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- A young man was tarpon fishing in Florida when he spotted a huge alligator, Fox 35 Orlando reported.
- He recorded the close encounter on his GoPro and posted it to YouTube.
- The terrifying chase now has 1.3 million views on YouTube.
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A 22-year-old man was tarpon fishing in Florida's Everglades National Park when he spotted a giant alligator emerging from the water, Fox 35 Orlando reported.
Within moments, fisherman Tommy Lee was forced to flee as the massive predator began to chase him.
The close encounter, filmed on a GoPro and posted to YouTube, captures Lee's effort to escape the 11-foot beast.
At the start of the two-minute clip, Lee is seen retreating from the shore as the alligator edges closer.
"Jesus Christ. You gotta be careful here," he is heard saying.
He can then be seen trying to make a safe distance between him and the reptile but stumbles and loses his footing.
Lee eventually gets back up and retreats further from the alligator as it chases him through the tropical wetlands.
"Well, that puts an end to my tarpon fishing," the fisherman muses to himself while just feet away from the animal.
"And I am out of here," Lee proclaims at the end of the video.
The footage now has over 1.3 million views on YouTube.
Alligator sightings aren't uncommon in Florida. A gigantic alligator was seen taking over a golf course in Naples, Florida, in November 2020, Insider's Tyler Lauletta reported.