Interestingly enough, sea snakes often swallow quite large eels tailfirst and alive. "Alive" in this case means "poisoned and probably dying, but the snake doesn't care if it's still moving as long as it's weak enough to swallow."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2SU8ixnBss Pulled out of hole and swallowed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uyT4Cbx2XU The eel fights but is swallowed tailfirst and alive

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teTzX2NerQo The eel resists for a while, but eventually down it goes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=yS0X5JqFiZQ&feature=endscreen Sea snake tries to swallow an eel that is probably too big. Probably. 83


The trick here is that eels are exactly the right shape to fit inside a snake and sea snakes are highly venomous. Apparently they've learned to hunt what you would THINK would be deadly dangerous prey, moray eels. They approach them tailfirst, bite to inject poison, and so they eeel doesn't float or swim away they just start swallowing. The result, as seen here, is sometimes the eel gets away and sometimes a snake ends up with a really big meal. 83