Battle-hardened but no match for Top End’s scaly foes
THEY’VE faced down some of the world’s fiercest foes but coming face-to-face with the Northern Territory’s saltwater crocodiles was too much to handle for a group of United States marines recently.
The marines tagged along to a crocodile relocation at Darwin’s Crocodylus Park last week and were supposed to lend park staff a hand with the fearsome beasts.
But some of them lost their nerve once they were in proximity to Australia’s apex predators. Perhaps wisely, the military men and women decided to leave it to the paid professionals but kept close supervision, safely on the sidelines.
The crocodiles were being shifted from the park’s Attack Lagoon to another area for use in the business’ farming operation.
There are 1250 marines in Darwin on a six-month deployment in Australia’s tropical north.
The marines are from 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment from Camp Pendleton, California.
They’re based at Robertson Barracks, RAAF Base Darwin and Defence Establishment Berrimah.