Snake Island (Full Length Documentary)

hold off hey Trevor hey Jimmy I sell these my new friends will slay Kyle and I'm going crazy cuz we're sleeping on an island full of snakes pretty sure I'm gonna die wait what five snakes [Music] Osen feasted umar ra da chimera great Vittorio su tiempo para su pedasus para is no medicine at Rancho purusa appears are the village around focus regard is nominated sipara see the Holyfield there's a small island about 100 miles off the coast of são Paulo Brazil every Brazilian knows about but only few have their traveled even fewer have survived the article - Jose galleon the OREA critically de como pesos proverbial Paris le o breaking in Tampa rocky named continent la hija de que Marva grungy better known as snake island is infested with one of the most deadly snakes the world has ever known the golden lancehead Viper - rah rah rah cayó el macabre super filly wasn't confident oh kappa yatta yatta so you managed umar water and is issuing a penis mm-hmm i avec mother greg with an estimated 3000 specimens living on the island this small chunk of land has the highest concentration of venomous snakes in the world according to local legend in the 1920s a lighthouse keeper and his family were assigned as stewards of the island inferno lado de aqui caramel air yeah Felix a sink ones whose dough is Mahiro no idea named tempo in a vacuum irrelevance of containing and more recent times the Brazilian government declared the inhospitable rocky terrain off-limits to the general population once a year they make the journey there to do maintenance on what is now an automated lighthouse the Brazilian Navy granted us access to the island and even invited us along to accompany them during their annual expedition to the lighthouse Sall Paulo Brazil the city that is at the heart of the country's current economic boom over the next ten years is expected to have the second highest economic growth of any city in the world buried deep within the country's diverse economy is a black market of animal smugglers or more precisely bio Pirates Montes is a separate area si como en Brazil Tata once a video Lando's FM our circuit ensalada nurse nurse herself as he began to see that she was no surgery let us commence a mangy near my eyes this has led scientists and environmentalists to fight for the islands protection leading the charge is a group of researchers of Boonton pond Institute in Sao Paulo which is where we met Marcelo Duarte anaconda more than 3 and 1/2 meters is female this is a big female the smell in their hands is last for 3 or 4 days even soaping washing your hands with soap is very steep since its foundation the Butantan Institute has been at the forefront of developing biopharmaceuticals from snake venom every year thousands of Brazilian plantation workers are bitten by snakes scientists at Butantan I've cut the death rate way down here poisonous reptiles live in palatial quarters induced to you their venom so that serums can be made to combat the activities of other poisonous recluse Marcelo is one of the Institute's lead researchers and he and his team are experts on the medical potential of the golden lancehead and other similar species these disturbances moving in come prophet Amaechi Alice body social is a design problem a scardy expressing siculus sound mobile okay determine odds factoid is knock on glass sound Tom saw honey on the internet or a Sunni veracity that potentially daddy does Vania anything Marcel is one of only a handful of scientists to set foot on snake island a place that he says is ecologically unique and has the potential to be the source of revolutionary developments in science and medicine Antonio de Mauro Maine tava yuh Muma order SS a populace on st. Charles holanda no that's hiya when snake island first separated from the mainland the island species of snake began to evolve on a separate path from its mainland cousin but since the island contains no natural predators our ground level prey for the snakes the golden lancehead took the hunt to the trees where migratory birds perched during pit stops on their long journeys the result was the golden lancehead developing an incredibly potent and specialized fast acting venom that kills the birds instantly Marcella was unavailable to join us on our trip so instead he sent us with his fellow boon Tintin researcher Karina Rodriguez and a few of their colleagues we were also joined by Angela a Brazilian journalist who is reported on the island many times holidays Vista Service Ibiza is a visiting scholar camo Vaseline geez ultra spirit of science there is a four month Amamiya being Russia getting onto snake island legally also requires that a doctor be present at all times in the event that the worst case scenario happens an anti-venom needs to be administered to someone who's been bitten by a snake most atomic guys just do more here [Music] you'll the avro of the island we'll find out why the Navy looks after this giant island flow snakes Admiral do you have any advice for us on the island you will follow the people glutton to island specialized dispute to the maintenance and they have training to be care so there are the people you choose are they ever scared to go on the island yeah yeah any scare because it is make there is a special snake you know would you go on the island yourself I think [Music] [Music] we were told that our captain was one of the most respected and accomplishment in the Brazilian native pacifically assigned to this mission to help ensure our safety voltages essentially say no my own idea was India master demos on voyage from the odd yeah boy after a mile Vaslav enemy because you like I'm here Olson