An autonomous 'robot shark' has been deployed at a Devon harbour to devour plastic waste before the tide takes it out to sea.
The 'Wasteshark' was designed to tackle the scourge in ocean pollution and protect the marine area's local wildlife and ecosystem.
The high-tech aquadrone was released in lfracombe Harbour, the first in the UK following successful launches in five countries, including South Africa and UAE.
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An autonomous robot 'shark' has been deployed at a Devon harbour to eat up plastic waste before the tide takes it out to sea. The 'Wasteshark' was designed to tackle the scourge in ocean pollution to protect the marine area's local wildlife and ecosystems
Wasteshark can 'swallow' up to 60kg of debris in one trip and if running five days a week could clear 15 tons of waste from waterways every year, according to experts.
The device can roam through distances of up to five kilometres of water, or for eight hours, before it needs to be charged.
Its inventors, Dutch environmental technology company RanMarine, used the whale shark, a slow-moving, filter-feeding carpet shark, as inspiration for the drone model.
The world's largest fish, like the technique on its robot counterpart, the whale shark swims around with its mouth open to capture plankton and small fish.
Wasteshark emits no pollution, poses no threat to wildlife and doesn't produce any noise as it navigates the water 'eating' any waste that crosses its path.
The robot can pick up rubbish as deep as one foot below the surface. Once gathered, it is delivered to a nearby collection point.
It is able to navigate by a user steering the device with a remote control or an iPad and its movements are tracked by a GPS signal.
It is fitted with a collision-avoidance system that uses laser imaging to spot nearby objects and adjust its positioning if it senses one.
The drone can also measure water quality and capture data such as depth, salinity, chemical makeup, pH balance and water temperature.
WWF and Sky Ocean Rescue launched the robot at the harbour in north Devon on Friday as part of an ongoing campaign to protect the local environmental and 'keep North Devon a very special place'.
Ilfracombe Harbour is within a Marine Protected Area (MPA) that is home to diverse species - including grey seals and pink sea fan corals.
Collecting waste in the harbour prevents it damaging the immediate area and from being taken out to sea and threatening the important wildlife in surrounding MPAs.
WWF is a partner in the North Devon Marine Pioneer, working in partnership with local and national organisations to develop innovative approaches for management of the marine environment.
The high-tech aquadrone was released in lfracombe Harbour, the first in the UK although Wasteshark is operational in five countries so far. Wasteshark can 'swallow' up to 60kg of debris in one trip and if running five days a week could clear 15 tons of waste every year
Its inventors, Dutch environmental technology company RanMarine, used the whale shark as inspiration for the drone model. The whale shark, the world's largest fish, swims around with its mouth open to capture plankton and small fish
'The marine protected areas in north
