The Daily Observer London Desk: Reporter- Sarah Marshal
Those with a fear of snakes may need to look away now.
Amazing images of one of the world’s biggest species of snake – the anaconda – have been revealed by brave photographer and explorer Julian Gunther, who dives underwater to get within just centimetres of his enormous subjects.
The Texas-based photographer’s pictures show anacondas – some measuring as long as seven metres (22ft) – coiled around branches in the waterways of South America’s tropical Pantanal wetland region. Other shots hone in on the serpents’ heads, revealing their forked tongues and glassy eyes submerged in the darkness of the water.
Taking such candid photographs of these elusive creatures requires a great deal of planning – and awareness of the warning signs that signal the snakes should be left alone.
It’s important to give anacondas an escape route and to refrain from cornering them, Julian reveals. He says: ‘Adult humans are not on the menu for anacondas. The only reason for an anaconda to lash out at a human would be if you were harassing it and/or cornered it with no escape. If an animal feels threatened and it’s given the option of fight-or-flight, wild animals will take the flight option almost every single time.’
Amazing images of one of the world’s biggest species of snake – the anaconda – have been revealed by brave photographer and explorer Julian Gunther
The Brazilian-born and Texas-based photographer dives underwater to get within just centimetres of his enormous subjects
Julian – who shares his incredible photography on Instagram – says that it’s a common misconception that anacondas are hyperaggressive and will attack anything that crosses their path, adding that ‘the movies that came out in the 1990s and 2000s, didn’t do much to help’.
The 1997 horror film Anaconda starring Jennifer Lopez and the rapper Ice Cube, which followed a crew of filmmakers attempting to track down a giant green anaconda, likely played a part in people’s unfounded fear of the serpents. A box office success, it went on to inspire several sequels.
Julian explains: ‘Anacondas won’t actively hunt organisms like an adult human because it would be questionable whether they could consume an adult and there is a risk of serious injury to themselves if they tried. The only confirmed attacks by anacondas on humans have been out of defence or because the animal felt threatened, not from attempted predation.’
The photographer, who was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, says that he enters the water ‘slowly and cautiously’ once he spots an anaconda that he can photograph, explaining: ‘We don’t want to appear threatening and potentially scare off the snake.’
Julian’s pictures show anacondas coiled around branches in the waterways of South America’s tropical Pantanal wetland region
Julian enters the water ‘slowly and cautiously’ once he spots an anaconda that he can photograph. He explains: ‘We don’t want to appear threatening and potentially scare off the snake’
It’s a common misconception that anacondas are hyperaggressive and will attack anything that crosses their path, Julian reveals
‘Adult humans are not on the menu for anacondas,’ Julian says, adding: ‘Anacondas won’t actively hunt organisms like an adult human because it would be questionable whether they could consume an adult and there is a risk of serious injury to themselves if they tried’
Sometimes anacondas can approach his camera mid-shoot, Julian reveals, but he makes sure to remain calm
Anacondas are often nicknamed ‘water boas’ because they spend so much time in the water, Julian notes
