The sight of an apparently stranded whale sparked concern on Broughty Ferry beach as rescuers rushed to get the mammal off the shore.
Anxious bystanders quickly contacted The Courier, worried the whale may be in real distress.
However, it soon emerged the casualty was in fact a large inflatable being used by a marine rescue charity to put volunteers through their paces.
Gareth Norman, Tayforth coordinator of the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR), said 22 would-be rescuers took to the waters to learn what to do in a real-life stranding emergency.
”We had a life-sized mannequin of a pilot whale we filled with water so we had the relevant weight required,” he said.
”The pontoons we use in a rescue can take up to two and a half tonne in weight. There are smaller ones for dolphins too and we also have a dolphin and seal mannequin.”
The marine mammal medic course trains volunteers to identify species, assess first aid needs and trains them in the correct procedures for refloating, removal to specialist hospital and data collection.
Gareth said: ”It’s very important people know how to respond. It depends how long the animal has been stranded and where.”
He added: ”It’s like a human emergency the sooner we can get to them the better.”
Volunteers from the charity put their skills to good use last May when a small female dolphin was trapped by the side of Moncrieffe Island at Perth.
A large rescue swung into action with a scuba-diver first on the scene to assist the floundering animal.
Members of the BDMLR then guided firefighters through the task of coralling the dolphin, which was later transported by road to Broughty Ferry where it was transferred to the lifeboat for release into deep water off Carnoustie.
Mr Norman was keen to encourage more people to sign up for the training courses.
He said: ”In 2011-12 BDMLR have attended a number of dolphin, porpoise and seal strandings on the Tay estuary and along the Angus and Fife coast. We are always looking for volunteers and we hold courses every three months or so.”Find out more at www.bdmlr.org.uk