A deadly snake was filmed trying to slither back out of a cormorant's throat after the bird swallowed it whole in a dramatic fight to the death.

Aleks Ceklic spotted the highly venomous dugite, one of Australia's most deadly serpents, wrestling with the seabird, also known as a shag, while he was walking his dog at Mangles Bay Beach in Rockingham, Western Australia, on Sunday at about 11am, reports the Mirror.

As the 37-year-old filmed the battle, the cormorant swallowed the snake whole but the creature could be seen trying to wriggle back up out of its beak to escape its clutches.

HR advisor Aleks, from Perth, said: ‘I was walking my dog and I saw the shag with this snake in its mouth.

‘I realised it was a dugite, a highly venomous land-based snake.

‘The snake had just been on the beach and the bird came over and grabbed it and just started to eat it in front of me.

‘I was quite shocked when I saw that, you definitely don't see water birds eating snakes off the land every day - particularly a highly venomous snake like a dugite.

He added: ‘I definitely think that was a once in a lifetime thing to witness. It was very unusual.

‘I could see the shag was struggling to swallow the snake, the dugite was wriggling for its life.

‘When it went down its throat I could see it trying to wriggle back up out of its mouth. It was still alive - it was pretty freaky.

‘I have no idea whether the venom would have killed the bird, it seemed ok apart from the fact it was struggling to swallow the snake.’