Close-up of the baby iguana's spectacular escape from a pack of ferocious snakes surrounding it

The video above shows a chase between a baby marine iguana and a pack of racer snakes on Fernandina Island in the Galápagos Islands in Ecuador. The video was excerpted from the documentary Planet Earth II.

As the baby sea iguana emerged from the sand, it noticed dozens of racer snakes slithering toward it. It quickly accelerated to full speed and ran away. Thanks to its extremely fast running speed and skillful movements, the iguana escaped the snakes' attacks one by one.

When approaching the rocks, the iguana was 'caught alive' by a racer snake. Very quickly, a few other snakes also jumped into the fight to compete for prey. Although tightly coiled by the enemy, the baby iguana did not give up, it tried to struggle and was lucky to escape. Immediately, the baby iguana rushed up the rocks. It ran continuously without stopping and finally escaped from the fierce snakes surrounding it on all sides.

Marine iguanas are lizards in the family Iguanidae that are found only in the Galápagos Islands, off the coast of Ecuador. They feed on seaweed and algae that grow on rocky outcrops in shallow waters. Marine iguanas are the only lizard reptiles that live and forage in the sea.

During the breeding season, iguanas move to areas with soft, sandy soil and little surf to lay their eggs. In June, the newly hatched iguanas must find their way back to their parents on the rocky shoreline. This is the best feeding opportunity of the year for the racer snakes.

Samuel Daniel

Update 26 May 2025