This Kid Tricked Everyone Into Thinking He Surfed With A Shark

"I saw that he was a chiller and just cruisin..."

Four days ago, Australian Alex Hayes uploaded this photo to Instagram – showing what appeared to be him on a surfboard floating above a shark in the most nonchalant way possible.

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Plenty of media outlets reported the story, with the photo quickly picking up steam online.

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However, Hayes today told Mashable Australia the photo was a fake, something he and a friend put together for a bit of fun.

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"People believe everything on the internet," Hayes said. "But it was a harmless joke. And everyone got entertainment from it so I'm happy! No harm done!"

Hayes, a fan of the underwater creatures, went on to highlight the importance of remembering that the ocean is a shared space and humans are guests most of the time.

"Clearly it's their ocean and we intrude where they live," he said, "so we have to take that risk knowing the consequence and just enjoy the ocean for what it is and respect the sea and its creatures."

Today's lesson: Don't believe everything you see!

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