This brave professional diver filmed as he swam side-by-side with a number of intimidating alligators in southern Florida.

Bartolomeo Bove captured the intense encounters as he went face-to-face with the apex predators.

Bove told Newsflare: "The swamp is a somewhat eerie and wild environment where diving into it means dipping yourself in a primitive world.

"I have to admit that free diving in the Florida swamp is one of my favourite activities.

"Although the water was pretty murky I could still get good shots of one of Florida's apex predators.

"To film underwater in the swamp, where the visibility was not ideal I had to dive with caution, approaching very slowly once spotted the alligator, paying attention not to scare it running the risk of making it run away.

"When you are in the alligators' underwater kingdom it is very important to swim unnoticed as much as you can, avoiding sudden movements in the water, to respect the animal and to not annoy it.

"All the alligators that I have encountered that day were calm and they never showed aggressiveness toward me.

"It is important to mention that although alligators are apex predators and highly unpredictable, the size of their natural preys is usually smaller than the size of a human being.

"I also want to mention that all the people that I know who are involved in this kind of activity, including myself, are professionals in the field of activities related to nature and in the interaction with apex predators."

This footage was filmed in January 2019.

Bartolomeo Bove, a professional shark diver and underwater videographer dived into the murky waters of the South Florida swamp to capture close-up footage of alligators underwater. The swamp is a somewhat eerie and wild environment where diving into it means dipping yourself in a primitive world. I have to admit that free diving in the Florida swamp is one of my favourite activities. Winter is the ideal time to do such activity because cold weather makes the alligators more calm and slow down. Although water was pretty murky I could still get good shots of one of Florida' s apex predators. To film underwater in the swamp, where the visibility was not ideal I had to dive with caution, approaching very slowly once spotted the alligator, paying attention not to scare it running the risk of making it run away. When you are in the alligators underwater kingdom it is very important to swim unnoticed as much as you can, avoiding sudden movements in the water, to respect the animal and to not annoy it. All the alligators that I have encountered that day were calm and they never showed aggressiveness toward me. It is important to mention that although alligators are apex predators and highly unpredictable, the size of their natural preys is usually smaller than the size of a human being. I also want to mention that all the people that I know who are involved in this kind of activities, including myself, are professionals in the field of activities related to nature and in the interaction with apex predators.