear to be Herring Seagulls with a few Lesser Black-Backed Seagulls mixed in.
Fairly recently, research has found that seagulls and gannets can distinguish the design of a fishing trawler from that of vessels that are nonbeneficial to them. And, they often do so from as far away as seven miles and come thither.
While some optimistic seagulls will follow a fishing vessel that is not fishing, most are realistic and will not bother until the fishing starts. Nonetheless, the birds benefit from more than a boat’s discarded bait, scallop innards, and other gull gourmet items.
The churning wake of a vessel often roils small fish to the surface where they are easy picking for the birds. And, relatively fast moving vessels create a vacuum behind them in which seagulls can fly with greater ease and speed:
(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on December 22, 2021.)