Here be dragons
This morning I thought it would be a good idea to take a
local river boat cruise up and down the Adelaide River. I’d heard good things
about the local wildlife visible from the water and there was even a rumor I’d
get a chance to finally see a saltie.
I opted to go with a smaller outfit in the hopes that it
would be less crowded, which was true, and still be a little classy, which was
false.
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| Still nicer than a port-o-potty |
It was a beautiful day in the NT. The weather was perfect
and it felt amazing to be out on the water.
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| Adelaide River, Northern Territory |
There were birds in every tree, mud-skippers on the shore,
and only about 10 people on the pontoon boat, even an adorable baby that made
me miss my wife and daughter dearly.
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| Wishing I had Olivia in my lap… |
Birds, fish, and babies are great and all.
But I was after
crocs.
I don’t know if you’re sick of it yet, but I sure am getting
tired of finding the world’s smallest large animals.
My first saltie…
...was about 2 feet long…
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| Just a wittle guy |
Our humble boat driver had some meat to throw on shore to
try to get the little guy riled up. Unfortunately he wasn’t quick enough and
someone else swooped in.
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| Black kite (Milvus migrans) |
Fairly disappointed with the mornings catch so far we
continued on. One thing about the river is that there is a lot of floating detritus.
Branches, logs, algae, and lilies are constantly floating by.
Some of the driftwood looked a little strange though…
A few too many bumps and ridges…
And sometimes floating against the current…
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| Something in the distance |
As we got closer it became pretty apparent that this thing
was a monster, easily 3+ meters (~15 feet) and didn’t move at all like I thought
it would. There wasn’t splashing, thrashing, or awkward movements. For
something so large, I was amazed to see how gracefully they moved. And how
quick. This big fella got within reach of our boat within 10 seconds and with
little visible effort.
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| Big animal, little ripple |
If I haven’t mentioned it before, dinosaurs were a big deal to me when I was a kid (who am
I kidding, I still love dinos!) so seeing an animal this close that looks like
it comes straight from the Jurassic was pretty incredible.
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| Remnants of an age long gone |
As it got even closer and I could see into its eyes our boat
captain pulled out a huge chunk of meat, chopped some up and put it on the end
of a long hook.
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| I think it's staring into my soul |
I should have realized sooner that while these were wild
crocs, they have become pretty accustomed to being fed by meat hooks multiple
times per day. And they’re normally ready and waiting as soon as they hear the
engine coming down the river.
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| I’ll have the raw beef, please |
The speed, power, and height these animals can jet out of the
water is incredible. Not to mention the sound their jaws make. It sounds like a
mix between a heavy wooden door slamming and a tire popping.
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| Nothin’ but teeth and muscle |
The bite force of a saltwater crocodile is one of the
strongest ever measured. Humans can bite down into a steak with a force of 890
newtons (~175 psi), a lion can bite down at around 4,450 newtons (1,000 psi).
A saltie can slam shut with a force measured at 16,460
newtons (3,700 psi)!!!
Most of their power is in closing their jaws around chunks
of prey. I’ve heard that if you jumped on one and held it’s jaws shut, it
wouldn’t be able to open back up and nip you (/swallow you).
I’m gonna go ahead and not try to experience that little
factoid first-hand.
Modern crocs are incredibly similar to prehistoric ones, and
it’s startlingly to think what kind of impact they’ve had on the landscape over
the millennia.
We went around feeding several other crocs, most of which
turn out to be female. There’s normally a single male that dominates a pretty
large stretch of water and scares away any competing males.
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| Purty little lady |
I am in total awe of these animals. Their power is something
you have to see for yourself to fully understand. The size and strength, I’ll
never be able to completely describe.
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| Saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) |
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