Crocodile dinner
No, I didn't eat a crocodile steak for dinner. I actually watched a large croc eat a big dog, with my very own eyes. Crazy.
A friend walks by and says: it's going to be a great sunset, the clouds have cleared up. So we hop on the scooter and go to the next beach over, because you can watch the sun set over the ocean, and the sun was already low on the horizon.
We arrived and it was beautiful and high tide, we've been to this beach 2-3 times before. Every time we go we see people in the water, fishing and swimming. At sunset. We have explored a bit during low tide, going out on the rocks which are on the left, and behind what we saw today.
We were just on the shore, taking pictures of the sun, which is already very pretty, and there is only about 15 minutes before the sun disappears. There are about 10 other people there, and 2 dogs. One of the dogs raced up and down the shore, and the other one swam out in to the water, chasing birds. I took a really great silhouette picture of the dog in the water, with the sunset reflecting on the water. I told Ron: look, isn't this a great picture with the dog in it?
We saw something in the water, and it looked about the length of person's torso. There was something sticking up in front, where a snorkel would be. Except it was too thin. And getting too dark to see anything. And there was no coral there. So we followed this vague thing moving in the water, the sun was just about to dip down and disappear. Ron kept saying it was a person with a snorkel. We actually have a video of it, minutes before hand, where Ron said it was a snorkel, and I said 'snorkel-er or crocodile, we don't know!".
Then it turned around once, as the dog jumped onto the far shore, 30 feet away from us, then ran along the shore and jumped back in the water. Last jump of his life. The little blur we were following was not a human torso, it was a crocodile head. The dog yelped, and then it was gone. The croc was gone for less than a minute, then it popped back up. No sign of the dog. It was a classic: "It all happened so fast!". I remember that moment when I became certain it was a crocodile. And I saw that the dog didn't stand a chance. It was too far away from us, and was in the water. I took a few videos, up to a minute or 2 before dinner time. By then, I forgot I had anything in my hands, watching with morbid fascination.
We got video of it swimming away, with more of it's body and tail at the surface of the water.
There was another lady there, and she was doing the same thing I was. Standing there with her hand over her mouth. Why is that an automatic reaction?? I don't know.
Then it's the horrified moment of me looking over to the guy who came to the beach with the 2 dogs. He is in shock, the other dog is on the edge of the water, but on our side. The guy is trying to call the dog over to him, not wanting to go 20 feet over to get it. Who knows if this is a solo croc or not?? He snapped it's leash on, and then told us it wasn't even his dog. It was his neighbor's dog, who followed him and his dog to the beach.
He said he has goosebumps, because he has walked through that area of water with his kids before, he leaves nearby. Man, he has to go tell his neighbor about his dog. Poor dog. Poor owner.
I have labeled it the least romantic sunset ever. Ron says he will never forget the way the croc came up and grabbed the dog. I will never forget the loud sound the poor dog made.
I thought it was romantic... This is the first picture I took when we arrived.
This is what the beach looked like, from the parking lot, as we were heading home.
A friend walks by and says: it's going to be a great sunset, the clouds have cleared up. So we hop on the scooter and go to the next beach over, because you can watch the sun set over the ocean, and the sun was already low on the horizon.
We arrived and it was beautiful and high tide, we've been to this beach 2-3 times before. Every time we go we see people in the water, fishing and swimming. At sunset. We have explored a bit during low tide, going out on the rocks which are on the left, and behind what we saw today.
We were just on the shore, taking pictures of the sun, which is already very pretty, and there is only about 15 minutes before the sun disappears. There are about 10 other people there, and 2 dogs. One of the dogs raced up and down the shore, and the other one swam out in to the water, chasing birds. I took a really great silhouette picture of the dog in the water, with the sunset reflecting on the water. I told Ron: look, isn't this a great picture with the dog in it?
We saw something in the water, and it looked about the length of person's torso. There was something sticking up in front, where a snorkel would be. Except it was too thin. And getting too dark to see anything. And there was no coral there. So we followed this vague thing moving in the water, the sun was just about to dip down and disappear. Ron kept saying it was a person with a snorkel. We actually have a video of it, minutes before hand, where Ron said it was a snorkel, and I said 'snorkel-er or crocodile, we don't know!".
Then it turned around once, as the dog jumped onto the far shore, 30 feet away from us, then ran along the shore and jumped back in the water. Last jump of his life. The little blur we were following was not a human torso, it was a crocodile head. The dog yelped, and then it was gone. The croc was gone for less than a minute, then it popped back up. No sign of the dog. It was a classic: "It all happened so fast!". I remember that moment when I became certain it was a crocodile. And I saw that the dog didn't stand a chance. It was too far away from us, and was in the water. I took a few videos, up to a minute or 2 before dinner time. By then, I forgot I had anything in my hands, watching with morbid fascination.
We got video of it swimming away, with more of it's body and tail at the surface of the water.
There was another lady there, and she was doing the same thing I was. Standing there with her hand over her mouth. Why is that an automatic reaction?? I don't know.
Then it's the horrified moment of me looking over to the guy who came to the beach with the 2 dogs. He is in shock, the other dog is on the edge of the water, but on our side. The guy is trying to call the dog over to him, not wanting to go 20 feet over to get it. Who knows if this is a solo croc or not?? He snapped it's leash on, and then told us it wasn't even his dog. It was his neighbor's dog, who followed him and his dog to the beach.
He said he has goosebumps, because he has walked through that area of water with his kids before, he leaves nearby. Man, he has to go tell his neighbor about his dog. Poor dog. Poor owner.
I have labeled it the least romantic sunset ever. Ron says he will never forget the way the croc came up and grabbed the dog. I will never forget the loud sound the poor dog made.
I thought it was romantic... This is the first picture I took when we arrived.
See? Happy dog playing in the water.
This is what a crocodile in the water looks like, after it's full. There are 2 sand bars. The dog swam back there, on the second sand bar, and jumped in the water again.
This is what the beach looked like, from the parking lot, as we were heading home.
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