The situation is extremely dire when you are forced to bear hug an alligator in order to survive. Will Georgitis, a fossil diver in South Carolina, was completing a dive in the Cooper River when his worst nightmare played out in real life. The experienced diver was prepared for a moment like this, though he always hoped he would never have to face off against an alligator. Georgitis described the initial stages of the terrifying encounter to the
, saying:
“It was a really good dive. I found a lot of teeth. I was at the end of my tank so I came up with about 600 psi, and when I came up, the gator was about 20 feet away from me. I was probably 50 yards away from the bank, but the gator was in the river next to me and as soon as I popped up, he beelined it straight at me.”
I can’t even imagine… So the situation for Will went from bad to worse as he watched the large alligator come swimming right towards him. Obviously, a gator has the advantage in the water, but the fossil diver wasn’t going to go down without a fight: