Original Surfer A Crocodile
Posted on 15. Jun, 2010 by LynThomas in Environment, sports
Research by a group of Australian ecologists published in the British Ecological Society’s “Journal of Animal Ecology”, tells how the world’s largest living reptile came to be found in so many South Pacific islands, despite having little stamina for swimming.
“Like a surfer catching a wave, river Crocodiles, which can grow up to 20 feet (6 meters), can ride currents and cross hundreds of miles of open sea,” said Hamish Campbell a University of Queensland ecologist and author of the study.
The research began in 2002 in the tropics of Australia’s Queensland state and involved environmentalist and television personality Steve Irwin, the so-called Crocodile Hunter who was killed by a stingray barb off Queensland in 2006.
The team tagged 27 adult crocodiles in the remote Kennedy River, using sonar transmitters and underwater receivers to track their movements over 12 months.
Campbell said a 20-minute swim is hard work for a crocodile, so he was surprised that eight of the tagged crocodiles repeatedly took long journeys out to sea from their river home area, that was more than 35 miles (60 kilometers) upstream.
“It did seem unlikely that they were swimming the entire way and when we looked at residual surface currents from satellite images, you could see quite clearly that they were indeed following the current systems,” Campbell told The Associated Press.
Adult Crocodile
One 13-foot (3.8-meter) male swam 367 miles (590 kilometers) over 25 days, to reach another river system, where it stayed for seven months before making the return journey.
“Why he went there, we have absolutely no idea, but it seems very deliberate, purposeful movements,” Campbell said.
The research showed that currents could carry crocodiles, which can survive for months without food or fresh water, across vast tracks of ocean. It also explains why the same species of estuarine crocodile is found in various countries, separated by the ocean
Zoologist Grahame Webb, an Australian crocodile expert independent of the study, welcomed the research as the first demonstration of how crocodiles use currents.
“Long distances voyages at sea have always been a bit rare with crocs and people have suspected that currents played a part,” Webb said. “The research shows they’re much more mobile than people realize”.
Large crocodiles are powerful, but tire quickly. A 20-minute struggle in a trap can kill a crocodile, because exertion causes a rapid buildup of lactic acid in their blood, Webb said.
Estuarine crocodiles mainly live in rivers and mangroves, in a range extending over more than 3,800 square miles (10,000 square kilometers) of the Southeast Pacific from India to Fiji and from China to Australia.
Some Solomon Island crocodiles have been found in Vanuatu, a distance of around 1000 kms. It is believed the crocs became lost during a cyclone. They were captured and returned to the Solomon Islands.
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