Never smile at a crocodile

The northern parts of Australia are some of the most beautiful areas of our country but the area is also home to one of Australia's most deadly predators, the crocodile. Efficient and deadly hunters, crocodile's inhabit the freshwater creeks, rivers, estuary's and ocean's of the top end of Australia and have done so for some 200 million years. They are almost unchanged in that time due to being perfectly designed to thrive in the environment.

When one travels to the northern parts of Australia one of the most common things you'll see is signs warning of the danger of swimming, standing at the water's edge, cleaning fish in close proximity to the water and generally going anywhere near the water at all.

One of the problems is that crocodiles are so clever and calculating. They will observe you, unseen, day after day cleaning fish at the boat ramp and then when the moment is right, BOOM, you're dead! They can erupt from the water at lightening speed and travel at about 24kph on land or in water. They also have 3600kg of clamping force in their jaws so once they have you, well, it's lights out. Imagine a 5-6m giant grabbing you by the leg, or head and death rolling you in their vice-grip...Unpleasent. Here's an image I took on the Adelaide River in Northern Territory last week.

It's amazing how many people I saw in the water risking it all to stay cool. Share, it's a hot place and the beaches and waterways are cool and inviting but I wonder at the thought process of some people, mainly tourists, when they take the decision to go into the water.

Having said that however, there are some crocodiles that definitelywon't bite you. I found them at the crocodile attraction called Crocosaurus Cove in Darwin. They are completely safe to humans and will certainly not harm anyone, at all. Here's a picture of them so you can recognise the safe ones from the ones that will tear you up and eat you.

It's an amazing thing to see these creatures up close and especially in their own environment but I urge people to play it safe, observe the signs and respect this wild animal.

Thanks for reading.