Now you must know and understand, O Best Beloved, that till that very week, and day, and hour, and minute, this 'satiable Elephant's Child had never seen a Crocodile

November 10, 2008 8:22 PM

Thrill-seekers swim with crocodiles in AustraliaTourists who want to get cozy with a crocodile climb into a clear acrylic cage, dubbed "the cage of death," which is about 145 mm (5.7 inches) thick and 2.8 meters (9.2 feet) high, wearing just a pair of swimming goggles and a swimsuit. [Pictures] [YouTubery] "I can understand how this might be attractive to tourists but has anyone considered the welfare of the crocodile?" [More about saltwater crocodiles]

The attraction is located at Crocosaurus Cove in Darwin, in Australia's Northern Territory.

The cage has no bars, unlike cages used in shark dives, which prevents the reptiles from gripping on but deep teeth scratches are visible on the sides, deterring some hesitant participants.

The cage is then slid along runners over four crocodile pens, carrying a maximum of two divers at a time, and partly immersed in the water so swimmers can see the crocodiles under the water but also come up to the surface for air.

Via

Meanwhile, freshwater crocodiles are encountering a "wave of death".

posted by KokuRyu (25 comments total)

Mate, how is this noteworthy enough to warrant an FPP?
posted by UbuRoivas at 8:35 PM on November 10, 2008

oh, i see now - the tourists are in a perspex cage.
posted by UbuRoivas at 8:36 PM on November 10, 2008

Joking aside, it's pretty extreme, you know - the lengths you have to go to encourage a Pom to take a bath.
posted by UbuRoivas at 8:44 PM on November 10, 2008 [3 favorites has favorites]

You can swim like this next to polar bears also. That poor bear looks like a prisoner resigned to having no dessert.
posted by Burhanistan at 8:47 PM on November 10, 2008

The crocodiles are like a middle-aged man in a strip club.
posted by Floydd at 8:47 PM on November 10, 2008 [3 favorites has favorites]

'In the Northern Territory, the saltwater crocodile is an icon and is part of our life. They are always in the news, either in someone's swimming pool or killing someone's favourite horse,' Mr Scott said.

Aaaannnnnnd, I won't be visiting Australia any time soon. Thanks for playing.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 8:54 PM on November 10, 2008

Love the title. Going to find my Kipling now.
posted by librarina at 9:17 PM on November 10, 2008

Yeah, well, when I get takeaway curry it comes in a clear plastic box too. The crocs are just getting inner-city convenience.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 9:25 PM on November 10, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

In Darwin, you say?
posted by dhartung at 9:44 PM on November 10, 2008 [6 favorites has favorites]

MetaFilter: I can understand how this might be attractive to tourists but has anyone considered the welfare of the crocodile?
posted by mazola at 10:10 PM on November 10, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

"Although saltwater crocodiles are dangerous, fatal attacks on humans are rare in Australia with only one or two reported a year and warning signs displayed at rivers, lake and beaches in areas inhabited by crocodiles."

Cool Papa Bell you big wimp - there are only one or two fatal attacks per year on humans!
posted by gomichild at 10:30 PM on November 10, 2008

there are only one or two fatal attacks per year on humans! tourists

/misanthrope
posted by Wolof at 11:00 PM on November 10, 2008

What a wuss, indeed, Cool Papa Bell - any grandmother of ordinary courage can take on a crocodile.
posted by jacalata at 11:06 PM on November 10, 2008

I live in the Northern Territory - about 1,800 kilometres south from Darwin, where these fools go swimming with crocodiles...no local worth their salt would get into the perspex box with a crocodile a few millimetres away. Crocodiles can jump clear out of the water and trash boats, attack outboard motors etc etc.
And as for the poor Polar Bear...imagine having to put up with those kids all day!
I don't have a lot of time for anyone that keeps animals in cages - I just can't see the point. But if you want to see real killers in the wild - go to the Great White Shark viewing tour to Seal island in Cape Town Harbour in South Africa...now that is the real thing!!
posted by Bob Gosford at 1:22 AM on November 11, 2008

there are only one or two fatal attacks per year on humans! tourists

I live in the Northern Territory - about 1,800 kilometres south from Darwin, where these fools go swimming with crocodiles...no local worth their salt would get into the perspex box with a crocodile a few millimetres away.

*ahem*

Crocs attack drunk locals

one in four crocodile attack victims in the Territory had been drinking. And 95 per cent of them were locals. campers and fishos sometimes threw "caution to the wind'' when drinking in croc habitats.

The most notorious case in the NT was of Jabiru storeman Kerry McLoughlin, 40, who was decapitated by a 5m croc after slipping off Cahill's Crossing on the East Alligator River in 1987.

He threw a can of beer at the croc as it moved to attack him and hit it on the head.
posted by UbuRoivas at 1:45 AM on November 11, 2008

Come to Australia, you might accidentally get killed.
posted by tommasz at 4:58 AM on November 11, 2008

one in four crocodile attack victims in the Territory had been drinking.

Ah the hidden dangers of the demon drink!
posted by gomichild at 5:22 AM on November 11, 2008

this thread will wedfell.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 5:54 AM on November 11, 2008

Shit, I thought I only had to fear small things like spiders, snakes, jellyfish, tiny octopi, Cone shells, spiky fish, and thorny grass when in Australia . But you've got horse-eating Crocodiles in kiddy pools as well?


Damn, no wonder everyone is so fun lovin' and hard-drinkin'. You would be too if an entire continent is trying to kill you.
posted by The Whelk at 7:06 AM on November 11, 2008

They say god created Arrakis Australia to train the faithful. Just remember that while fear may be the mindkiller, giant crocodiles will be the everything-else killer.
posted by FatherDagon at 7:59 AM on November 11, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

See from the FPP I thought the tourists were getting into the Plexiglass box with the crocodile, and I was impressed. The truth, as always, is lame by comparison.
posted by shakespeherian at 10:37 AM on November 11, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

They're big. They're territorial. They're reptilian. They've been around for millennia. And they're bloody dangerous.

If you come to Australia, don't go swimming in the creek.
posted by Mephisto at 5:28 PM on November 11, 2008

And don't go up the creek without a paddle, or you'll really be in the shit.
posted by UbuRoivas at 9:25 PM on November 11, 2008

I'm sorry, did you say you get in a lidless perspex cage which goes into the water with salt water crocs? Have you gone fucking insane? This is one step below a midnight dip in a Gold Coast canal.
posted by nudar at 9:52 PM on November 11, 2008

This is one step below a midnight dip in a Gold Coast canal.

Which I've actually almost done. But it was dusk not midnight. And a week before there was a particularly nasty fatal bull shark not so far from where we were.

The joke of course was that (apart from not being eaten) we had been swimming on the South Australian coast the week before in a town not so far from Port Lincoln - famous for White Pointers. One of the Mums of our group had rang us up and tried to convince her daughter not to go swimming in those waters. They were living on the Gold Coast with a house on the canal of the aforementioned swimming area.
posted by gomichild at 10:25 PM on November 11, 2008