A strange phenomenon is unfolding on the mid-to-upper Chesapeake Bay. A realistic, but clearly fake, life-sized coyote is being spotted on boats, at events, and around iconic waterfront landmarks.
The coyote, designed to scare away birds that tend to leave their poop all over docks, was installed at Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse back in January. The coyote decoy worked just like lighthouse manager John Potvin hoped, warding off messy seagulls from the lighthouse landing dock. The public voted in a Naptown Scoop contest to name the decoy “Drew”, after Captain Drew Payne of Big Worm Fishing Charters, who had the idea in the first place.
Drew kept watch over the lighthouse dock all year, until Tropical Storm Debby came up the Bay and through Annapolis on Aug. 9th. The lighthouse is in a very vulnerable position for a storm like Debby comes up. With 150 miles of fetch, the storm had plenty of space to build up. Its powerful waves reached six feet and the tide was unusually high, creating dangerous conditions for Drew and the Thomas Point Light.
When Potvin checked on the lighthouse via live feed from the cameras mounted over the dock, he was startled to see that the dock was gone, and with it, Drew.
The dock had broken loose from the pilings and surfed nearly seven miles north, where it ended up near the mouth of Whitehall Creek. DNR found the dock and Drew and contacted David Sites, a local photographer who has made it his mission to capture the lighthouse every day for the last two years. Sites and his friend, Marc Fanelli, set out to rescue Drew. They secured the dock to a barge for safety until it could be retrieved.
The dock was later towed to shore by Potvin and members of the lighthouse crew. Because of the lighthouse tour season and previously scheduled tours, Potvin did not want to take the time to fully rebuild the dock which would fully delay any tours of the lighthouse. As a short-term solution, Mike Maguire of Maguire Marine Construction built a temporary dock in under three days and tours of the Light were able to continue.
Until a permanent dock can be built, there is no space for Drew on the smaller platform. In the meantime, Drew has been accompanying Sites on all his Chesapeake adventures.
Drew has already visited other lighthouses, being hoisted up into Baltimore Light and visiting Bloody Point Light, and Sandy Point Light. He has been to boat-docking competitions down the Bay, witnessed the salvage of the wrecked superyacht LoveBug outside the mouth of the West River, and has even flown above the Bay with Z-flight Parasail and Watersports out of Annapolis.
Drew has been on many other boats as well. He has visited the TowboatUS vessels helping with the LoveBug salvage, taken a cruise on the Schooner Woodwind, toured the Fragata Libertad tall ship from Argentina, and been carried aboard the Pride of Baltimore II.
Until the new lighthouse dock is built, who knows where on the Bay Drew the coyote will turn up next?
By James Ronayne/ All photos by David Sites
