Turtle leads wild goose chase off Bermuda

HAMILTON, Bermuda (AP) - The U.S. coast guard spent hours searching for a boat in distress off Bermuda's coast - even scrambling a rescue plane from the U.S. mainland - only to find a turtle behind it all.

The incident began when coast guard monitors picked up an emergency beacon this week, signalling a boat was in trouble about 755 kilometres northwest of Bermuda, petty officer Tim Pike of the U.S. coast guard in Miami said Thursday. The coast guard sent a C-130 plane from Elizabeth City, N.C., diverted the Norwegian tug Skandi Moegsger to the area and alerted other boats in the area to be on the lookout.

The plane eventually pinpointed the source and sent the Skandi Moegsger, which had been cruising from Bermuda to Spain, to investigate.

"They pulled a turtle out of the water and found it was somehow caught up in a rope with the beacon," Pike said.

"I don't know what state the turtle was in."

Beacons can be triggered to start putting out a signal by a jolt, change in position or water movement, Pike said.

He said this beacon was covered in barnacles and debris and was registered to a man who, when contacted by telephone, said he had lost it some time ago.