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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
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