Saltwater crocodile spotted by swimmers at Katherine hot springs

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A saltwater crocodile has reportedly been spotted near swimmers at the hot springs in the Top End town of Katherine.  The swimming spot is popular with locals and tourists alike but is closed over the wet season, which came late this year.

Transcript

00:00The Catherine Town Council is urging people not to swim at the Catherine Hot Springs after

00:07they say a saltwater crocodile was apparently spotted here this afternoon by a group of

00:12swimmers. It was a group of three swimmers who were apparently found in a very distressed

00:18and agitated state in the water here at the Hot Springs, where they told a council worker

00:24that they had seen a tail and a splash. And these three were apparently Catherine locals.

00:30They are pretty confident based on the size of the tail that it was a saltwater crocodile.

00:36And that's the message that the council is now passing on to both residents and tourists

00:40alike as more and more visitors are starting to visit the town. As I say, the springs are

00:45supposed to be closed right now anyway. No one is supposed to be swimming here. They close

00:49every year because the Catherine Hot Springs connect to the Catherine River, which has

00:53got lots of crocodiles in it. And then before they open it for the dry swimming season, they

00:58do a series of checks to make sure that the springs are empty. But we've been hearing that

01:03a lot of people have been taking the chance, risking it, and swimming in the Catherine Hot

01:07Springs. The council is hoping that by putting a big new sign at the entrance saying that a

01:12crocodile was spotted here this afternoon, that that will hopefully put people off from

01:17swimming here until they've formally cleared it. We spoke to a couple of locals near the Hot

01:22Springs earlier. This is what they had to say. We didn't go in the water. We know that there

01:29could be crocs here. I live here and I would not be going into the water. It's just crazy

01:36for you to be going in there at all. I just don't think it's a lie because I don't think

01:40crocs would come that far down upstream to here. So not everybody is convinced. One local even

01:49wrote on Facebook saying it was probably a frill neck lizard, but the council is urging people

01:54to take this seriously and to stay out of the water.

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