A holidaymaker was shocked to see a bird devour a live eel in a dramatic fight to the death.

Rare as it may be, that’s what happened last week in Ramsgate, Kent, when Richard Firth and his wife Julie were visiting the seaside town for a two-day break.

Richard, 45, said he and Julie were walking on the harbour before breakfast when they saw the black cormorant dive down into the water, reports the Story Trender.

What unfolded was an epic battle between bird and eel.

Urging the bird on to win, as it had worked so hard for its breakfast, Richard said he couldn’t quite believe what he saw next as the hungry cormorant began to chomp ferociously on its catch.

Dad-of-two Richard, from Huddersfield, said: ‘Normally they re-emerge yards away from where they went down but this one came straight back up with the eel in his mouth.

‘So I got the phone out and started filming. I felt like we were watching something pretty unusual and we had no idea who would win.’

‘Then the bird just swallowed it, whole and alive. I couldn’t believe it!

‘How does a bird swallow a writhing eel like that?

‘After it swallowed the eel it spent a good couple of minutes gulping; obviously the eel was still struggling inside until the bird washed his face again, and that was the end of it.’