I spent some time today sitting on the side of the Blue Lagoon pond (which is actually brown – some serious filtration would be needed to live up to the name) looking for the crocodile that some claim to have seen. I sat for about half an hour, keeping a close eye on the pond for movement. Small fish splashed on the surface of the pond, I assume with larger fish hungrily pursuing them. A couple of chestnut-breasted mannikins (Lonchura castaneothorax) landed not far from me and had a drink. A white-form eastern reef egret (Egretta sacra) eyed me suspiciously as it stood on the edge of the water hunting its lunch. A skink of the Carlia genus fed on small black ants on the rocks at my feet. Alas, the rumoured crocodile did not show. I remain doubtful.
Posts Tagged ‘Crocodile’
Pondlife
April 5th, 2010A croc close to home?
March 28th, 2010
The recent croc sighting sign at Blue Lagoon
I continue to be unconvinced by claims there’s a crocodile in the Blue Lagoon Resort pond not far from my home.
Queensland Parks and Wildlife have had a “recent sighting” sign up for a while now, which suggests that sightings continue to be reported. Such signs are normally removed a few days after sightings stop. I have also heard one second hand report of a sighting.
I’ve had a look quite a few times at various times of day without seeing anything except floating mats of algae, a couple of which I could almost understand being mistaken for a croc. I’ll continue to have a peek every now and then, and hope that I can get a photo.
I thought about posting a Google maps image showing the pond location, but the site is years out of date. I think Google should update its satellite imagery.
Couples
January 7th, 2009
Freshwater crocodiles (Crocodylus johnsoni) and rose-crowned fruit doves (Ptilinopus regina) at Hartley's Creek crocodile farm
As I was browsing through the photos from yesterday’s trip to Hartley’s Creek crocodile farm, these two just seemed to fit together nicely.
A croc in Centenary Lakes
January 4th, 2009The Cairns Post reports that a two metre crocodile has been sighted in the freshwater lake at Centenary Lakes. This evening my mother, who is visiting from Canberra, and I dropped by Centenary Lakes to see if we could catch a glimpse of this urban croc. We were unsuccessful.
One thing that struck me as a little odd was the warning signs advising of a recent croc sighting. Two signs had been placed in one corner of the lake, I presume exactly where the croc was sighted. I didn’t see any signs elsewhere, not even on the shore at the Greenslopes St side which I assume is the most common access point for people. It seems odd that the warning were so localised when the croc can swim anywhere in the lake.
As we were leaving I noticed a man getting out of his car for a walk with his dog. “Oh, that’s what we should have brought…”, I said to my mother, “Bait!”
Brooks Beach
December 8th, 2008
Brooks Beach, north of Mission Beach
Brooks Beach lies one bay north of the community of Bingil Bay, the northernmost of the villages/suburbs that make up Mission Beach. There are a small number of houses behind the beach, though most are not visible from the sand, and it’s the most pristine of the beaches in the area. A 3-metre crocodile was reported in the water at the beach last week. Crocs generally don’t hang around the beaches much, and really only pass along them as they look for new territories in the creeks and rivers.
Click the photo for a 1,024 pixel wide version.
Two crocs captured in Cooktown
October 6th, 2008Authorities have captured two crocodiles in Cooktown following the presumed death of a Brisbane man last week. Neither is thought to be the one responsible for the man’s disappearance. One of the two crocs, a 4.3m fellow deemed a problem crocodile due to his size and proximity to Cooktown, will be relocated to a Cairns crocodile farm while the other, at 2.3m, is likely to be released.
Croc attack near Cooktown
October 3rd, 2008Arthur Booker, a 62-year-old tourist from Brisbane, disappeared on Tuesday while checking crab pots on the banks of the Endeavour River near Cooktown. When he failed to return to his campsite, his wife went looking for him and found his camera, a snapped rope from a crab pot, and croc slide marks on the bank. Mr Booker is almost certainly another croc fatality, and the search for him has been abandoned. Authorities are searching for the crocodile, and are setting traps in the area. Any crocodiles caught will be induced to vomit their contents to see if they have found the right croc. That will be an unpleasant job, even with innocent crocs. The lead suspect is reportedly a 6-metre male that has been nicknamed Charlie by locals.
Queensland’s Environmental Protection Agency has safety tips for croc country. Essentially, stay away from the water around rivers and estuaries, pay attention to warning signs, and don’t swim in areas without lifeguards. If you follow that last piece of advice, you only have to worry about deadly jellyfish (which have killed more Australians than crocs).
Estuarine crocodile at Cairns Crocodile Farm
