Invasion of the Croc

[Kangaron]

Now on IView.
a great watch but the end scares me.
http://www.abc.net.au/iview/#

[Squalo]

That was grouse, and yes I agree - bit of a worry! If they are able to travel 20km in ten hours, upstream...

[graylyn]

I just watched that video.  It is very sobering. 

[mbuckner]

Will not let us watch it here in the U.S. ..... must be bad
for tourism ....

[Squalo]

Will not let us watch it here in the U.S. ..... must be bad
for tourism ....

Ha! Well there may actually be something in that.

Here's some interesting saltwater crocodile factoids from the documentary...

- Since crocs were protected in 1974 after being almost hunted to extinction, their numbers have risen from an estimated 3000 to over 75,000
- One female can lay 150 to 300 eggs per year in her nest
- It's estimated that there are 1000+ nests made by crocs each year
- Nearly 300 salties were caught and removed from Darwin Harbour last year and the number is going up each year
- Tracking devices showed that crocs can travel up to 20km in 10 hours - upstream in a river
- Crocs are now travelling 100-200km out to sea and taking nesting turtles on islands
- Crocs can stay at sea for up to a week (they are regularly spotted by ocean going ships) and underwater for up to 2 hours

[Bird]

I like the one called "kill it, cook it, eat it"! might record that for the vego freaks at work here.

[Chippy76]

I clicked to have a quick look at that ....45 mins later I was still watching! lol Very interestng .... still so much we dont know!

Cheers Chippy

[Kit_e_kat9]

There was no mention of them moving over land from one billabong to another and how far they travel then which was something we first got told when we moved to Darwin.  Also we were told, when the signs say "it's safe to swim" ask the question "when was it last checked" before just diving in.  That was well over 10 years ago now, so according to this doco ... not much has changed although the numbers have increased marginally.  They've always taken hundreds of crocs out of the Darwin Harbour.  That's nothing new.  I would never swim anywhere that wasn't cholrinated and clear, unlike a lot of backpackers and tourists.  In saying that, they've also removed quite a few out of the local swimming pool, including a 3 metre plastic one when I was there in '96 - '98   We had a dam on our Howard Springs property, and we did a daily "throw something in and see if the surface erupts" check before swimming, but that might not even have been a safe enough approach.  I'm still here to tell that tale, though I was always nervous regardless.

The safest place to swim in the northern regions still remains a bath tub!

Kit_e

I wonder what else they learned that they aren't sharing with us.

[Sandini]

That was incredible.
Being from the Central Coast of NSW and a surfer, I haven't yet travelled to the far north, but will. When I do, I will have a new found respect of where and not where, to swim. When I surf, I rarely do it on isolated beaches or at dusk or dawn to reduce any chance of meeting a big bitey. Have seen a few, but we are not on their menu normally. Crocs on the other hand seem a little more primal. Won't be wading around or swimming laps when we visit.
Great doco.
 
Sandini

[BigJules]

Thanks for sharing that. I enjoyed that immensely.

[Jason B]

I clicked to have a quick look at that ....45 mins later I was still watching! lol Very interestng .... still so much we dont know!

Cheers Chippy

X2 great watch. Thanks


Regards


jas

[Top.ender]

Awesome ,now I know what I want to do when I grow up 

[Manjimike]

They've always taken hundreds of crocs out of the Darwin Harbour. 
Kit_e

Was in Darwin 1985 - 2000, and regularly dived on the wrecks in the Harbour, including night dives. No-one from the dive clubs or shops had seen a croc in 20 odd years.
Maybe they saw us, but never was anyone attacked.
 

cheers Mike

[Disco EMU]

Thanks for posting that!
A fantastic documentary ... interesting data and some great underwater shots of the crocs.

Surely they need to have a good think about the croc numbers in the NT?

C

[morgue]

Up travelling up North, I was told not to go swimming in ANY river/ property dam or Billabong, 300k's from the coast, especially after the wet season...crocs travel during floods and will end up in dams up to 300k's from the coast.

[FNQ_DOC]

Living in the north - both Darwin & FNQ - I wouldn't get in any water anywhere except a nice clean chlorinated pool (as previous poster stated).  All kinds of beasts in these waters; crocs all year round / jellys also all year round (despite what the signs tell you there's no such thing as stinger season - just more stingers in the wet!) - such is the joy of living in the tropics!  For those living a bit further south just as disturbing a show was last week's River Monsters on ABC2 on Bull Sharks (also available on iView, the episode was called Freshwater Sharks).  Sensationalist certainly but sobering also.  Sharks attacking horses 80km up the Brisbane River...mmm the rational explanation for the sharks that far up river was the '74 Brisbane floods...what creatures have taken advantage of the 2011 floods? 

