Peer inside a crocodile's mouth without losing your head
National Geographic releases startling footage of Australian crocodiles taking a bite out of some underwater cameras. You'll say "Ahhhhhhhh!" when you see it.
A crocodile's mouth is one of nature's most lethal weapons. It has sharp, destructive teeth designed to tear flesh to ribbons, and those chompers are connected to jaws with a staggering amount of force.
Now, thanks to a new video from National Geographic, you can see what it looks like when a crocodile lunges at your face -- without having to make croc teeth the last image your frightened eyes will ever see.
Photographers Trevor Frost and Melissa Lesh captured some close-up footage of saltwater crocodiles during a monthlong filming trip in Australia. According to the video's description, they wanted to capture every conceivable angle of these giant dangerous creatures, and that included getting up close and personal with their mouths. So they rigged up some durable underwater cameras to a floating remote-controlled rig that they set loose in the water. All they had to do was hit record and wait for the crocodiles to strike.
They captured a total of nine crocodile attacks without losing a single camera. Some of their footage, posted Monday, shows the camera peering right into the croc's mighty mouth as the product's dragged underwater and the croc tries to tear into it. Frost also captured some stunning footage showing the awesome power of the crocodile's massive tail. He posted a video on his Instagram page on Saturday of a crocodile doing a vertical leap out of the water by propelling itself with its tail alone.
Frost and Lesh took extra precautions before filming these massive beasts because they are world champion chompers. National Geographic reported in 2012 that crocodiles have the strongest bite force of any other animal on the planet, with jaws that can produce 3,700 pounds of force per square inch.
Saltwater crocodiles have been known to attack humans. The website CrocBite reports 528 cases of people being attacked by saltwater crocodiles worldwide between January 2008 and October 2013. The website also notes that even though the number of attacks are much higher compared with other types of crocodiles and alligators, the chances of being attacked are still "extremely rare" and less than a third of such attacks lead to fatalities.
However, if crocodiles ever gain the gift of flight, you can probably kiss humanity goodbye.