In this video you see a fight for survival in nature, possibly one of the most thrilling videos I have ever seen. This video, taken on the Galapagos islands, shows a newly born marine iguana’s first and maybe only task is to make it to the safety of the sea. In this journey the iguanas are immediately put to the test with hundreds of racer snakes waiting around every corner to get a chance to get a tight grip on the newly born iguana.

The Racer snake is a highly venomous snake. Their length is usually up to 120cm. Their eyesight is not great, but they have evolved to quickly detect movement which causes them to act in fast and very aggressive movement. This time of year is the best feeding opportunity for these snakes, which makes it every snake for themselves. These snakes are sometimes forced to eat each other due to scarcity of food, which makes the attempt to get the prized meal of the iguana even more competitive and intense for these snakes.

The marine iguanas naturally have to prepare themselves to outrun these predators.  They do this by lying beneath the surface of the sand. This allows their bodies to heat up to strengthen their muscles. Their goal is to reach the safety onto of the rocks, a place where the snakes cannot reach. Can you imagine being in their situation? You are born only find yourself in the middle of an ambush of predators that want to swallow you alive, thats pretty scary.

This video has been the most viewed nature video in four years. Probably because normally one video of a snake attacking prey gets people’s fear of snakes up, but with hundreds of slithering snakes is bound to produce peoples reactions to make a video go viral.