Even crocodiles are social distancing! Tourist captures hilarious moment croc floats down a notorious creek with its webbed feet outstretched
- Belinda Steindorf visited Kakadu's Cahills Crossing when she spotted the croc
- She joked the large animal appeared to be 'socially distancing' while in the river
- Leading crocodile expert, Grahame Webb, said it could be trying to catch fish
A crocodile has been captured floating down a river with its webbed feet outstretched in what one amused tourist joked was 'social distancing'.
Belinda Steindorf, from Adelaide, had been visiting the Northern Territory's notorious Cahills Crossing in Kakadu National Park last week when she spotted the croc swimming with its limbs wide apart.
'It was quite a funny sight to see! All of the social distancing signs in the NT National Park say to keep a small croc distance apart. The crocodiles here appear to have really taken that onboard!' Ms Steindorf told Daily Mail Australia.
'Or they've been closely watching the tourists doing similar.'
A crocodile has been captured swimming down Cahills Crossing in the Northern Territory with its feet outstretched
Ms Steindorf said she saw as many as 40 crocs in the area while crossing over the river with her partner last week
Ms Steindorf said her and her partner saw as many as 40 crocodiles swimming through the crossing and had never seen any behave in that way before.
'We presumed they were using their hands to try and better position themselves in the oncoming current whilst awaiting the fish! Very intelligent creatures,' she said.
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The tourist snapped some photos of the spectacular encounter but added she made sure to drive over the crossing in low tide to avoid becoming any croc's lunch.
'Our Kakadu caravan is built to handle the Australian outback conditions although with 40 crocs that we could see floating closeby we weren’t taking any chances and waited until low tide to ensure a safe crossing,' she said.
Despite the bizarre behaviour of the croc, experts are yet to pinpoint exactly why the animals may behave this way.
The tourist said she saw as many as 40 crocodiles in the area while visiting last week
One of the large animals was seen swimming down the river with a fish in its mouth
Professor Grahame Webb, one of the state's leading experts on crocodiles, said the predator's unusual feet position was likely a hunting technique.
'In East Alligator River it has been described and photographed and seems to be linked to intercepting fish,' he told NT News.
Cahills Crossing draws in thousands of tourists every year.
But the area is also extremely dangerous and there have been five fatalities so far including tourists, photographers and fishermen.
Video footage captured the terrifying moment a couple were stuck in the middle of Cahills Crossing (pictured), a popular spot in Kakadu National Park, notorious for saltwater crocodiles
Last month, Rachelle Wastle and her husband Peter were driving through the crossing when they were blocked by a dozen crocodiles.
Terrifying video footage shows the couple's car submerged into water as they attempted to cross to the other side of the river.
The most famous death at the area was of a 40-year-old man, Kerry McLoughlin who was tragically taken and decapitated by a crocodile in 1987.
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