Marine experts Heather Greig and Jamie Dyer with the turtle

The 66cm-long (26ins) young male, which has a missing front left flipper, was recuperating at the Scottish Sea Life Sanctuary, near Oban, on Tuesday.

The tourists walked a mile to the nearest houses to get help.

Local resident Linda Elford, 50, managed to get hold of the turtle and get it on to her husband's boat.

Peter Elford, who had been sailing close to the shore, took the animal in his small vessel along the coast to the Sea Eagle Centre at Portnalong.

However, the turtle, now named Skye after the island where he was found, did not end its journey there.

We got him into a shallow tub of warm saltwater to begin the long process of raising his body temperature Marine expert Jamie Dyer

A medic from the eagle centre drove him to Invergarry on Loch Ness where he was picked up by the sanctuary's marine experts Jamie Dyer and Heather Greig and driven to Oban.

Mr Dyer said: "It was obvious from a quick examination that he was very underweight and suffering from cold.

"We got him into a shallow tub of warm saltwater to begin the long process of raising his body temperature.

"Happily he's already warmed up to the point where blood samples can be taken and tests carried out to make sure he has no serious long-term illness or internal injuries."

The lost flipper appeared to be an old injury and has healed.

Mr Dyer nursed another three-flipper turtle called Myrtle back to health almost two years ago.

He was part of the mission to Gran Canaria in May to return Myrtle to the wild.