European Gull Screeching Championship Won by a 9-year-old UK Boy
Cooper Wallace, a nine-year-old Derbyshire child, won an international competition for impersonating a seagull, winning hearts and making headlines.
The judges and audience at the tournament in Belgium were captivated by his love of seabirds and his skill at duplicating their noises.
In an interview with the British publication The Times, Wallace said, “At first, my school friends found it annoying.” However, not just now. I completed it. All I wanted to do was create noise so I could remember that one pecked me. However, I like seagulls.
He said that he loved them because of their sounds and that they seemed like a very pleasant animal.
The small child, dressed as a seagull, made a lighthearted comparison between his predicament and the beginnings of Spider-Man. “Spider-Man got bit by a spider and turned into Spider-Man, and I got bit by a seagull, so now I am Seagull Boy,” he said.
In front of an enthusiastic crowd, competitors made their finest shrieking noises.
The small child’s exceptional achievement was praised by panel president and marine scientist Jan Seys.
He said that the winner’s performance had a variety of call kinds, all of which strikingly mimicked actual seagull calls.
Seys said that in addition to variety, the assessors take into account tone and rhythm.
