A floating car sparked a major 999 response after it was seen submerged close to the Ardersier shoreline.
HM Coastguard located the vehicle close to the former McDermott Fabrication Yard and the Kessock lifeboat launched while an ambulance raced to the scene.
However, no one was found within the vehicle and emergency crews were asked to stand down.
A spokesman from the Scottish Ambulance Services said: “We received a call at 18:03 on Monday reporting a car upturned in the water at Ardersier.
“An ambulance, one of our special operations response teams and a pre-hospital immediate care and trauma teams, were dispatched to the scene. No patients were transferred to hospital.”
A statement from HM Coastguard said: “At approximately 6pm yesterday (12 July), HM Coastguard were alerted to a submerged vehicle near Ardersier, at Whitness Head.
“Kessock RNLI, alongside Inverness and Nairn coastguard rescue teams were sent. The incident has been marked as a false alert with good intentions after the vehicle was found to have been there for some time and no-one was in danger.”
Tom Booth, Kessock RNLI Helm, said as the crew were together for training their inshore Atlantic 85 The Robert and Isobel Mowat was launched within five minutes of their pagers going off.
He said: “Monday’s immediate launch was a prime example of how our commitment to training allows us to react swiftly to a range of scenarios.
“Our volunteer crew were able to effectively change their planned exercise to respond to the pager and the situation relayed by our search and rescue partners, the UK Coastguard.”
He added: “On this occasion we were able to provide safety back-up to the local
Coastguard teams who entered the water to assess and conclude the situation.
“The lifeboat returned to the station where it was washed, refuelled and available for
service by 9.30pm.”