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Project Noah Nature School
Croodylus porosus
Also known as Estuarine Crocodile, these are the largest living reptiles on the planet. Hard to miss when seen and have a lot of teeth at one end! I have spotted this species before on PN but I wanted to share this particular experience.
Having spent a couple of weeks in Australia's Northern Territory, I have seen this species numerous times but this spotting is just about one special occasion. Seen a Cahills Crossing which is a forded road link between Kakadu and Arnhemland on the East Alligator River. In the dry period on big high tides, the sea water comes up the river and for a short period the water reverses direction going across the crossing up river bringing a lot of fish (mainly mullet and baramundi) with it.
When this happens, the normally solitary crocs will gather in a relatively small area to try and catch these fish. In this case I counted 16 in the immediate area. They come right up to the submerged road and wait with jaws open allowing the water to flow and when a fish is unlucky enough to swim through the jaws snap shut. It is one of the few times that these animals will tolerate each other in close proximity and is amazing to observe. I have added several images. Notice that one of these animals has an old fishing lure attached to its eyelid.
Spotted on Aug 11, 2018
Submitted on Sep 29, 2018
15 Comments
My pleasure Hema. Good luck finding some new gear. The honour is mine being part of this community and finding people like yourself that have a love for the nature on this planet.
Thankyou sp much Triggs.It is an honor to know you!
Hi Hema, no problem. I mainly use a Canon 5D mark III with a 100 to 400mm zoom with a 1.4x converter. This covers most of the images I take. On the macro side I use a Canon 7D mark II with a fixed 100mm macro lens with a 270EX II flash unit. My underwater stuff I use a Gopro. The reason I use the 5D is for the light sensitivity otherwise the 7D would cover most of the bases. I understand that the 5D mark IV is even better. I photograph macro as close as I can get to the subject but generally closer than 30 to 60 cm. With the big lens I generally have the settings on manual which just comes with practice. If I am moving from dark to light conditions in a hurry I will set the ISO to auto which is not always perfect but does give a guide.I hope this helps. Glad you like my crocs!
Great series! Would you mind sharing details about your camera? Do you use manual settings for ISO,aperture and focal length? What do you use for macro photography? How close do you photograph an insect from! Thanks in advance! I am planning on buying new equipment and would like some advice!
Thank you Zlatan. I am pleased you like them.
Great spotting and brilliant shots!
Thank you Dawn and Rach for your comments. It's nice to share this amazing experience.
Such a privilege to see so many of these apex predators in one place and so close up. Amazing and quite a lot of scary the same time!
That is an awesome find!
You are not wrong there Jim! It was very exciting being so close to these huge animals. Thank you for the comment, appreciate it.
Those guys look prehistoric, and formidable! Excellent photography, and summary. At times like that, a telephoto lens is mandatory....
Thank you Sarah. I really appreciate your comment.
WHOAH!!! These are FANTASTIC photos!!
Thank you again Lauren. They are incredibly strong as they hold themselves against the current. Amazing to watch them 'fishing'.
Wow! Amazing and really scary! Incredible pictures.