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00:00 It's hard to think of a more unpleasant way to go out than being eaten alive.

00:04 The brutality of the ordeal, the awareness of what's happening to you, and knowing that

00:09 if you were to survive, you're facing permanent injuries and a lifetime of psychological trauma.

00:15 But what's it really like to go through and which animals are more likely than others

00:19 to attack you?

00:21 This is Unveiled, and today we're answering the extraordinary question; What really happens

00:25 if you get eaten alive?

00:29 Do you need the big questions answered?

00:31 Are you constantly curious?

00:33 Then why not subscribe to Unveiled for more clips like this one?

00:36 And ring the bell for more thought-provoking content!

00:41 Getting eaten alive is a cruel and unusual punishment, often associated with the wrath

00:45 of God in religious texts.

00:47 Mythology and folklore is full of beasts that want to eat people.

00:51 In the biblical story of Jonah and the Whale, Jonah is eaten alive, and survives for three

00:56 days within the stomach of some kind of sea creature, usually shown as a whale, but the

01:01 text more simply refers to it as a big fish.

01:03 Meanwhile, in Greek mythology, there are plenty of stories of monsters that dine on humans.

01:09 The Minotaur in the Labyrinth killed and ate its victims, as did the Cyclops Polyphemus,

01:15 which threatened Odysseus' crew, and again ate many of them.

01:18 It seems then that humans have long feared what might happen if a larger, more powerful

01:23 creature were to take a liking to us.

01:25 But what kind of creature in reality could do such a thing?

01:29 And has it ever happened in real life?

01:31 Perhaps it is whales and large fish that you'd think of first.

01:35 After all, whales are some of the biggest creatures on Earth, and could seemingly stomach

01:39 us quite easily.

01:40 However, nearly all whales are in fact incapable of doing this.

01:45 While the ancient tale of Jonah came at a time when whales were still mysterious creatures,

01:50 we now know a lot more about them, with much of what we do now deriving from the days in

01:54 the 19th century when commercial whaling was big business.

01:57 Thankfully, it's a practice that's become rarer and rarer since then.

02:01 But still, it was around this time that we learned that many whales are filter feeders.

02:06 The blue whale, for example, the largest animal in the world, is a filter feeder.

02:11 And this means that it has an extremely narrow throat.

02:14 It's about the size of a grapefruit, so even if it wanted to - which it doesn't - it actually

02:19 could never eat a human at all.

02:21 Not all whale species are filter feeders, though, and some are carnivorous, like the

02:25 formidable sperm whale.

02:28 These certainly are huge predators, and we know of many encounters with humans thanks

02:33 again to the whaling industry.

02:35 So could you be eaten alive by one of these?

02:38 Has it happened before?

02:40 Sperm whale attacks on humans are rare.

02:42 One reason for this is, fascinatingly, it's believed that these particular animals are

02:46 so good at communicating with each other that they're able to warn other whales away from

02:51 dangerous human ships, and particularly whaling ships.

02:55 There aren't that many recorded attacks, either, although one vessel, the Essex, was sunk by

03:00 an aggressive sperm whale in the 19th century.

03:03 It's said to have inspired Herman Melville to write "Moby Dick".

03:07 Generally, if whales have attacked, it's been in self-defence rather than hunting humans

03:11 for food.

03:12 But if a sperm whale really did want to eat a person, then unlike with the blue, it's

03:17 certainly capable of doing so.

03:20 Meanwhile, we have orcas to contend with as well, which actually aren't whales but are

03:24 dolphins.

03:25 And again, there have been cases when these incredible creatures have attacked, killed,

03:30 and presumably eaten humans.

03:32 Although often while in captivity, and perhaps not in a true "eaten alive" sense.

03:37 Away from the ocean, and snakes bring a different kind of threat.

03:41 The green anaconda, the largest snake in the world by some metrics, actually hasn't been

03:46 conclusively documented to do this, although unsubstantiated stories are common.

03:51 With the reticulated python, however, another of the world's largest species, it has been

03:56 definitively shown to have hunted, killed, and then eaten a human being.

04:01 Disturbingly, and in recent years, particularly in Southeast Asia, there have been multiple

04:06 cases of reticulated pythons eating people.

04:09 There's perhaps some solace in the fact that they eat very rarely, so we're not in ever-present

04:14 danger.

04:15 But if one gets you, it's not good.

04:18 Constrictor snakes actually don't kill their prey by suffocation, as is often believed.

