A video of a seagull caught “red handed” in the act of stealing a woman’s underwear has gone viral on TikTok.
The moment was shared in a clip posted by @eloisebeattie and had amassed 1.6 million views at the time of writing.
The camera, which appears to have been left on the sand facing the ocean, was capturing Carbis Bay, a beach in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The clip begins with a relatively serene beach scene, with a woman and a child seen distantly walking along a sandy coast under a bright blue sky. Then, a seagull suddenly appears in the frame, dragging a piece of clothing across the ground with its beak.
Text overlaid on the video says “little did I know as I was taking a lovely dip in the sea, a seagull would pull my dress out of my bag and steal my panties!!” The seagull appears to poke the garment around with its beak a few times before the clip ends.
A caption shared with the post says: “Caught him red handed. Unfortunately panties were not recovered:(“
Seagulls seen on beaches are most likely to be herring gulls, lesser black-backed gulls and great black-backed gulls, according to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), the animal charity based in the United Kingdom.
It’s unknown why the seagull in the viral clip was interested in the woman’s clothing, but “gulls are opportunists and will take advantage of whatever food they can find in their environment,” the RSPCA says.
“Snatching food is a behavior that gulls have learnt, and it’s reinforced every time they’re fed by the public,” the charity adds.
‘He Is Innocent’
Viewers on TikTok couldn’t get enough of the moment captured in the viral clip.
Ethanhanks02 said “That’s hilarious..” and M&M’s said “She thought it was fish. Poor baby.”
Maja said the seagull must have thought “that’s some weird fish but I’ll take it.”
User formalexorcism 🇨🇦 wrote: “What is this world coming to when our undergarments aren’t even safe from BIRDS?”
User cherrybons123 claimed “He is innocent I saw nothing,” and Tom Bombadillpickle agreed, noting “we didn’t see him steal anything on camera, hence NOT GUILTY.”
Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via TikTok. This video has not been independently verified.
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