Mysterious High-Tech Item Found on Costa Rica Beach

Even after 30 years of coming to Costa Rica I am always amazed at how Ticos see things differently than I do.

A while back my neighbor, a Tico who is caretaker of the property next door, came up to my house to tell me of his extraordinary find. He said I should come and see the beautiful thing he found on the beach.

It had drifted in on a small beach, near the mouth of the Sierpe river on the Northern border of the Osa Peninsula. I fully expected a shell or coral or something nature had produced which was vivid with colors and perhaps shape, maybe even a spectacular piece of driftwood.

Being the curious sort, I ventured down the stairs, across the beach and to the caretakers house. When they brought it out from under the bed and into the front yard I was shocked. Granted it was a beautiful color and interestingly shaped but it was not what I expected.

I immediately took the photos you see here and called the United States to see how to go about identifying it. It was nearly unmarked other than a serial number and the word: Zunibal hand written on the light.

I had barely sent off my email when I got a response from a Fed telling me to be careful it could be a mine capable of blowing me up. It was a fun few hours as several agencies of the US government emailed me and asked further questions.

The 25 year old manager of my office in the USA figured it out easily by going to google with ZUNIBAL. She went to their site and found the same thing available for sale through their tuna fishing web site. I emailed them and asked what I should do with this thing which was certainly worth thousands of dollars and where the neighbor might pick up his reward.

Keeping in mind this “thing” is a sealed unit capable of withstanding all the Pacific Ocean has to throw at it, it has a solar electric system for energy, sonar for detecting tuna schools, transmitter capable of transmitting data to satellites and a light to locate it at night.

When I did get hold of them, they just said it is part of an experiment to track schools of tuna by satellite and that I should throw it in the trash!

I guess we learned two things: Number one, tuna don’t have a chance and number two – technology is cheap.

Written by VIP Member Jim Cameron in the Sierpe River area of Costa Rica.

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.