A US Coast Guard life ring has been recovered off the Clare coast, thousands of kilometres from it was lost in Florida.
The life ring washed up near Byrnes Cove in Kilkee after being spotted by the Shannon-based search and rescue helicopter.
A rescue boat crew was sent to remove the object so that it wouldn’t impact a search that was taking place in the area at the time, but conditions prevented personnell from retrieving the item for several days.
The US coast guard has since confirmed that a life ring with a matching serial number was lost overboard from one of its boats based in Florida, over six thousand kilometres away.
The lighting strobe attached to the life ring has an expiry date in 2013 suggesting it was lost over two years ago.