NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A large red navigation buoy that bobbed around the Atlantic Ocean for two years was removed Thursday from a Florida beach where it had become something of a tourist attraction.
Crews with a flatbed truck removed the nearly 7-ton (6.35-metric-ton) buoy from New Smyrna Beach, where it came ashore last week, news outlets reported.
Coast Guard officials said the beacon was anchored near South Carolina when it came loose in 2017. It’s unclear how the buoy was displaced from the large concrete anchor to which it had been chained.
The buoy, which had come loose one previous time, will be taken to a Coast Guard station for evaluation of whether it can be used again, officials said.