The Science Behind Northport’s Gull Island
A tiny island near Northport with a gazillion gulls has a surprising science backstory. We head out with a research crew to hear the screeching up close, get pecked and learn how these gulls changed America. This Traverse Classic is featured in the May 2015 issue of
Note: In order to protect the colony of gulls and especially their young, there is absolutely no trespassing allowed on the island.
Like anybody else who has ever traced the Leelanau County coast north to Northport, I became curious about a tiny island that rises in the bay not far from the harbor. With the naked eye, I could make out remnants of a house there, just two chimneys rising from an otherwise barren scrape of land. I’d heard rumors of thousands of gulls that nested there, a colony that was so resilient it had outlasted the people who’d built the now-destroyed house.