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Reality Bites
As all Australians know ........ you don't swim at night in the Daintree .......

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Cindy Waldron, 46, who is believed to have been taken by a crocodile at Thornton Beach while on holidays with Cairns woman Leeann Mitchell, 47, who is in hospital after the attack. PICTURE: FACEBOOK

Cindy Waldron, 46, was dragged under the water during a late-night swim at Thornton Beach in the Daintree National Park on Sunday night.

Police said friend Leeann Mitchell, 47, tried to drag her to safety, but she could not be rescued.

Ms Waldron’s New Zealand-based parents are making plans to travel to Queensland, where a desperate search is still underway for her remains.

“There’s nothing we can do as such but we need to be there on the ground to show that we are there, that we care. Our darling girl is gone,” Mr Waldron told The New Zealand Herald.

“We are pretty upset. Everybody knows about it. It’s everywhere.”

http://www.news.com.au/national/que...e/news-story/6fe388583c115d24b443f0cf02df466b

THE brother of a woman who survived what looks to be a fatal crocodile attack north of Cairns has spoken of the love between two friends and the disbelief over the tragedy that unfolded on the remote beach.



Cairns woman Leeann Mitchell, 47, was swimming with her childhood friend Cindy Waldron, 46, about 10pm on Sunday at Thornton Beach, Daintree, when it’s believed the crocodile attacked.

The two women are believed to have felt a nudge and Ms Waldron screamed before she was dragged away and disappeared.

Speaking to the Cairns Post from Wellington in New Zealand, John Mitchell said his sister was in a state of severe shock and recovering at Mossman Hospital.

http://www.cairnspost.com.au/news/c...d/news-story/f27f1f2b62692f5335be018c0f0851cb
 
I guess not all women named Cindy are as smart as I am, even tho I live in a country with very few crocodiles, I know I do not want to go swimming anywhere near them. Alligators, either. I don't even like fish bumping up against me.
 
Ahhh how horrible! I just involuntarily put my feet up on the couch reading this (floor gators). Poor Cindy, what an awful way to die.
 
What body of water was this beach located on? Was this a beach near a river, a lake, or an ocean?

I know crocs there sometimes do venture into the ocean, but i'd think that'd be quite a bit more rare. Seems reasonable for people to feel like it's relatively safe to swim in such an area.

What an exciting way to go though. She was lucky in a way. Her friend will prob die slowly and painfully of cancer.
 
What body of water was this beach located on? Was this a beach near a river, a lake, or an ocean?

I know crocs there sometimes do venture into the ocean, but i'd think that'd be quite a bit more rare. Seems reasonable for people to feel like it's relatively safe to swim in such an area.

What an exciting way to go though. She was lucky in a way. Her friend will prob die slowly and painfully of cancer.

Saltwater crocodiles inhabit all waterways in Northern Australia. They are often found off ocean beaches and even miles out to sea. They are also regularly encountered 100's of km inland in pure fresh water.

The attack happened at Thornton beach, which is an ocean beach.
These women were swimming in waist deep water at midnight in an area not only known, but famous for, crocodile habitat.

http://reptilesofaustralia.com/crocs/porosus.htm#.V0zs3S6ubxA

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Saltwater crocodiles inhabit all waterways in Northern Australia. They are often found off ocean beaches and even miles out to sea. They are also regularly encountered 100's of km inland in pure fresh water.
The attack happened at Thornton beach, which is an ocean beach.
These women were swimming in waist deep water at midnight in an area not only known, but famous for, crocodile habitat.

:eek: I admit I did not know this. I feel dumb for asking , but then how do people swim safely at Northern Australian beaches? Or do they not? :shame:

I looked it up online also and it's a gorgeous beach.
 
:eek: I admit I did not know this. I feel dumb for asking , but then how do people swim safely at Northern Australian beaches? Or do they not? :shame:

I looked it up online also and it's a gorgeous beach.

The short answer is 'they don't'. Swimming in daylight is definitely a hell of a lot less dangerous, but there are no guarantees.

North Queensland member for parliament, Warren Entsch, who represents the region, said the victim should be blamed for the attack, not the crocodile.
"You can't legislate against human stupidity," Entsch said on Monday, noting that Thornton Beach lies next to a creek where tourism operators run crocodile-spotting tours.
"This is a tragedy but it was avoidable. You can only get there by ferry, and there are signs there saying watch out for the bloody crocodiles," he added.
"If you go in swimming at 10 o'clock at night, you're going to get consumed."

