The day you see a coyote surfing on the Chesapeake Bay is a memorable one. That’s what happened on Friday, August 9, the day the remnants of Hurricane Debby hit Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse (TPSL).
The coyote first arrived at the lighthouse in early January. Knowing the TPSL crew had long suffered from bird dropping challenges, Captain Drew Payne of Big Worm Fishing Charters recommended to David Sites (TPSL volunteer and official photographer) that they try using a coyote decoy as he’d seen on the Southern Chesapeake.
Lighthouse manager John Potvin bought one for $80 on Amazon Prime. Following a naming contest by Naptown Scoop, the decoy was named Drew (in honor of Payne) and installed on the dock, where it became a beloved mascot and effective bird deterrent.
Fast forward to Debby. As the waters rose, Potvin monitored the lighthouse security cameras.
“Waves were six feet high,” he says. “Four pilings were keeping the dock captive. It floated up between the northernmost piling and the rocks… We think Drew was steering it out there. Drew went surfing for about seven miles and ended up near Whitehall Creek.”
The DNR contacted Sites to say that the dock had been located with Drew the Coyote and the swim ladder still attached. Sites headed over by boat to assess the situation.
“Because of the three-foot waves, the dock was coming up and disappearing. All you could see was Drew going up and down. It was hilarious,” he says.
Sites convinced McLean Contracting, whose team was working nearby, to secure the dock for the night. Potvin called Maguire Marine Construction, who built a temporary dock at a greatly discounted price by Wednesday.
At print time, Drew was living his best life, watching the sunrise from Sites’s porch and boating to destinations such as Baltimore Light, Bloody Point Light, and the sunken yacht Love Bug. Following the permanent dock installation in spring 2025—TPSL’s 150th anniversary year—Drew will be bolted to the TPSL dock to do what he does best: deter birds from “decorating” the docks and red lighthouse roof.
Learn more about TPSL at thomaspointshoallighthouse.org.