Plenty of grey nomads who have been on a cruise on the NT’s Adelaide River would have shuddered at the news of a crocodile attack there yesterday.
A 60-year-old tour guide was bitten by a two-metre reptile while cruising down the river, which is well known for its jumping crocodile cruises where the animals are lured out of the water with food.
The guide, Sean Dealy suffered injuries to his arm and hand during the attack. Tourists on in the cruise immediately rushed to his assistance, including a nurse who was able to apply bandages.
Mr Dealy was taken to Royal Darwin Hospital.
While initial reports suggested the predator had been up to four metres in length, Mr Dealy dismissed his two-metre attacker as a ‘little croc’.
“There was a little croc around the corner of my boat, it just spun onto me and I just went, what the hell,” Mr Dealy told 9News. “I lifted my arm up … and I’ve got a croc hanging off me.”
Mr Dealy told 9News that his customers got ‘a bit of a shock’ when they saw what had happened.
“They were all facing forward and then went, ‘oh Jesus’,” he said.
NT WorkSafe said it had been informed of an incident at a tourist attraction.
“While there are no specific regulations relating to crocodiles, crocodiles are an apex predator and are a well-known hazard in the Top End for all businesses operating in their habitat,” the body said in a statement. “All businesses operating in crocodile habitats have a duty to minimise, or if possible eliminate the risk of injury from crocodiles.”
Police and Parks and Wildlife will also investigate the incident.
I have not been on a river cruise but I have been fishing at Corroboree Billabong which has plenty of crocs and it is always a good practice to keep all limbs inside the boat.
Went on the cruise earlier this year and at all times felt safe. The guide at the beginning of the tour and also throughout the cruise always reminds all passengers to keep everything inside the boat, all body parts and cameras, bags etc as crocs will take anything.
We often have debates about whether we should cull crocodiles or sharks because they’re a menace to society. I think there may be merit in having a debate about culling idiots as well.
I’m not surprised this has happened. After going on one of the croc cruises and watching the operators lure the crocs in towards the boat with food, and then again lure the croc into the air, I left at the finish of the tour commenting to my husband that I thought it was a dangerous practice and that eventually there would be some sort of accident.
I am not a fan of the ‘jumping croc’ tours, it just encourages the crocs to jump at anything.
Went on a cruise on Yellow Water in Kakadu on the 22/9/21 and had a 2mt Croc try to push the boat away from the bank because we were to close. We all had a great laugh
I went on a’jumping crocs’ tour several years ago and was impressed by the informatve commentary & safety precautions impressed on us, including the fact that the crocs moved extremely fast , could jump quite a distance upwards and would grab at anything they could reach . I never saw anyone, guide or tourist, risk putting their arm over the side of the boat …
The problem is when some one is in that area in a smaller boat and may reach over the side to grab a hooked fish or even fill a bucket with water, they can become a target of a croc that has basically been trained to jump at anything that looks like food, I know its a money spinner to see the crocs jump up for food on the tours but it should be stopped before someone gets killed.
Yes done the Adelaide River jumping crocodile cruise in 2017 and am surprised that it has taken this long for someone to get attacked. Thought at the these people were crazy with their relaxed attitude. We also have done the Yellow Waters at Kakadu and the tour guide’s attitude on peoples safety was his main priority and much more professional.Very different to Adelaide River