Looking like something out of a Fifties B-movie, it slithers and slides through the waves.
But far from being a deadly predator, the 600ft-long rubber sea snake could one day be the answer to the country's energy crisis.
The device - named the Anaconda after the large snake that lives in water - is a wave power generator, which converts the rise and fall of the oceans into cheap, green electricity.
Its creators say it could offer a reliable alternative to the thousands of wind turbines due to be built in the next decade.
Professors Francis Farley and Rod Rainey, the snake's inventors, predict that, if tests continue to be successful, the first 'Anaconda farms' could be built within five years.
The device, which is 20ft wide, is made up of a long rubber tube, closed at both ends and filled with water.
Designed to be anchored with one end facing the oncoming waves, it should be used in water between 120ft and 300ft deep, typically about one or two miles from shore.
Because it is made of rubber - meaning it is lighter than other wave generators and does not need complicated hydraulic ramps, hinges and articulated joints - it is cheaper to build and needs less maintenance.
By DAVID DERBYSHIRE
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