Major problem behind seemingly-innocent photo of Aussie fisherman: 'Irresponsible'
At first glance, it's difficult to spot what's wrong with this photo. A man stands with his back to the camera, fishing in the shallows of a river.
While it sounds innocent enough, the sight was enough to leave onlookers in disbelief. That's because the photo was taken at Shady Camp in the Northern Territory, part of the Mary River system which boasts the highest density of saltwater crocodiles in the world.
'I was absolutely dumbfounded,' witness Dave Jennings told Yahoo News.
'We first pulled up at the freshwater boat ramp, less than 100 metres away and watch a very big tail swim away.'
Shortly after he spotted the man fishing from the barrage. He also watched on as a woman entered the shallows to retrieve lost lures.
While most NT rivers average five crocodiles per kilometre, the Mary River is home to around 11 saltwater crocodiles per kilometre, with up to 15 per kilometre at Shady Camp. Fishing from the barrage is 'very dangerous and not recommended', the Parks and Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory states, and swimming is not allowed anywhere in the Mary River National Park.
Dave said there are warning signs in the area and a crocodile viewing platform that's 'there for a reason'.
'They would have to know [about the crocs] unless they live in a complete bubble,' he said. He added he was unable to approach them, as he recently snapped his achilles and is currently in a moon boot.
Huge crocodiles have been known to feed on the barrage, right where the man was standing.
Dave fears an attack would not only be devastating for the victim and their family, but it could also lead to dire consequences, like a culling or a shut down of the area.
Croc expert Damian 'Wildman' Duffy told Yahoo the behaviour is "incredibly irresponsible".
"They can't say they didn't know. There are signs everywhere and it's well known that the Mary River, especially Shady Camp, has a very healthy population of saltwater crocodiles," he said.
"Croc attacks are rare, and fatalities even rarer (one to two a year), however due to poor human behaviour and complacency, attacks and fatalities are inevitable."
Duffy added that people are seen flouting the rules too frequently, and believes more public education is needed.
"Crocodiles should not be killed or even removed from the wild in these instances. Removing crocodiles from the wild does nothing to increase public safety," he said.
In September, Duffy spotted another fisherman wading in the waters at Shady Camp but his concerns fell on deaf ears after approaching the man.
He said he confronted the man nicely about the dangers of being near the edge of the water, but was dismissed.
'If one of these animals attempts to have a go at you, you're going to get killed in front of your missus and kid. And he was like, 'yeah mate, righto, righto'.
'You can't fix stupid.'
In another shocking example, charter fisherman Jeff Roscoe previously told Yahoo News he regularly sees people putting themselves and their children in danger.
'There's a crocodile viewing platform there, there's massive big signs but yet people still do it,' he said.
'We'll pull up at the Shady Camp boat ramp and there'll be people standing in the water up to their knees with their kids, every day. Every day.
'I've been abused… people just don't really care. They just think it's not going to happen to them. And it will. Eventually it will.'
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