I know you can't live life in a bubble but...just when you though it was safe to get back in the water...

[Kit_e_kat9]

Freshwater Sharks ... funny you should mention those ... signs all up and down the Brisvegas River mentioning said Sharks Live Here ... Be Aware ...  Bull sharks is what they mean and they were responsible for the pack attack (and resulting death) of a woman on the bayside of Straddie (if my memory serves me) not so long ago.  From the reports, 4 or 5 sharks gave the poor woman no hope of survival, and she had her extremeties targeted.  That gives me the willies just thinking about it.

At least crocs just grab, crunch, drown I guess.

Further down south it's great whites, drop bears. 
Out west it's snakes, wild dogs, dingo's, drop bears. 
In suburbia it's psyco nutters, narky spiders, drop bears and vehicle operators. 

The list of reasons not to venture out is HUGE.  Not gonna stop me though.   

Kit_e

[speewa158]

These nastys have been here for Milllllions of years . We have to go sometime , be aware , be safe 

[gacoxd]

Freshwater Sharks ... funny you should mention those ... signs all up and down the Brisvegas River mentioning said Sharks Live Here ... Be Aware ...  Bull sharks

I've paddled a skis and outriggers in the Brisbane River for years and while I have seen the signs I have yet to see a shark. not that I am complaining.

Damo

[Roo]

I've paddled a skis and outriggers in the Brisbane River for years and while I have seen the signs I have yet to see a shark. not that I am complaining.

Damo

Have a chat to any local fishing clubs about the biteys in the Brissie river...there are plenty and some are disturbingly large....fisho's i mean, the fat buggers are everywhere but there are sharks too

not my image but I remember It being caught at pinkenba. there were more images but they had happy smiling faces in them.

[Squalo]

I was living in a waterfront house on Sydney Harbour for a while (Drummoyne) and used to swim the odd hangover off, until a lady on a passing boat told me she regularly saw bull sharks where I was swimming. I nearly gave up drinking until I realised I could just stay in bed until lunchtime 

[qldaussienomad]

Was very interesting, I live in Cairns and a crocodile came out of the storm water drain onto the Bruce highway the other month. Shows they can get anywhere if they want to.

[BigJules]

I was living in a waterfront house on Sydney Harbour for a while (Drummoyne) and used to swim the odd hangover off, until a lady on a passing boat told me she regularly saw bull sharks where I was swimming. I nearly gave up drinking until I realised I could just stay in bed until lunchtime 

As a scuba diver, I love sharks. I lived on the other side of the harbour and had a Zodiac behind which I used to tow people in a tube on the Lane Cove river. I stopped doing that, and swimming in there as well, after a rowing scull was attacked by a bull shark right where we used to go.

I reckon if I can see it I'm probably OK, but it's the one you don't see that gets you.

[Matto]

Was very interesting, I live in Cairns and a crocodile came out of the storm water drain onto the Bruce highway the other month. Shows they can get anywhere if they want to.

Yup - they get everywhere. One regularly ends up in one of the Cairns Golf Club's water traps, likewise the Gordonvale course. Centenary Lakes usually gets a couple in it every wet. The storm drains through the city usually have a couple in at any given time.

It's the unrestricted population growth that I blame for the current problems we're having. They're territorial beasts, they need to spread out. Currently they're having to go further and further up the rivers into areas that have always been safe to swim at (Ross & Loche, Green Patch, etc). Couple that with the smaller territory sizes due to the higher density, and you end up with more crocs that are crankier and hungrier than they should be. It's outstanding that more people don't get bitten than do - they really should (especially with the behaviour you see up here every now and then). I'm not saying kill them all, and I agree that they should be protected, but isn't part of taking care of the environment also proactively managing populations to ensure everyone can get along?

I've paddled a skis and outriggers in the Brisbane River for years and while I have seen the signs I have yet to see a shark. not that I am complaining.

We used to ski on the Brisbane river, but never saw anything. The bigger problem was getting a lungful of Brisbane river water - yuk! That said, the guy who owned the boat, he'd been chased down the river by a shark once. The dude driving the boat was signalling him to see if he wanted to go faster. He was signalling back to go slower - if he went fast he'd probably fall off! So long as he kept moving, he'd be right!

Thanks!
Matto

[rossbarb]

I just showed the doco to my students in years 5/6 they love anything on wildlife and Australia my fault as I take them camping and on excursions to Lightning Ridge. Just trying to foster a love of Australia and learning
Thanks for the link. Love any you lot can post, photos the lot show them any of interest
Barb
PS my boys who struggle to read, read the 4x4 and camping magazines.