04:22 Instead, they squeeze so tightly that their victim's blood flow is cut off, causing a

04:28 cardiac arrest.

04:29 Again then, it's unlikely that you'd ever be eaten actually alive by one.

04:34 You will have died shortly before it consumes you.

04:37 As such, there are no accounts of someone being swallowed, but then somehow living to

04:42 tell the tale.

04:43 We do, however, have many accounts of people surviving shark attacks.

04:48 Sharks are infamous predators.

04:49 Statistically, it is still rare that you could meet your fate by one.

04:53 But there is clear reason for caution here.

04:56 Sharks do often stray into shallow waters close to beaches, and close to where there

05:01 are lots of humans.

05:03 While researchers stress that most shark bites likely aren't attempts made by the shark

05:07 to kill humans for food… rather, they're trying it to investigate us as an unknown

05:12 in their territory… any bite is potentially fatal.

05:16 Those who survive often do so with grisly injuries, including lost limbs and large,

05:21 life-changing scars.

05:23 Many attacks do involve just the one bite, though, before the shark disappears, satisfied

05:28 that humans aren't its usual food.

05:31 Nevertheless, we know that sometimes there's a seemingly sustained interest, and a bloody

05:36 onslaught.

05:37 Here, unlucky swimmers haven't unknowingly provoked a shark at all… but they have been

05:42 torn to pieces by them.

05:44 To better your chances of survival, often-cited advice is to try not to splash during the

05:49 ordeal, to try to remain calm, and to slowly swim away while keeping the shark within your

05:55 line of sight.

05:56 Elsewhere, and another aquatic creature known to at least attempt to eat humans, is the

06:01 piranha.

06:02 Piranha attacks aren't as common as certain movies would perhaps have you believe, but

06:06 in places where they're endemic, like through the many rivers of South America, people have

06:11 been attacked by them, and sometimes fatally, although again, it is quite rare.

06:16 The best way to prevent an attack here is simply to avoid the water entirely in places

06:21 where piranhas are known to swim.

06:23 But finally, and back to dry land, there are some specific people-eating animals that have

06:29 garnered something of a modern legend.

06:31 For example, Gustave, a Nile crocodile allegedly responsible for the deaths of more than 300

06:37 people, and still roaming the river to this day.

06:40 Next, the Savo Maneaters, two lions who hunted and killed more than 100 railway workers in

06:46 Kenya in 1898, and are remembered as two of the deadliest animal-to-human predators ever

06:52 known.

06:53 They were so relentless that work on the railway had to be shut down.

06:57 They were attacking that frequently and ferociously.

07:00 And lastly, in Asia, Bengal tigers have long been known to attack humans.

07:05 Much as with the sharks, this is often because people stray into the tiger's territory, and

07:10 not because these big cats are actively hunting humans.

07:13 Nevertheless, to be caught, killed, and eaten by a Bengal tiger would just be indescribably

07:19 frightening.

07:20 And actually, there is one outlier in the species where there did seem to be an active

07:25 pursuit as well.

07:26 The infamous Champawa tiger, a female, is said to have been responsible for killing

07:31 more than 400 people in the early 20th century.

07:35 It's generally deemed highly unlikely that any animal that tries or even succeeds in

07:39 eating a human alive is doing so just for the sake of it - to be cruel or for a kind

07:44 of entertainment.

07:45 Really, that animal is either hungry, or defending itself or its territory.

07:50 With humans, it's a different story.

07:52 We do eat animals alive, such as octopus, chopped up but still technically living when

07:58 it enters our mouths.

07:59 While illegal in some countries, humans boil lobsters alive.

08:04 Some eat live animals for shock value, as a kind of stunt, such as with insects or spiders,

08:09 which many animal rights groups campaign against.

08:12 We can reasonably suppose that even the most violent people-eating creatures, by comparison,

08:17 such as Gustave the crocodile, aren't doing it for similar reasons.

08:21 For now, if you're ever unfortunate enough to find yourself ambushed by an animal, there

08:27 are certain ones that really could put you through a horrific experience.

08:31 Thankfully, it's rare, but that's what would happen if you were eaten alive.

08:37 What do you think?

08:38 Is there anything we missed?

08:39 Let us know in the comments, check out these other clips from Unveiled, and make sure you

08:43 subscribe and ring the bell for our latest content.

What Happens If You Get Eaten Alive? | Unveiled

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