is Nevada Nevada la Pucelle result up yourself to Chicago yeah Akina Paul Volcker's at the Agora wouid estimate these qualities use of the solids you jump in the water oh wow get my sea legs already but I have a feeling it's just going to get worse let's do the land and we have good six or seven hours at least to go [Music] so we've been out at sea for a couple hours can't see anything any direction complete open water this boat has one speed and it's extremely slow and very rocky some people are having some troubles with seasickness everyone seems to be kind of taking a nap so I think I'll do the same [Music] finally about eight hours after we left the port we spotted something ominous on the horizon [Music] lazy Buddhism a [Music] so we're finally here snake island a whole lot of snakes a little chunk of land I'm not sure I want to be here now [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] don't happen on the view that you don't give a now we have a storm coming immediately after our arrival it's one of the most ridiculous clouds I've ever seen and it's coming right before us like racing towards us more and more I really do you think we've come to like an experimental island and I can't believe we're actually gonna go walk up that night sometimes the the ocean change and you you can't go out so sometimes you have to wait here for two or three days until the the ocean is okay for you to to ride [Music] the tumse pyaar kiya [Music] yeah I came home saying this but I am looking forward to going to an island full of snakes tomorrow I just hope no one dies [Music] [Music] my testicles are slowly receding into my stomach which I believe is an instinctive reaction to going to an island full of poisonous snakes besides being home to the highest concentration of animals that can kill you there's no Beach which means the only place to quote-unquote safely dock is an old signpost on a slippery algae covered bed of rocks Villa de Jongh premier Michigan - Salta [Music] I think [Applause] [Music] [Music] so the model problem sir is home to attend salta the broad profess a mere apart faster than I thought with snakes lurking in every nook and cranny imagine these snakes as moving landmines that instead of blowing you up will cause your organs to liquefy in a slow tedious death that's pretty much what we were walking into bringing in this industrial weed whacker I'm gonna clear the way [Applause] doctor you snake Islands terrain is also inhospitable and at points downright deadly on our hour and a half long journey up the base of one of the islands numerous mountains we spotted a security camera hanging from a tree there is no identification ibid is it the navy's we don't know kids okay folks [Applause] thank you snake right there [Music] this is the problem because you can't see the snakes here the last time I came it was worse than this that's a key akela PAH take their material fire that's a beer it's hard to drop up this goddamn hill as it is when these poor guys to carry batteries and light bulbs and all sorts of for the light house to fix it apparently most of the snakes on this island are in the trees cuz that's where the birds land it's one of the main sources for food say this they are very I really don't want to go in this hole it's where the snakes are I know it I just know it [Music] [Music] you've seen three snakes so far which isn't a lot but it is early in the morning it's hot I'm sure there's hundreds around us right now are you here likewise the photo cleared us a photo on a faulty heater Talisa maegyr here we are at the fabled lighthouse the doors busted off 24 equals to e what happened to the lighthouse man why did he leave in 1920s know I exist from algae decay pontesilli fr Tiki we think that Shivaji Milius constant vadhana Illya my verificar Doki Adam Miller so somewhere oh so much as el faro wash the traveler traveler with the hey cabeza door salah/prayer Volta saga told us to do this so that America is devilish people died eh vegetable issues you know they shall have you got my support from the off a secure Ocasio soubriquet civic coupe sous-chef I'll defeat but rocket is equal to here my al-azhar water which Montes the filter criteria Apache field for all ya anachronistic garage innovations [Music] of course one of the first dozen snakes we spotted was inside the lighthouse hiding under the old batteries that moments earlier I have been sitting CL everyone backed off everyone knew but this thing one bite is gonna ruin your day big time after the crew got the lighthouse up and running again they didn't waste a second hightailing it off the island and back onto the boat now we're here with the researchers the Butantan Institute we're gonna go to the other side of the island we're gonna camp out overnight and see what fate the snakes deal us as we explored the overgrown portions of the island the researchers we spotted a snake at least once every five minutes and these were just the ones we saw for each snake that made itself visible there were undoubtedly dozens more around us camouflaged by the brush and hanging from the trees for those who work with snakes it's very hard to go to the field and find many snakes and then here you don't have to walk that much and you can see many snakes so it's these are special conditions you can never find anywhere else and here is the biggest abundance of venomous snakes in the world the researchers from Boone Taunton catch the snakes weigh them and then inject them with microchips mmm-hmm thank you very tough once we find an animal we just capture them so we can measure and wait we check about the reproductive stages of the animal since you do it summer