Florida Alligators - Close-up underwater snaps

Close-up underwater snaps of an American alligator in the Everglades, Florida

These are the men who risk their lives to capture the closest possible shots of deadly swamp alligators. The pictures were taken so close that at one point an eight-foot, 200 pound male American alligator was nudging the photographer's camera aggressively with his nose

The images show all the detail of the beasts head, from its beady black eyes to its toothy grin. It opens its powerful jaws showing rows of fearsome teeth, which are capable of ripping a human's arm clean off

The most recent alligator attack in Florida was in July 2010, when teenager, Tim Delano's hand was bitten off while he was taking a Sunday morning swim in a local creek. The 18-year-old from Fort Meyers survived the attack by punching the alligator with his free arm until it let him go. The alligator was killed and the hand retrieved, but it was too damaged to be re-attached

Photographer, Todd Winner (above), 52, from Vilano Beach, Florida was driving close to the marshy state everglades with his friend, Adam Lintz, 35, from Michigan. Brave school teacher, Adam spotted the mighty alligator from the car and suggested they stop and check. Wildlife photographer, Todd was more than happy to take the opportunity presented by the huge lizard

Luckily for Todd, as well as being a teacher, Adam was an experienced shark diver used to being in the presence of dangerous predators. Adam was able to assist by distracting the alligator and giving Todd the time he needed to take his shots

"I did think about the danger, but I wanted to get a great image so I went for it," explained Todd. "I always like to get my shots as up close as possible. A zoom lens just isn't the same"

"At first the alligator was pretty mellow and just swam about...

...But as he approached me he started doing his mating call and ramming his nose right into my camera...

...I decided right then and there it was time to get out of the water"

American alligators species have survived for more than 150 million years old and because of hunting by humans in the twentieth century until recently they were an endangered species. Their population has since recovered and is now thriving