Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Croc safety when fishing

A little while ago we put out a media release with Kakadu National Park regarding crocodile safety awareness when reviving and releasing fish from the waters edge. Eventually the local paper the NT News ran the story about a month later (its most likely they were waiting for the right time to put a croc pic on the front page). A spectacular lunging shot of our Saltwater Crocodile named Smaug featured on the front page, this photo was also taken by Darwin's Lord Mayor Graeme Sawyer.

The issue of crocodile safety when fishing in north Australia isn't something that we normally worry about because most fisherman and locals are pretty sensible when it comes to crocodiles, but on occasions you see some really crazy stuff. I have also heard first hand stories of people having caught barramundi being snapped out of their hands by a crocodile right at the edge of the boat.
You would probably remember the photo of the Israeli fisherman jumping back from a croc lunge after taunting it to come closer. Follow the link above to read the story or read the comments on it. Comments on stories are often an interesting way of gauging public opinions and reactions.
Also have a look at this blog from ABC local radio in Darwin where you can see people fishing waist deep in water where several large crocodiles were caught.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh dear God! The worst we come across whilst fishing in Blighty is the odd leech now & again; I can't quite imagine being up to my elbow down a croc's chops when releasing my catch back into the water... A fascinating blog, thank you.

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