Courtesy/Tyler Coppin

A large buoy, used by the National Weather Service to detect large tsunami waves, washed up on a beach near Yachats this week and was discovered, in an odd coincidence, just hours before a tsunami warning went out along the coast.

Tyler Coppin was walking along the beach, about a mile north of Yachats on Monday morning with his father when he spotted the hefty instrument lying on its side in the surf.

“What the hell is that?” he asked his dad.

Neither of them knew, so they waited until nightfall when low tide allowed them to get a closer look.

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The yellow and red buoy was enormous, at least 6 feet across, adorned with a solar panel, an array of instruments and a light. Decals on the side indicated it was meant to detect tsunami waves and was operated by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

Representatives from the administration said they were working to figure out where the buoy came from, but the local office of the National Weather Service said it likely broke from its tether more than 200 miles off the coast of Astoria in October.

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Quite the coincidence that a DART Buoy (used for detecting tsunami waves) washed up on shore today of all days! A buoy broke from it's mooring (230 miles west of Astoria) on October 4, which is likely where this Buoy came from. However, this has not been confirmed. https://t.co/kq9k8AqYsv — NWS Portland (@NWSPortland) January 23, 2018

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Courtesy/Tyler Coppin

According to a National Weather Service tracking tool, the buoy did indeed go adrift on Oct. 4, and meandered its way toward its current resting place.

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Coppin said it was an odd surprise, and a bit disconcerting, when a large earthquake off the coast of Alaska triggered a tsunami warning for the Oregon coast overnight, just hours after he found the nonfunctional buoy meant to detect just such waves.

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Courtesy/Tyler Coppin

No tsunami materialized, however, and Coppin was happy for the photo opportunity.