Broome’s iconic Cable Beach has been closed after a three-metre saltwater crocodile was seen there.
Broome Shire rangers first spotted crocodile tracks early yesterday morning, and the saltie was actually sighted a couple of hours later
“The shire rangers actually observed a track from a crocodile which walked back into the ocean,” Peter Carstairs, district wildlife officer for Western Australia’s Department of Parks and Wildlife, told the ABC. “Since then we’ve had a confirmed sighting of a three-metre crocodile at Gantheume Point and it was heading in a northerly direction towards Cable Beach, so the beach has been shut.”
Although crocodiles are known to inhabit waters in and around Broome, it is very unusual for the animals to be sighted at the tourist beach.
The beach remains closed for now, and rangers will continue to monitor the waters.
“We avoid having to shoot the crocodiles because we want to preserve the species,” Mr Carstairs told the ABC. “But we will be putting traps out in the Broome vicinity and also we’ll be doing night-time patrols trying to harpoon and remove the crocodile using non-lethal harpoons.”
