"I guess you could cut off the battery packs," he said. "But it's so specialized it really doesn't have many other applications."
There are two other drones with similar capabilities at Mote but they belong to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration -- and there are no funds available for them to perform Waldo's mission.
"We'd have to go back to sending people out in boats to collect water samples," he said. "That's not a very efficient way to do it."
Waldo, a scientific robot used to detect red tide, was last heard from on Monday. Mote is offering a $500 reward.
Well it had a pretty long working life I suppose. It was probably eaten by a Great White Shark. That's my guess, anyway.