Croc ducking waves to make his escape
THE North is not known for its waves but try telling that to a crocodile who was swamped trying to get back out to sea at a beach north of Townsville.
The saltwater crocodile was captured on a mobile phone camera at Balgal Beach on Thursday about 6.40pm.
The animal can be seen taking the choppy waves head on before disappearing in the wash.
Robert Quinn, who filmed the video and posted it to Facebook, said he thought the animal was about 3m.
It sparked a flurry of comments from Balgal Beach residents, who are not strangers to sightings.
“Bloody hell, that’s big enough. My wife and our grandson were down there a couple of hours earlier,” Graham Milliken wrote.
“He must of ( sic) got washed out of the creek with all the rain,” Jacqui Dilley wrote.
“Just remember nowhere is safe. A 3 footer was caught in a crab pot in the Borton St/ Howitson Dr creek about 6 weeks ago,” Gwen Cahill wrote.
Hands on Wildlife’s Dan Bamblett said most crocodiles that washed up on beaches were in transit from one creek system to another.
“There is every chance this guy could have been forced out of somewhere by a bigger male because it is breeding season for them,” he said.
“One of the other reasons we don’t really see them come up on to beaches a lot of the time is like a lot of North Queenslanders, they don’t like hard work, and it can be quite strenuous for them, especially when the winds are up.”
In November last year, the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection removed a 2.6m crocodile from the Balgal Beach boat ramp after it had been seen lurking around fishermen and basking on the nearby banks.
According to the latest EHP figures, there have been four crocodile sighting in the Townsville City Council area – The Strand on November 25, Saltwater Creek on November 24, Port of Townsville on November 14 and Rollingstone on October 22.
Wildlife officers this week cancelled an alert for the port’s declared “problem crocodile” after failing to find any sign of it since it was first seen.
An EHP spokeswoman said due to the lack of further sightings the declaration was rescinded.
Members of the public are encouraged to report any crocodile sightings to EHP on 1300 130 372.