Homemade Shark Cage: Carolina Images Go Viral

Video: Shark Cage Prank Fools Net Users

Images of a couple wading into the ocean with rickety homemade shark cages have gone viral, with many people thinking the prank was real.

Scott Bergman and his wife carried their cages aloft into the waves off the North Carolina coast - an area that has recently seen a spate of shark attacks.
But before the pair could fully anchor their cages to the seabed a whistle-blowing lifeguard bounded into the waves to usher them back in.

Sandi Bergman looks pleased with her safety apparatus

The couple trudged back to the beach as confused beachgoers at Outer Banks looked on.
The incident was captured on mobile phones and shared on social networks, with some users fooled into thinking the DIY safety cages were a real attempt to fend off Jaws.
"It was the other people filming us, taking pictures of us, that really caught the attention and really took off," Mr Bergman said.
"The idea is that you would go in and you put it down on the surface of the ocean so that you have protection," he told US TV.
The cages - which Mr Bergman has branded the Blockjaw PSC1, or Personal Shark Cage 1 - are made from PVC pipes and steel bolts.
"We heard some people express concern because we had our hands out waving - you just bring them inside," he explained to America's WTVR-TV.