Each week, Good Weekend’s how-to column shares expert advice on how to navigate some of modern life’s big – and small – challenges. This week: How to survive a croc attack.
In 2017, politician Bob Katter claimed that someone is “torn to pieces by crocodiles in northern Queensland” every three months. Even by Katter’s standards, that was a wild exaggeration. On average, one or two people are killed by saltwater crocodiles every year in Australia, usually in Queensland and the Northern Territory. Still, croc numbers are increasing, so it pays to know what to do if you’re attacked.
The good news is that it is possible for an adult human to fend off, say, a three-metre croc. The bad news is that you’re much more likely to get attacked by a four-metre-plus croc, in which case your chances of survival are slim.
“The saltwater croc has the strongest bite-force of any animal yet measured,” says Professor Grahame Webb, who has researched crocs for Sydney University, the University of NSW and the Australian Museum. “The teeth are conical and they overlap and interlace, so when they grab prey, they puncture the skin and lock on.”
It then uses its tail, which is about half its body weight, to generate a violent, spiralling motion: the so-called “death roll”. The object is to get the prey off-balance and drag it into deeper water. (The main cause of death from crocodile attacks is drowning.) “Once you’re in the water, things become harder,” Webb says. “So if you’re being dragged down a riverbank, hook your hands in the mud or grab a root.”
If that doesn’t work and you end up in the drink, stay focused. “Crocs have a few soft spots,” says Jesse Crampton, from Croc Country Australia, a facility near Cairns that houses problematic crocs. “The first is the nasal disc, where the nostrils are.” This area is covered in integumentary sense organs, which help the animal detect tiny movements in the water and are highly sensitive. “Hit it as hard as you can,” says Crampton. “If this doesn’t work, try gouging the eyes.” Crocodiles have three eyelids and can suck their eyeballs back into their skulls, so you’ll really have to get in there with your fingers and cause some damage.
The third option is a real Hail Mary. “At the back of a croc’s throat is a palatal valve that stops water entering their lungs when they swallow prey,” says Crampton. “If you stick your arm down their throat and push that valve open, you can maybe flood their lungs with water.” While he’s never heard of this being successful, he says the surest way to die is to do nothing: “Fighting back is always the best strategy.”
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