Most of the time when a coastguard rescue team is called out they fear the worst, but that fear was allayed for a UK team when a reported floating human ribcage turned out to be a plastic one.
Emergency rescue teams rushed to the scene near Clarence pier in Southsea after getting a call from a member of the public about the item which turned out to be a plastic replica, The Guardian reports.
A spokesman for the Portsmouth Coastguard said they'd received reports of human remains in the water. Hampshire police managed to find the person who called it in to get more information about where the object was.
"Portsmouth lifeboat staff were paged as a precaution while the team secured the seafront and kept the item visual.
"Fortunately, the Coastguard team were able to secure the item from the shore and it was confirmed that what appeared to be human remains was actually a lifesize plastic skeleton torso that had been discarded in the sea and the lifeboat was stood down before arriving on scene."
The Coastguard thanked the person for reporting it, though it ultimately was a false alarm.
"We were able to confirm that is was not as bad as it first appeared."
It is not known how the plastic torso ended up in the water.
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