Some suggest Cecil has also lured his fellow seagulls — or “trainees,” as one person put it — into a life of beach crime.
A seagull (not Cecil) glides over the roof of Cape Pond Ice in Gloucester. Aram Boghosian for The Boston Globe, File
August 15, 2025 | 4:06 PM
2 minutes to read
Move over, sharks — there’s a new creature striking fear into the hearts of New England beachgoers this summer.
“Cecil the Seagull” has been terrorizing sunbathers and building a lengthy rap sheet at Waterford Beach Park in Connecticut, where he’s become “notorious for stealing sandwiches and biting fingers,” Waterford Recreation & Parks warned in a Facebook post last month.
“Cecil got himself two more sandwiches just yesterday,” the department wrote in a recap of his felonious follies. “His determination is amazing and of course his love of sandwiches has to be respected. With eyes like an Eagles, a hovering ability like a Hummingbird, waiting for the right moment to dive in like a Pelegrin Falcon then BAM!! there he is with another sandwich…..”
Park officials urged picknickers to secure their food and keep an eye on the sky, “because Cecil is something special. Also, we are worried about him eating too many carbs.”
The comments below the Waterford Recreation & Parks post shed further light on Cecil’s depravity.
“Cecil bit my 5 year old eating her sandwich!!” one commenter wrote.
“I have been personally victimized….he knows no shame and will go in your lunch bag,” another added.
Others suggested Cecil has also lured his fellow seagulls — or “trainees,” as one commenter put it — into a life of crime.
“We are getting word that Cecil has taken on other members in his gang,” Waterford Recreation & Parks confirmed in a later post. “Please help us by remaining vigilant and capturing photos to share with the public.”
Town officials have also put up signs warning beachgoers about Cecil. After all, as NBC Connecticut reporter Melissa Cooney put it, Cecil “takes food and no prisoners.”
“We did speak with animal control, and the reality is, it’s a wild animal, it’s causing no true harm, so there’s not much we can do but laugh along with him,” Waterford Recreation and Parks Program Coordinator Tim Cieplik told NBC Connecticut.
Cecil fled when Cooney attempted to chase him down for comment.
He’s not the only New England seagull to make headlines for wreaking havoc; a scourge of gulls prompted Sullivan’s Castle Island in South Boston to close its outdoor dining section for a period in 2023, while a Nantucket seagull took its theft once step further last summer by nabbing a man’s wallet.
Still, Cecil’s mischief has bemused some beachgoers.
“Some people will get mad, and they’ll try to throw things or try to make noise, or kids will chase it to get it to go away,” Waterford resident Terry Screen told local news outlet Fox 61. “But hey, he’s just trying to get a snack.”
“Cecil the Seagull” has been terrorizing beachgoers at Waterford Beach Park in Connecticut this summer. – Waterford Recreation & Parks
Abby Patkin is a general assignment news reporter whose work touches on public transit, crime, health, and everything in between. She has been covering the Karen Read murder case.
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