As a wildlife enthusiast Florida is the place to be, and not only for the ocean. The numerous rivers, streams and bodies of water offer incredible opportunities for someone like myself who enjoys exploring and filming the underwater world.
And then there is the swamp, a somewhat eerie and wild environment where diving in it means dipping yourself in a primitive world. I have to admit that free diving in the Florida swamp is one of my favourite activities. So sometimes I like to dive into the underwater jungle equipped only with mask, fins, snorkel, and of course my camera to film the alligators, really fascinating creatures.
Winter is the ideal time to do such activity because cold weather makes them more calm and slow down. Although water was pretty murky I could still get good shots of one of Florida’ s apex predators. To film underwater in the swamp, where the visibility was not ideal I had to dive with caution, approaching very slowly once spotted the alligator, paying attention not to scare it running the risk of making it run away. When you are in the alligators underwater kingdom it is very important to swim unnoticed as much as you can, avoiding sudden movements in the water, to respect the animal and to not annoy it. All the alligators that I have encountered that day were calm and they never showed aggressiveness toward me.
It is important to mention that although alligators are apex predators and highly unpredictable, the size of their natural preys is usually smaller than the size of a human being. I also want to mention that all the people that I know who are involved in this kind of activities, including myself, are professionals in the field of activities related to nature and to the interaction with apex predators.
