Crocodile staring

Staring an Australian salt water crocodile in the eye at close range isn't something one does and generally gets away with. There's a few relatively safe ways of doing so if you're game though; It's actually quite an unnerving experience to be honest but I've done it and survived to tell the tale and you could too if you manage to get to Australia someday.

The salty - Some perspective

The Australian salt water crocodile is the known as an opportunistic hypercarnivorous apex predator meaning that over seventy percent of its diet is meat and that it employs ambush tactics when hunting. Typically it'll use stealth to get close, strikes, drowns then swallows the prey whole. If the prey is overly large, like a buffalo, it'll deploy the death-roll which tears great chunks of prey, a hind section for instance. They are effective killers and have remained largely unchanged for some 20 million years.

They sometimes take their kill and stow it in an underwater hole in the river bank for later too...It is how a lady escaped death once apparently. She swam to safety. I don't believe it though as she would likely not have survived the death roll and being under water...But I heard it from someone who heard it from someone else, who heard from someone else, whose cousin's sisters, friend's brother's mate heard it from a reliable source.

There is little in the animal world that can best a salt water crocodile including one of the other most deadly apex predators, the shark. The sheer size, weight and ferocity, massive clamping force of the jaws, stealth and death-roll are formidable weapons securing the salt water crocodile's position up the top of the food chain in these parts.

Males will grow to just over 6 metres [21 feet] and can weigh some 1300 kilograms [2900 pounds]; There are unconfirmed reports [unmeasured] of salty's at over 8 metres long - A fearsome beast indeed. A salt water crocodile is just as comfortable in the fresh water of rivers, billabongs and estuaries as they are in the ocean and whilst they have a relatively small brain they are capable of learning the behaviours of prey, a fisherman's routine of cleaning fish by the river for instance, and lying in wait ready to pounce - They are calculating and quite smart despite their prehistoric appearance.

It is estimated there's up to 200,000 adult crocodiles wild in Australia although I'd say it's more as they have been breeding up since the restriction on hunting them.

In short, these things are killers and one goes near the water at one's peril. There are signs and it pays to obey them. Some 150 people have been taken by crocodiles since the early 1970's - Taking a dip in the north of this country will almost certainly go badly.

Getting up close

I lived up in far north Queensland, crocodile country, for a little while and have seen many crocodiles in captivity at such places as Hartley's crocodile adventures. On a trip to Darwin, Northern Territory I wanted to see them in their natural environment so headed to the Adelaide River for a cruise in an aluminium boat to check out some of the big beasts.

I chose the smaller of the two cruise companies as I thought there'd be less people - It actually meant the boats were smaller also which I thought might be more fun.

Heading down the dirt road in the hire car made me realise just how remote I was despite being only being about one hour from Darwin. It's the outback around these parts.

There's some spectacular scenery including the famous Katherine Gorge, [now renamed something else for political-correctness reasons] some of which you can see in the very first image above. There's billabongs, wetlands and estuaries all over the place too - Most full of crocodiles.

In the wet season the estuaries overflow and link up so the crocodiles can move about between them all. When the water subsides they get trapped in them and stay there until the next wet season. There are spots the rangers clear out [they shoot the crocodiles] so tourists can "safely" swim though. The above image is one such billabong. That's Wangi Falls in the Litchfield National Park and I took a swim there - A nervous one...But I figured if a croc got me I'd not have to worry about it for too long. Then...On to Adelaide River.

On arrival at the little dock beside Adelaide River I found a few open sided huts where one can buy a cool drink, souvenirs and pay for the boat ride if it wasn't booked online. Of course, the first thing they say is, don't go near the water. Crocodiles you see. Check. ✅

In no time I was boarding a small aluminium boat with twenty or so others and we were off to find a few locals; It didn't take long, they were everywhere.

Oh, just so you know, there was a very serious safety briefing prior to getting on the boat. Nothing was to be put over the side including elbows leaning on the railing. You see, salt water crocodiles can jump out of the water to about two thirds the length of their bodies and it's not difficult for them to grab an arm and pull a person in.

They have a jaw clamping-force of something like 3,700 pounds per square inch - We have something like 150 pounds per square inch...Just as a comparison. When a salty latches on you're not wriggling away. Anyway, back to the boats.

One gets a feeling of being close, because close is what one is! I sat in the boat closest to the rail which came to about just over my shoulder height and had a sort of mesh construction. You can see it below in the images.

Here's a little salty poking his head out of the water. This one was a small one, only 5 metres long. [16 feet] Yep...A small one.

Here you can see the sides on the boat. I took this off the second boat not the one I was in because that would have been impossible. See the railing, that's what I was talking about earlier. One had to keep all parts inside the boat - No one flouted the rule.

Here's a big fellow, over 6 metres, coming up for a morsel of food dangling just over its head on a white pole. You can only see his head as I caught the photo too early, but the previous image shows a different crocodile out of the water about half its length and still rising. Big bugger huh?

I took this through the mesh screen on the side of the boat. The crocodile had swum over for some food and was right next to me, if I was stupid I could have reached out and touched it. I recall its eye looking at me and was struck by what looked like thought. Is that fellow tasty and how can I get to him, is what I figured he was thinking. Yeah I'm tasty bro, but you're not getting the chance to find out!

The tour went for over an hour and they provide some really great information along the way; They cover the crocodiles, stories about people getting taken, the biggest crocs found and some ecological points also. It's informative, but people just want to see crocodiles leaping out of the water. There's plenty of that too...It's quite exciting.

After the boat docked I headed back to the Humpty Doo Hotel, on the Arnham Highway, for a beer and burger. It's a rough looking place to be honest, but don't worry, they're very welcoming and once inside you'll probably find people from every corner of the world enjoying themselves and all getting along. A beer and meal at the Humpty Doo Hotel is a must - You can even have a crocodile steak or burger which is what I had - Trust me, it's good. [Not for the poor old croc though].

So, there's one way to get eye to eye with a salt water crocodile, do some crocodile staring. It's well worth the effort I can assure you.

Below is another way for those who want to get even closer. This is at a place back in Darwin called Crocosaurus Cove where one can get into a clear Perspex cylinder and get submerged with a big salt water crocodile like my idiot mate and his fiancée in these images below. This is about as close as one would want to get I'd say.

I was laughing at the idiots going in with the crocodile when I realised it was my mate and his girl. He and I were in Darwin for a shooting event and just happened to be at Crocosaurus Cove at the same time. Don't worry, they lived to tell the tale.

Australia is a dangerous place for sure; There's a lot of things that will seriously hurt a person and many that will kill, indiscriminately, like the crocodile. They're not found in the cities and towns of course and only up north in the tropical areas. They need to be respected though. Having a BBQ next to the water on rivers, estuaries, billabongs and water holes, the beach and most wet areas, may mean an unexpected visitor comes along and they don't play around. When they get you it's usually fatal.

Don't let me dissuade you from coming here though; It's a wondrous country and has so much to offer...Sure, you might get eaten by a crocodile but you only live once right? Come on down, I'll shout the first round at the pub!