for tonight is now we're going to Maya to insert the microchip pony 148 grams this gives them vital information about inherently endangered species it's really unnerving here because you're I start playing tricks on you and everything looks like a snake trees and the grass and the bushes and then you confuses me see a real snake you get what a relaxed trick that's not a snake and that bites you given how often we spotted snakes slithering around in the grass it was hard to believe Carina when she told us that the islands golden lancehead population has been dwindling for years how many snakes do you think there are in this island can you estimate people used to think that there were around 4,000 snakes and probably now it's around one a half thousand mm apparently it's decreasing Smuggler's also known as bio pirates have decreased the total population of what is already an inherently endangered species so it's very common actually that's when we get to the continent if we have animals with us like a friend of ours already went to the continent carrying snakes which were supposed to go to our lab and then a guy just came to her and asked her if she wanted to sell it and they offer like ten to thirty thousand dollars for one snake so this snake for this thank you following up on rumors of snake smugglers going to the island we were able to find one to talk to us provided we didn't show his face young Vincent percent of them yeah you sure Galina Linda Jacobus even though s covers from Brasilia teams contest la flora and what successful people Nativity University please working against our mais a kabuki no contest he is a specialist on second side he have the condor home today is is the one second super nice guys this is for offices guys involveed the ponies he told us that even though steely exotic animals is his main source of income he would never risk actually going to snake island but later he made comments that were inconsistent with his claim so let's say I approached you for golden lancehead you've agreed to go to snake island and agreed to the fee do you have any on the inside I can kind of tip you off concert is Arrangements eg dear Donna I am pro game present Cigala I think the Queen's made you see our contest of it desert reaching in Brazilian identity de Janeiro plates Priscilla's Muslim his Kyoko his Sunoco he see his good totem on Jalopnik I was corporal of 10 on G era across Asia gala yomo yomo see American Secretary platitude concept is attend means number as u-238 even in terms of illegally smuggled animals $30,000 is a lot so why does the snake cost so much money is it only wealthy snake collectors buying these things on the black market is there something special about their venom no one knows or at the very least they weren't giving it up this is the very important to understand the evolution of inside this genus bottoms which is a very special genus here because many of the accidents with snakes in Brazil are caused by this genus oh it is very important to us to have knowledge about it in general [Music] it's time for washing cause otherwise the closes will be over everything tomorrow over the table over everything so there's no way out come here yeah now we're kids we quickly discovered that poisonous snakes weren't the only thing crawling around in the dirt oh look at that they love the food that we've dropped the morsels and crumbs of deliciousness these cockroaches want to eat it five snakes [Music] wait what here is one look this is like the worst place I've ever been it's like literally it's like humans don't come here there's no Beach shitty waves like it looks beautiful but there's cockroaches and blue locusts look what does that mean it's like it's like literally biblical and snakes I'll kill grass and one bite here come to snake island it business is boomin beautiful mine on snake island I think there are cockroaches under my ass right now thankfully our journey concluded without anyone's skin being pierced by fangs are being injected with life-saving serum our two days on snake island are over I kissed before the boat my cut on hair we defied hundreds if not thousands of snakes biting us and we're gonna go to the safety of reel land and of course they feel like a million bucks right now as we motored away I couldn't help but think that the only reason we survived was because snake island led us it almost seemed like we had exited some strange dimension one ruled by nature and beasts and with a type of savage beauty that is rare in this day and age and I had no intention of ever returning again [Music] you [Music]

Channel: VICE

Views: 6,108,141

Rating: 4.6743932 out of 5

Keywords: funny videos, culture, smuggler, santos, vice news, snake bite, funny, travel, snakes, VENOM, independent, wild, viper, snake attack, lifestyle, exclusive, vice presents, Golden Lancehead Viper, snake, Brazil, documentary, rocco castoro, journalism, vice.com, world, Ilha da Queimada Grande, documentaries, interviews, vbs.tv, vice mag, vice, black market pharmaceutical chemists, vice guide, underground, vice videos, vicevideos, poachers, x2, videos, vice magazine, interview, snake island

Id: kjaz0mynQvk

Length: 28min 3sec (1683 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 29 2014

Reddit Comments

[u/DespoticPanda]

So 3 snakes per square metre then.

[u/SugarRushJunkie]

I wonder if thats why its uninhabited. :P

[u/cyanidepancakes]

Well obviously it's uninhabited.

[u/[deleted]]

People stopped trying to establish anything there because well...they died.

[u/tom2kk]

Looked at the thumbnail first, thought it was a story about Danish pastries.

[u/darkwing81]

Ah yes, the famed Isle of NOPE!