Chilling video shows the final moments of man before he was sucked into deadly whirlpool

A horrifying video of the last moments of an award-winning photographer has gone viral online, over a decade after his untimely death.

You might have seen a viral video which first circulated on YouTube in 2013 of a man wearing a horse head prop while being dragged around by a whirlpool.

But you may not know what happened just moments later.

Acclaimed photographer Jacob Cockle was just 28 when the video was shot in a bid to make a sensational piece of footage online.

Having won awards for his sea photography from the likes of National Geographic and The Sunday Times, Cockle was known for capturing the best shots possible by using increasingly dangerous tactics.

Described by those who knew him as a ‘daredevil’ who was obsessed with the ocean, Cockle found his calling in the water and taking pictures of surfers, boats and whirlpools.

"He made you believe magic existed"

The daredevil had just won a £28,000 expedition to Antarctica, a dream for him, when tragedy would strike just weeks later.

On this fateful day, Cockle captured a video for YouTube after seeing a whirlpool open up in the sea in Hayle harbour, Cornwall.

But he wanted to reach new heights and donned a prop head, venturing out to shoot the clip again.

Unfortunately, his curiosity of the sea would be his demise as after wanting to know what the inside of a whirlpool would look like from his GoPro camera, he decided to dive into the pool.

"There is never a day that I don't think about it"

His friend Barnaby Courtney told the BBC: "He had these crazy eyes that looked like the sea, his hair was always unkempt, he always looked happy.

"He made you believe magic existed."

His mother Carolyn chimed: "Jacob loved the water.

"Once he was in you could never get him out."

But as the vortex in Hayle harbour only appeared a few times a year, it was one of the few chances he’d ever be able to get to capturing it.

Footage from 2013 shows the final moments of 28-year-old James Cockle before he was sucked into a deadly whirlpool.

Over the years he gained high acclaim for his films and photos, notably capturing stunning 2011 images of two surfers being swept off a sea wall by 30ft waves and… pic.twitter.com/cGYgmxV8hF

— Morbid Knowledge (@Morbidful) April 10, 2024

On May 28 2013 the whirlpool returned, and Cockle enlisted the help of a friend to wade out into the water to meet it.

Artist David Raine had initially agreed to film Cockle as he swam around the vortex, but by the time he had reached the harbour, the photographer was already in the water with the horse head.

At the time, Raine thought it was a bit of risky fun, like the other times his friend had filmed.

He said to him: "It looks a powerful one.”

Cockle shouted back: "Ah yeah, earlier on it was really scary.

"It's fine now because it's so deep but when I first got in I was a bit scared to be honest.

"It's safe as now, though."

That’s when he asked for the GoPro camera which was attached to a pole so that he could get one last shot below the surface.

But he didn’t reappear after diving down.

Running to the other end of the quay to where the whirlpool funnelled into a pool, Raine attempted to see if his friend had been caught and spat back out.

But there was no sign of him.

It was only moments later as he ran back and forth that he would spot his friend floating in the pool facedown. It was too late.

Cockle’s mother was woken up that night and taken to Treliske Hospital in Truro to identify her son.

His love for the sea and curiosity for what lay beneath is what ended up costing him his life.

"There is never a day that I don't think about it," his mom said.