Tiny mermaid-painted shed apparently drifted 200 miles after tropical storm

The Coast Guard says a tiny floating dock sporting a shed with a painting of a blue-tailed mermaid now is considered a derelict vessel after it bobbed across the Gulf of Mexico.

The building apparently drifted 200 miles from Florida to south of Louisiana.

Petty Officer Brandon Giles says authorities no longer are trying to find the owner and won’t tow it to shore.

Petty Officer Travis Magee says several people reported seeing it in Key West, Florida, before it apparently broke loose during a tropical storm.

A Coast Guard news release says nobody was aboard.

The landward side features a painting of the mermaid, a sea turtle and an octopus. Above the blue door on one end, a sign appears to include the word “shed.”