The video depicts a young photographer, Antonio Ruiz,
attempting to get some up close photos of some rather large crocodiles at a
place called "Crocodile Bridge " on the Rio Tarcoles, Costa Rica . As
he snaps pictures, a friend, David Clow, videotapes from farther up the
riverbank. Others (in the background) are talking, yelling warning comments,
and tossing meat down to the water's edge to lure the crocodiles in closer.
An American
crocodile on the riverbank, a common sight along the Rio Tarcoles in Costa Rica .
At one point,
Ruiz, who seems to signal for the watchers to be quiet, becomes annoyed and
turns to voice his displeasure. (Clow writes in the comments on YouTube that
Ruiz was asking people -- sarcastically -- to come down and join him.) It is at
this time that a crocodile that had drifted up to the edge of the bank decided
that fresh and living was better than the dead pieces of meat being offered --
and lunged.
Ruiz
apparently catches the movement from the corner of his eye and narrowly escapes
the cavernous jaws that widen and snap shut just inches from him as he jumps
away. Screams and yells from the onlookers make the video even more exciting to
watch.
Clow even
added a slow-motion section to the video that really captures how much of close
call the encounter really was.
Clow insists
that Antonio Ruiz isn't dumb or crazy, just a daredevil photographer. The
problem was that Antonio and his friends weren't even feeding the crocodiles.
They were being fed by tourists that buy chickens by the side of the road, sold
by vendors trying to make a few dollars off the sight-seeing of live crocodiles
at Tarcoles Bridge .
Clow also says
he and his crocodile-avoiding buddy are going back for more photographs.
Still, there
are a few words of advice that should be given to people hanging around
crocodiles so that they aren't eaten. The first thing is, for those videotaping
the incident and those hanging around shouting and tossing food to the
crocodiles (all safely out of reach of the massive crocodiles), distracting
someone in close proximity to the behemoths from being watchful and wary is
never a good idea.
Second, no
matter how daring you might be and no matter how big your camera is, your
machismo is no match for the pounds-per-square inch bite of a full-grown
crocodile, so you might want to be careful how close to the water's edge you
get. (A 2012 study led by paleobiologist Gregory M. Erickson of Florida State University
and published in PLoS ONE revealed that crocodiles have the strongest bite on the planet.) Oh, and never, no matter
how annoyed you get with those around you, allow yourself to be distracted...
No comments:
Post a Comment
You only need to enter your comment once! Comments will appear once they have been moderated. This is so as to stop the would-be comedian who has been spamming the comments here with inane and often offensive remarks. You know who you are!