Conservationist films what it's like to be eaten by a shark

An underwater camera was able to capture a tiger shark trying to swallow a camera. The video, which has now gone viral on social media, was recorded by a Switzerland-based photographer and conservationist, Nico Zimm.

Zimm, 29, was on an underwater expedition in the Maldives when a tiger shark chomped on his 360-degree camera. The camera was able to capture footage from the shark's mouth and throat. The camera somehow survived the attack after the shark released it from its jaws. It shows the shark's mouth as it bites down, as well as its teeth, and gills on the inner walls.

The video was uploaded on Instagram by an account called Zimy Da Kid. The video has been able to get a lot of traction and has received over 5 thousand likes and hundreds of comments. "That moment this curious Tiger Shark decided to taste my @insta360 camera during our last @deepseaguardians expedition," read the caption of the video.

One Instagram user wrote, "I mean, it seems like there are plenty of fish around if he's that hungry." And another wrote, "That was like a whole different dimension inside. Never seen before." "It was chewing the camera? I mean...crazy!"

According to the 29-year-old cinematographer who took the shot, the video was taken in the waters of Fuvahmulah, south of the Maldives.

"I put my Insta360 on a weight and then I put it on the sand and the shark was curious. He saw this shiny thing and he thought 'let me taste it' and then he bit the camera," he said about the incident, according to The Independent.

He says that he wishes to change people's negative perceptions of sharks. "My goal is to make people fall in love with sharks through beautiful images. I started filming sharks because sharks are disappearing at a very, very fast rate which is going to be very bad for the ocean," he said.

"When sharks bite people it is not because they want to eat us, it's because they see someone and they are curious so they just bite," he added.