You did what with a shark?

Shaun Harrington encounters a large tiger shark - about 1km off Snapper Rocks on the Gold Coast. Source: Supplied

Man yells in terror after 2.4m Tiger shark lunges at him
Jack-ass style stunt was to get 'up close and personal' with man-eater
Flimsy cage used for protection

IT was a Jackass-style stunt that nearly turned around and bit Gold Coast adrenalin junkie Shaun Harrington - or rather mauled him.

Harrington, 27, and fellow forever-clowning twin brother Dean decided to go 'cage diving' with sharks off the Coast last weekend for an extreme video shoot for their surfing and fishing clothing label, fittingly called The Mad Hueys.

But the cage wasn't the jaws-proof reinforced steel type typically used by shark divers - it was a flimsy $50 bird cage Shaun planned to plonk on his head.

Not surprisingly, things turned awry when a 2.4m tiger shark caught by a professional fisherman mate lunged at Harrington after he jumped into the ocean off Coolangatta. He had jumped into the ocean to get up close and personal with the man-eater, with only the bird cage for protection.

Yelling in terror, he was forced to use the cage to fend off the shark and scramble back onto the boat.

The flimsy cage used by Harrington. Source: Supplied

"It was heavy - its scared the s… out of me and I thought I was a goner,'' Harrington said yesterday.

"We were just having fun but it turned crazy.''

Mr Harrington said his brother surprised him by telling him they were going on a 'B-grade shark fishing tour'.

"He pulled out the bird cage and told me 'this is the cage we're going to use and we're going out there to find a shark','' he said.

"I said 'no way!' but we were out there and the first line our mate pulled up had an 8ft tiger shark on it still thrashing around.

A university shark researcher gets up close to a Tiger shark in a more controlled environment. Source: Supplied

"I jumped into the water and was swimming with the cage and the next thing I knew, the bloody thing was coming at me.

"I was flailing around like crazy to get back on the boat before it sunk it's teeth into me.''

Dean Harrington pushed the twins' luck even further when he also jumped into the water with the shark - with a freshly-dislocated arm.

Shaun said: "We surf every day and never really see any sharks but we definitely won't be doing anything as stupid as this again. My girlfriend said 'no more - no more sharks!'.