‘Sistine Seagull’ becomes Twitter superstar
The “Sistine Seagull”
As the world awaited the selection of a new pope, an unlikely superstar emerged in the form of a seagull.
Dubbed the "Sistine Seagull," the bird became a Twitter superstar after live cameras captured it perched atop the chimney of the Sistine Chapel.
The seagull had three Twitter accounts and counting as of midday — @SistineSeagull, @PapalSeagull and @PopeSeagull.
"Hanging out on the Sistine Chapel Chimney, livetweeting #conclave #newpope," read the first tweet from the Sistine Seagull account.
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A variety of memes have also sprung up.
Vatican TV appeared to try to draw attention away from the bird by lowering its live smokestack cam to capture only the bird's feet, but Twitter users were fascinated.
The BBC's Jon Sopel tweeted, "Loving the publicity seeking gull sitting on top of the Sistine Chapel chimney. Who's doing his PR? Genius #conclave"
"There's a seagull sitting on the Sistine Chapel chimney right now. Does this mean things are "terning" around inside?" joked John LeGloahec.