Researchers are overjoyed after a sail-drone designed to monitor krill populations in Antarctic waters washed up on a beach in Gippsland, two years after being knocked off course by an iceberg.
The sail-drone was sent to sea by a San Francisco company in 2019. It was to sail around Antarctica to measure the concentration of krill in the water.
Now the 450-kilogram drone has washed up on Waratah Bay Surf Beach in eastern Victoria.
Waratah Bay Marine Rescue senior skipper Greg Mouldings said he found the drone at 6am Tuesday.
"One of the rescue-crew mentioned his sister-in-law found something funny on the beach," he said.
"He showed me a photo and I was like, 'oh my god, what is that?' I've never seen anything like this in my life," Mr Mouldings said.
"I went down to the beach and was like, 'what is this?' I was expecting a wheelbarrow size, but it's 8 metres long. It's not budging anytime soon."
Mr Mouldings has spent the day investigating the research drone. He says it's hard to get phone reception on the best of days at Waratah Bay.
"I call it koala reception out here because maybe the koalas get in the way," he said.
But despite the poor reception, Mr Mouldings said he had still managed to speak to researchers in the United States.
"The bloke in San Francisco is chuffed. He's given me instructions on how to dismantle it," he said.
Mr Mouldings will begin to dismantle the giant research drone on Wednesday.
Researchers are hopeful all the data about krill will still be on the drone.
"It was launched in 2019 from the tip of the south island of New Zealand and it's gone all the way around Antarctica and who knows where else, collecting data about krill," Mr Mouldings said.
"The scientist reckons it hit an iceberg two years ago around the bottom of South America and they lost connection.
"It's done thousands and thousands of clicks just sailing around the world on it's own. And here it is still intact.
