Freedom—July 23, 2025—Members of the Ossipee Lake community say they’re frustrated by the state’s actions in a recent loon harassment incident.

Volunteer loon advocate Dennis Gould said he received a call on July 3 from a couple in a boat who saw a jet skier deliberately swamp a pair of loons and their chicks in Meadow Cove, one of the lake’s loon nesting sites.

Totem Pole Park boaters Sue Shiels and John Cummings said that two jet skiers entered the cove at high speed. One spotted the loons and stopped at a distance.

The second jet skier went further into the cove and stopped. After spotting the loons, he swung around and headed directly at them at high speed. Swerving at the last minute, he creating a large wake that capsized the loons and forced the two chicks underwater.

Shiels and Cummings began yelling at the jet skier, as did a Mountview couple, Kalysha Rivera and Nick Perates, who were on the shore watching the loon family when they saw the incident.

Rivera and Perates rode out on their jet ski to get a picture of the violator’s bow number. By that point he was in the water, close enough to the adult loons that one of them chased after him as he got back on his watercraft to take off.

Camera in hand, the Mountview couple gave pursuit. Gould sent their pictures to Marine Patrol, and days later the jet skier was found, fessed-up and apologized.

N.H Fish and Game could have imposed a $1,200 fine for misdemeanor harassment of a threatened species. But the punishment was an $84.32 fine by Marine Patrol, and a Fish and Game warning letter.

Marine Patrol said age was a factor, as the jet skier was 18. Fish & Game said the loons were not injured in the interaction. For the jet skier and the state, the matter was over.

But the story was not. Those who witnessed the incident were upset and eager to talk. Word quickly spread about the incident and the light punishment that resulted.

The size of the fine was “ridiculous,” a “slap on the wrist,” witness Rivera said.

“What’s he going to learn from that?” she asked, adding that he seemed “oblivious” about his actions after the couple confronted him.

Rivera said she learned about loons from Perates, her boyfriend of about four years. His family has owned a home in Mountview since the 1980s.

“The loons are so beautiful to watch,” she said, “and their calls at night are amazing.”

“You don’t have to be up close to enjoy them,” she said, referring to the Meadow Cove chicks, which were born about three weeks ago. “You don’t want anything bad to happen to them.”

Shiels and Cummings were also in Meadow Cove that day watching the chicks. Shiels called the jet skier’s actions “deliberate,” which made her angry.

“To try to harm another living thing like that,” she said, her thoughts trailing off. “It’s hard to imagine.”

Like Rivera, Shiels scoffed at the light fine and wondered why the jet skier’s license wasn’t suspended. Both witnesses said they won’t soon forget watching one of the loon parents chase after the jet skier to protect its family.

Gould, who this month led Ossipee Lake’s annual loon census, said he told Marine Patrol and Fish and Game he was “disappointed” in the outcome, especially after witnesses took the time to document the incident so the offender could be found and held to account.

Iconic Status
Loons are a popular symbol of New Hampshire’s wildlife, but it wasn’t always so. Fifty years ago most people knew little about them, and they were in decline. Loon Preservation Committee of Moultonborough was formed in 1975 to address the situation with research and activism.

Today there are hundreds of volunteers around the state who take loon protection seriously, monitoring and counting them, and protecting their nests during mating season. The population decline has been reversed, and the loon has become iconic.

But they remain under threat—including from boaters, as the Meadow Cove incident shows.

For Broad-Leavitt Bay Association President Kyle Copeland, the jet skiing incident and its outcome were “infuriating.” He sees it as part of a larger set of questions about how the state handles lake enforcement issues.

“Whether it’s loon harassment or boating infractions or dock and mooring violations, the state lacks a strong policy of deterrence when it comes to imposing penalties,” Copeland said.

“It’s continuing to make our lake less safe.”