Salt Water Crocs in the Whitsundays

[Reefmagnet]

Definitely. So far, only charterer's have been on the menu and all, coincidentally, from southern states. The warnings about swimming in the early morning and late afternoon are made clear to these guys.

Having said that, it's not uncommon for at least one nong to be jumping into the water at these times at this location on any given day (I'd guess the past few days, excepted!). There's one bad ass shark that's acquired a taste for long pork there.

[Dave_S]

I know feeding time is dusk and dawn and I avoid spending time in the water at these times and I think I have a realistic respect for sharks but after anchoring I have swum to and from shore at 17:30, in good light because I'm too lazy to put the tender in. I'm sure I'm not the only one..... or am I next ?

I wouldn't now (I might have on Sunday) in Cid Harbour because I know the history but as a tourist you might be told that the shark has been killed or moved on or maybe you weren't even told because the operators believe it is gone. I would have thought it was long gone.

[UFO]

I was in the Whitsundays the week of the first attack - I didn't hear about it until I got home and I spent a day on Hamilton island - nothing was mentioned there. I know not to swim early or late in the day, but many people do not - There was no mention of sharks or when/not to swim by the charter company or dive shop at all.


Education is a good place to start, but perhaps they are all too worried of scaring off tourists and their profits dropping?

[44'cruisingcat]

Well prior to that first attack , shark attacks were pretty much unheard of there.

The "Magic miles" does mention sharks in Nara and Gulnare, but like I say, I don't think it had ever happened in Cid before.

[Reefmagnet]

Originally Posted by UFO

I was in the Whitsundays the week of the first attack - I didn't hear about it until I got home and I spent a day on Hamilton island - nothing was mentioned there. I know not to swim early or late in the day, but many people do not - There was no mention of sharks or when/not to swim by the charter company or dive shop at all.


Education is a good place to start, but perhaps they are all too worried of scaring off tourists and their profits dropping?

"100 Magic Miles" has a section including the potential wildlife dangers of the region. Advice against swimming early morning and late afternoon is contained there. Anyone heading to the Whitsundays should carry a copy of this book and have a bit of a read through it beforehand.

[AKA-None]

Darwin at work

[RaymondR]

I have been passing through there a couple of times every year since 2002 and there are a lot more boats anchoring in Sawmill Bay in Cid Harbor. With everyone dumping biomaterial into the bay they are probably burleying a lot of bait fish into the place and thereby attracting a lot of attention from further up the food chain.

[NevilleCat]

Originally Posted by AKA-None

Darwin at work

pretty harsh mate; a mum chewed, a school girl left with one leg and a respected specialist doctor dead.

Maybe the locals are more aware of the risks but in the southern states the Whitsundays and the Queensland islands generally are certainly seen and promoted as a kind of water paradise. One where the swimming, snorkeling and diving is great and the expectation is that you can at least dive off your boat and cool off whenever. I guess until recently this seemed pretty much the case around the Whitsundays.
I have decided that I don't really subscribe to the "We're in "their" environment and should have to live with a few casualties" camp.
It seems that it is past time to dump the political correctness about crocodiles at least, and do something about reducing the risks to humans there. The sharks are a probably bit more problematic unfortunately.

[Hasbeen]

Swimming in places like Cid Harbour is a bit like swimming in the back blocks of Sydney Harbour, or Broken bay. Most get away with it, but there are much safer places to do it.


Through the 70s, & to the mid 80s I was running tourist boats there. We were never very concerned about sharks, other than to take normal care, & avoid murky water. We were much more worried about marine stingers, jelly fish, which were in waters closer to the mainland.


On the outer reef there were always numbers of smaller reef sharks of difference types. They could make landing fish caught there difficult on occasions, but we rarely saw large sharks.


There appears to have been an explosion of larger sharks recently, of types almost never seen up there previously. What else would you expect when many are now protected species.


Only humans are stupid enough to protect their predators.