While Charles held his breath at the bottom of the BioNova pool in Ojai, California, USA, the python licked his fingers and wrapped itself tightly around his waist. Charles was underwater with the giant python for half an hour on December 7.

“The way the python moves is great, being in the water is very comfortable. I’m not too worried because I know the animal’s owner and its personality, but you never know. The feeling when it swims around me was almost like meditating. I even had time to hug it,” Wieand shared.

According to Charles, anaconda can stay underwater for at least 10 minutes. This is one of the largest python species in the world, adults can be nearly 10 meters long and weigh about 250 kg. This python species usually lives in the Amazon River basin, South America.