SCARY VIDEO: Piranhas Are JUST As Vicious As The Movies Make Them Out To Be

by Sierra Marlee | March 20, 2015 9:21 pm

You know that scene in the horror movies where someone falls into the water, and piranhas devour them, leaving only a bloody pool? Well, it just so happens that they are EXACTLY like that in real life[1], and we have the video to prove it. This will probably prevent me from swimming in anything but an above-ground pool ever again, but it’s pretty interesting.

[2]

From The Daily Mail[3]:

This is the shocking moment a shoal of deadly piranha fish turned a quiet Brazilian harbour into a frenzy of activity when fishermen threw meat into the water.

The fisherman had spent the afternoon gutting their catch by the edge of the Amazon River when they decided to throw their off-cuts into the water.

Almost as soon as the meat hits the surface, the piranhas burst into life, turning the murky water white with spray as they fight among themselves and devour the remains of the fish in seconds.

Bystander Joao Antonio Cruz Junior, 27, was standing just above the small wooden pier with a mobile phone camera, and managed to capture the carnivorous fish ripping into the flesh.

The frenzied activity encourages other piranhas into the area so that every time the fishermen throw more meat into the water, it is whipped up into even more of a frenzy.

Mr Cruz Junior posted the footage online which quickly went viral, although it was not revealed exactly where in Brazil it was taken.

Piranhas are native to South America and are found along the Amazon River where the video is understood to have been shot.

They are known for their razor-sharp teeth and furious group attacks when hungry.

Piranhas can attack humans too and every year hundreds of piranha attacks are reported throughout South America.

The most notable piranha incident in recent times came in Argentina in December 2013, when an attack by a school of hungry piranhas saw 70 people injured and several children lose fingers and toes.

In February a six-year-old girl died after she was eaten by piranhas when her canoe capsized in Brazil.

The girl had been on a family holiday with her grandmother and other children when she fell into the water in Rio Maicuru in Monte Alegre.

By the time she was pulled from the water, the killer fish had stripped all the flesh from her legs.