Harbour Radio and the US Coast Guard spent hours searching for the source a boat's distress signal that activated off the coast of Bermuda - only to find that a turtle was at the bottom of the fiasco.

The saga began at about 8 a.m. on Tuesday when signals from the Emergency Positioning Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) activated, signally that something was wrong with a boat about 470 miles north west of the Island.

The Coast Guard's C130 aircraft from Elizabeth City, New Jersey, was scrambled to help search for the beacon, and the Norwegian tug, Skandi Moegsger, which was on its way to Spain after refuelling in Bermuda, also assisted in the search.

But, despite extensive checks by Harbour Radio and the US Coast Guard, they were unable to determine which vessel the EPIRB had belonged to, as the beacon had been re-registered after changing hands, or where exactly it was.

A broadcast was then sent out to all passing ships and boats in the area to be on the lookout for any vessels in distress.

And at about 4 p.m. on Tuesday, a tug came inches away from the alarm signal - only to find that it was caught up on a turtle swimming in the area.

Petty Officer Tim Pike, of the US Coast Guard, said: "A tug that went to the scene reported to us that it had to unwrap debris from around a turtle, and part of that debris was the beacon.

"I know the tug was diverted to the area because the beacon was going off, but I can't say where the tug was from.

"I don't have any information as to whether the turtle was in distress or not, but it happened 320 nautical miles north-east of Bermuda a little after 4 p.m."

Petty officer Pike said the beacon was registered to a man by the name of Robert Lane, but he did not know where Mr. Lane was from.