Crocodile Death: Time to cull

A POST mortem examination has confirmed a British snorkeller was killed by a crocodile off a remote Northern Territory island.

Russell Harris, 37, is thought to have been killed by a four-metre saltwater crocodile as he snorkelled at a popular swimming spot off Groote Eylandt, in the Gulf of Carpentaria, on Saturday.

I often travel to the Territory and my definition of popular swimming spots includes a quick crocodile risk assessment before I get anywhere near the water. Tourists need to know that some locals view these matters with a less than an intelligent outlook.

The death has sparked renewed debate about whether limited safari hunting of some of the NT’s 75,000 crocodiles should be allowed.

So with tens of thousands of the man-eaters swimming in popular swimming spots with locals and tourists, authorities in the Territory have decided to do something about it. Or have they?

The Federal Government is expected to make a decision soon on the NT government proposal, for the trophy hunting of 25 crocodiles a year.

25 a year! That wouldn’t keep one swiming spot safe. The article quotes a population of some 75,000 crocs but that could well be a bureaucratic SWAG (Scientific Wild-Arsed Guess). I would expect more after 30 plus years of ‘they can eat us but we can’t kill them’. The female Saltwater Croc (Crocodylus porosus) lays 40 to 60 eggs each year. Some of these will fall prey to other animals or human egg collectors, however, if even a tenth survive and only 20% of the female population are in breeding age, then the NT plan should make one, and maybe two popular swimming holes safe in ten years time. Bureaucrats and Greenie politicians; much more dangerous than crocs and they can’t even double as a tourist attraction. UPDATE: Another guy taken by a croc, this time at Coboug Peninsular.

The man and his companion were diving near Washon Head on Cobourg Peninsula when the saltie – measuring up to 5m – made its unprovoked attack. His friend surfaced and saw the crocodile before making a frantic phone call to police on a satellite phone about 11.30am.

The problem’s not going away. Maybe tourists need to be given a brochure and forced to read it before leaving the Darwin Airport about how swimming can be fatal in the Territory. Last July I was camped near Whason Head and when we woke in the morning saw crocodile tracks going from a pool past our camp to the beach. They were big and had an impact on our behaviour for the entire time we were in the Territory.

We rest one day and then go for a drive the next. Sand tracks on the beach of a huge crocodile underline the No Swimming rule but old habits die hard and I spend some time in the sea lifting oysters of rocks with my Ka-Bar. My wife panics and mutters something about no fear but I still keep a sharp look out. I understand her fear – I mean with me eaten how would she pack the tent each day. Brian joins me and I gather a dozen or so good size rock oysters from their home and we pig out. I’m here to tell you that if you think the oysters you get at the resturant at Double Bay, or wherever, are great then you haven’t taken them off a rock in a pristine bay and eaten them fresh. I mean 5 seconds fresh – that’s fresh!

Yes I did go in the water but I wasn’t swimming, I was vertical and kept a lookout for the time my feet were wet. I am aware, the tourists aren’t.