One sight as you cross over from the mainland to Thassos by ferry is the hand-feeding of the seagulls. The local population of gulls has realised that following the ferries across is an easy way to get some extra tasty pickings. Not only do they scavenge the fish brought up in the wake of the boat, but it has become a tradition for passengers to hand-feed them with morsels.

However, it should be noted that animal welfare organisations such as the UK’s RSPB and RSPCA warn that feeding gulls will not only lead to attacks but also feeding the birds an un-natural, high calorific, low nutritional diet is detrimental to their health as it can lead to long-term health problems and incurable syndromes such as “Angel Wing”.

Page 28 in the 2025 ‘A to Z Guide to Thassos’