A major air and sea search off the Donegal coast this morning was stood down after it turned out to be a false alarm.
The alert was raised shortly after 1am when an Emergency Locator Beacon was activated off Bunbeg.
The device is a portable battery powered radio transmitter, used to locate airplanes, vessels, and persons in distress and in need of immediate rescue.
Crews from Mulroy and Bunbeg coast guards were involved in the operation as well as the Sligo R118 rescue helicopter.
However, the operation was stood down at 9am after it emerged the beacon had accidentally fallen off a vessel.
A spokesperson for the coast guard told Donegal Daily that these kinds of mishaps are a fairly regular occurrence, but the device needed to be located to make sure no lives or property was at risk.