Croc concerns impact lifesaver membership

A FEAR of crocodiles has been blamed for surf lifesaver numbers slipping, with active memberships down about 5 per cent a year for the last five years.

Surf Life Saving Queensland’s North Barrier Branch regional development officer Kristine Fowler said memberships were dropping due largely to crocodile sightings.

“There’s definitely a decrease and that is one of our is- sues,” Ms Fowler said. “It is a concern.”

She said memberships in all sports from ages 19 to 25 were on the decline, but lifesaver numbers had decreased from Port Douglas to Sarina and had dropped for about five years.

“The crocodiles themselves are a problem,” she said.

While she said there had never been an incident involving a surf lifesaver in the region and their safety procedures were very thorough, croc sightings were still a deterrent.

“It’s hard to convince the public they are safe,” she said.

In between two major rivers, Ms Fowler said it wasn’t un- common for crocodiles to pass through the area, but safety measures were heightened to protect lifesavers and the public.

“If there is a risk, we close the beaches if we deem fit,” she said. “It’s disappointing ( the membership decline) because that impacts on all the surf clubs.”

There were currently about 1400 active lifesavers in the North Barrier region, including about 500 junior members.

In mid- July the Bulletin reported increased crocodile numbers in Ingham, close to people’s homes, had Hinchinbrook Shire Council Mayor Ramon Jayo concerned for the ratepayers and their families.

Late last year drones were trialled in the skies in far north Queensland as a tool to help lifesavers scout for crocodiles in the area.

A Department of Environment and Science spokeswoman said a three- year program monitoring estuarine crocodile populations in Queensland found average densities of less than one crocodile a kilometre.

That was significantly lower than the Northern Territory, where average densities ranged from five to 10 crocodiles a kilometre.

But the first stage result of the survey revealed a spike in sightings around the state, with 684 crocodiles spotted in 2017, compared with 378 in 2016.

More than 2000km of waterways have been surveyed in Queensland since the program began in 2017.

As part of the surveillance, boat- based, night- time surveys of waterways from Gladstone to Cape York Peninsula have been carried out as well a daytime helicopter sweeps of coastal areas from the Hinchinbrook Channel to the Daintree River.

From September, 2009, to February, 2010, a sample of waterways from Cooktown to Maryborough found a total of 293 crocodiles, with 258 of them estuarine crocodiles.