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/05/30/asia/australia-croc-attack/

The top North of Australia is well-known for being infested by crocodiles, but swimming areas where crocodiles are found are usually clearly marked by warning signs and attacks are not that common.

Just 15 people were fatally killed by crocodile attacks between 2005 and 2015, all of which were from saltwater crocodiles, according to CrocBITE, a crocodile attack database compiled by Charles Darwin University in Australia's Northern Territory.

The last fatal crocodile attack in the same Daintree area was in 2009, when a five-year-old boy was taken by a crocodile while he was playing with his brother and his dog on the banks of the Daintree River.
 
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Well, shit. Warren Entsch sure doesn't pull any punches.

I do respect him for being so brutally honest, especially for anyone in a government position. But you know the victim's family has to hate hearing her be outright called stupid like that. :eggface:
 
Haha. Darwin University!
Irony at its finest!
The CrocBITE website talks about collecting data on HCC- human crocodile conflict, if only we could just all get along.
[doublepost=1464670912,1464670402][/doublepost]Horrible way to go.

I'm inclined to agree with the reports that say they were only knee height water. They turned off the beach and into Cooper creek that runs out to the ocean.

As someone who has never been to to Northern Australia it looks like a deceptively safe spot.
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Australia seems terrifying...like Buffalo, New York, east side kind of terrifying.
I think for vacationing I would prefer something a little less bitey/eatey.
Perhaps something in a nice Iceland or Sweden.
 
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-03/'target-animal'-caught-and-killed-after-fnq-crocodile-attack/

Rangers have confirmed that a large crocodile caught on Friday [3rd June] in far north Queensland was the one that attacked and killed a woman on the weekend.

The 4.3-metre [14 foot] crocodile, described earlier by police as a "target animal," had been caught and euthanased after rangers set up traps in Cooper Creek in the Daintree.
...
Police said human remains — believed to be that of missing woman Cindy Waldron — were found inside the crocodile
...
The stomach contents of a 2.5-metre crocodile caught in a trap on Thursday were examined in Cairns but the results were inconclusive.

The crocodile was sedated and his stomach contents flushed out. It was not harmed.
...
A 2014 survey of the river system found 20 crocodiles were present.
 
Australia seems terrifying...like Buffalo, New York, east side kind of terrifying.
I think for vacationing I would prefer something a little less bitey/eatey.
Perhaps something in a nice Iceland or Sweden.

You prefer your hazards in the form of lava and geysers? Or endless woods?
 
Wait.

The crocodile was euthanized.

But his stomach contents were flushed and he wasn't "harmed"?

:confused:

I'd say death might possibly be considered "harmful". No?
 
Well, shit. Warren Entsch sure doesn't pull any punches.

I do respect him for being so brutally honest, especially for anyone in a government position. But you know the victim's family has to hate hearing her be outright called stupid like that. :eggface:

Calling her stupid was a bit harsh, I mean she was, but still, I did feel for her family when I heard him say that. Do we know if her family is placing blame on anyone but Cindy? If they are, I don't agree with that. Have to add, I so hate hearing about wild animals being killed because of the behavior of irresponsible people. Harambe, for example.

I do agree wit Mr. Entsch's following statement:
Mr Entsch said he feared the attack might spark a reactive debate about how to manage crocodiles, but people must remember the attack happened inside a national park in an area where visitors are warned about the dangers.

'Let's not start vendettas. It's hard enough for some families to make a quid up there in the Daintree, showcasing crocs in their environment,' he said.

'People have to have some level of responsibility for their own actions.'


I wonder what the alternative is. Fatally not-killed? Non-fatally killed?

Terminally cadaverous?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-taken-crocodile-Daintree-holiday-friend.html
 
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Wait.
The crocodile was euthanized.
But his stomach contents were flushed and he wasn't "harmed"?
:confused:
I'd say death might possibly be considered "harmful". No?
Sorry for the confusion I thought it was interesting so I added the bit about the second smaller croc, which had it stomach pumped and released.

Friday they caught the 4.3 metre one it was always the #1 suspect, pretty sure they killed it right there and then did a necropsy.
 
I still wouldn't turn down a trip to Australia, I'll just stay out of the way of the more carnivorous inhabitants. Australia would be a dream trip of a lifetime.
 
The big'un is dead. The little'un is okay.

--Al

Sorry for the confusion I thought it was interesting so I added the bit about the second smaller croc, which had it stomach pumped and released.

Friday they caught the 4.3 metre one it was always the #1 suspect, pretty sure they killed it right there and then did a necropsy.

Reading comprehension is not my strong suit with lack of sleep.

Thanks guys!
 

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