HOBE SOUND, Fla. — A massive and mysterious object is causing a lot of buzz after washing up on Hobe Sound beach Monday morning.
Ken Mears and Mike Gomes took pictures of the debris, which was found in the sand in the 100 block of N. Beach Road, at the north end of Jupiter island.
The CEO of Oneka Technologies confirmed to WPTV that the object is a wave-powered desalination buoy, which uses the power of waves to turn saltwater into drinking water.
According to CEO Dragan Tutic, the buoy had been tethered off Fort Pierce since 2017.
Engineers were performing maintenance on the buoy on Friday when rough weather rolled through and the buoy detached.
The object has a large, round yellow top with a long metal arm coming out of it.
The underside is loaded with metal rods, wires, and chains, and there appears to be a tank attached to the bottom as well.
Officials said the device should be removed from the beach by the end of the week.
In April of last year, a large, disc-shaped object washed up on Palm Beach and created a very similar buzz.
It turned out to be a a fish aggregating device, or FAD, which is a floating object that fishermen use to attract fish like marlin, tuna, and mahi-mahi.
