Watch a Scuba Diver’s Swim Turn Incredibly Intense When He Sees a 20-Foot Anaconda

This intense clip shows a scuba diver in murky water before it cuts to a scene of him happening upon a 20-foot anaconda. The man speaks about how the massive snake could easily wrap him up and crush him to death before swallowing him whole. That means anacondas are constrictors. Some constrictors kept as pets include the red tail boa and the ball python.

Watch Wade Swim with the 20-Foot Anaconda Below!

Jeremy Wade, featured in the video, is the star of Animal Planet’s River Monsters (among others). This video certainly isn’t the first time he’s faced an incredibly dangerous creature in the water. However, he keeps his calm and observes the creature, taking care not to touch it. At one point, he comes face to face with the green anaconda, and we see just how big its head is next to his.

Amazingly, the video ends peacefully as the 20-foot anaconda goes on its way. Let’s learn more about these huge snakes before watching the video below!

What is the Largest Anaconda on Record?

Averaging 20 feet long and 200–300 pounds, green anacondas are the heaviest snakes in the world. The 20-foot anaconda in our video, while still massive, is an average specimen. Despite this, the title of the largest of these snakes is regularly up for debate. Although they claim the heaviest snake title, anaconda length is second only to the reticulated python, which regularly grows to 25 feet long or more.

The Instituto Butantan in Brazil owns a preserved skin shed from a green anaconda measuring 32 feet and 10 inches long. However, they confirmed the skin had been stretched and actually came from a snake that measured 24 feet 11 inches long. Most of the time, reports of giant snakes are highly exaggerated. In fact, Alpheus Verrill performed a study to prove this in 1937. The explorer asked his team to estimate the length of a green anaconda curled up on a rock. The guesses ranged widely from 20 to 60 feet long. When measured, the snake was only 19 feet and 4 inches long.

Most recently, records show a 33-foot-long specimen that was found in Brazil. That’s a full 13 feet longer than the average 20-foot anaconda! The snake was found after workers performed a controlled blast at the site of a dam-building project. They chained the gargantuan beast to a crane and lifted it up. Some say the snake measured 3 feet across in some places and weighed over 800 pounds. Many commenters shamed the workers for killing the incredible snake when the video was uploaded to YouTube. However, no one ever made it clear if the workers killed it or if it perished in the blast.

How Fast is a 20-Foot Anaconda?

The average 20-foot anaconda travels about 5 mph (miles per hour) on land, however, that speed doubles underwater. You may be able to outrun the snake on land, but the average human swim speed is only 2 mph. This does not account for the green anaconda’s strike speed, which has not been measured specifically. These snakes ambush prey from the water, similar to crocodiles. They grab hold of it with their mouth and coil their bodies around the prey, squeezing it to death. Then, they open their mouths wide, using the stretchy ligaments holding them together to seemingly detach their jaw. Prey goes down head first, then moves down into the digestive fluid, where it breaks down over time – potentially, 3–4 months!

The photo featured at the top of this post is © iStock.com/MaRabelo