Disputed Islets Under Attack

The Liancourt Rocks (Dokdo/Takeshima), territorially disputed islets currently under the control of South Korean troops but claimed by Japan, are under attack:

(Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Hye-mi = Dokdo is experiencing an emergency because more than 10,000 black-tailed gulls are ceaselessly firing “shit bombs.”

At about 7:30 a.m. on the 13th, a research team from the Ministry of the Environment and Gyeongbuk University, together with reporters, left to conduct an ecological survey of Dokdo. At Ulleungdo’s Dodong Harbor, they boarded the sightseeing vessel, Sambong, and traveled for two and a half hours and 200 ri (87.4 km) to arrive at Dokdo, which stood up out of the East Sea like a mysterious island.

The waves were too high to disembark, so people just stood on the deck as the ship circled once around the island. Black-tailed gulls were not only sitting in flocks on the East and West Islands, they were also sitting on Chotdae Rock. Part of them were circling the island as if providing (air) cover. The more than 100 gulls that were flying over the ship in an attempt to snatch away crackers relentlessly speckled the deck white with “shit bombs.” Here and there passengers could be heard crying, “Yuck!”

The passengers could simply wipe off the excrement and be done with it, but Dokdo was another problem.

According to Bak Heu-cheon, Director of the Bird Research Center at Gyeongbuk University, Dokdo is an important bird-breeding area and a rest stop for birds moving in a north-south direction over the East Sea. He explained that black-tailed gulls are medium-sized gulls about 45 cm long with wings about 34 ~ 39 cm long. He said that between May and August, they flock to Dokdo to build nests and breed. They lay four to five eggs in one nest.

The white excrement of the gulls can now be seen all over the island. The research team explained that the acid-content (uric acid) of the excrement was so strong that if it concentrates on the groud, it makes it difficult for plants to grow.

Oh, the humanity. Read the full translation of this South Korean news article over at Dokdo-Or-Takeshima.