Have the robots arrived to invade Great Pond? Most likely not.

But in recent weeks, those who live and spend time on the lake, which straddles Rome and Belgrade, have been intrigued by the unusual appearance of seemingly unmanned watercraft.

The vessels, also spotted on China Lake, likely are not doing anything nefarious or illicit: They seem to be underwater lake mapping technology deployed by a private company. 

Even so, their use has led to questions from some regarding their privacy and how boating laws might apply. Other people are just interested to know what they are seeing.

“It’s really, really interesting,” said Richard LaBelle, president of the Belgrade Lakes Association, which works to protect and improve the watershed of Great Pond and Long Pond. “It’s bizarre.”

LaBelle, who works as Norridgewock’s town manager and lives in Rome, said social media chatter in the last two weeks or so and his own sightings prompted him to investigate. He said he reached out to other organizations, and nobody seemed to know who was operating the vessels.

Some residents have been concerned the craft might be recording video or doing other surveillance, LaBelle said, although he acknowledged that claiming invasion of privacy would be a bit of a stretch. Mostly, LaBelle said, the lake association just wants to know what is going on, given an apparent lack of communication.

“It strikes a cause of concern, really, from a lake protection and a privacy protection aspect,” LaBelle said, “and it’s just unfortunate that we’re not able to be the public advocates that we could be and that the public is just in the dark about what it is.”

Photos of the vessels posted online and shared with the Morning Sentinel show the craft are relatively small and have two pontoons, a small motor that looks like a weed whacker’s and lights. Without much knowledge of such craft, one might be inclined to call it a drone.

In the photos shared, they do not appear to have any visible signage, company logos or any other identifying information.

LaBelle said they move slowly. He saw a few moving synchronously in North Bay of Great Pond around 3 or 4 a.m. one morning.

Robert Watson, of Vassalboro, said he fishes regularly on China Lake and one day came across one of the watercraft. He said he thought it might have been someone scuba diving because it had what appeared to be an air tank attached to it and was flying a small flag.

Two days later, Watson said he was fishing again on the lake and saw a similar craft — but with no flag or gas tank. After fishing for a few hours, while he was loading his kayak, Watson said he saw a man get out of a truck with a gas can and tablet.

According to Watson, the man said he runs a company based in Texas and travels around the country with the technology, working on behalf of companies that contract him. It uses sonar to record the contour and bottom of lakes, the man told Watson.

“He was a super nice guy,” Watson said via telephone this week. “He said he keeps those out there for 10 days. He had one on China Lake and he had one Great Pond.”

Watson said he cannot remember the man’s name or his company’s name.

And, the man said he could not disclose what company had hired him to map the lake, said Watson, who was interested because of his knowledge of fishing technology.

Gerry Boyle, of the China Lake Association, said he has seen the craft, too, but was not sure of the name of the company operating them.

An internet search of companies based in Texas that do underwater surveying yields several results. Many companies on their websites display photos showing technology similar to those seen in recent weeks on lakes in central Maine.

Danielle Wain, lake science director for 7 Lakes Alliance, also said she believes the craft likely belong to a private company doing bathymetry mapping — the underwater equivalent of topography — likely to be used for fishing maps.

Wain, reached via email, confirmed the vessels are not related to any of her organization’s initiatives. 

The alliance is the leading land and water conservation group in the Belgrade Lakes region and conducts various scientific projects, including water quality monitoring. 

LaBelle said his first call was to the 7 Lakes Alliance because his association works with the group regularly. He also reached out to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries of Wildlife, concerned that there may be regulatory issues with the unmanned boats.

Officials are aware of the watercraft being operated on Great Pond and are looking into their purpose, according to Inland Fisheries and Wildlife spokesperson Mark Latti. He confirmed that neither Inland Fisheries or Wildlife nor the state Department of Environmental Protection are operating them.

These kinds of vessels do not meet the definition of a watercraft under Maine law, which means they would not need to be registered or display the lake and river protection sticker required for all motorized watercraft, Latti said in an email.

But they do need to abide by state laws aimed at preventing the spread of invasive aquatic plants, Latti said.

LaBelle said, if nothing else, the recent sightings have been curious.

“Obviously, we have a big concern in advocating for our members and waterfront owners and that we’re able to communicate what’s going on our lakes,” he said. “Not that we always need to know as an organization, but it’s a public awareness thing.”