Man narrowly escapes from jaws of crocodile

A French fisherman was bloodied but back on his fishing boat hours after he escaped from the jaws of a young saltwater crocodile which attacked him while swimming along a remote stretch of Australia’s northern coast.

Yoann Galeran, 29, said he was swimming from shore to a dinghy about 50ft away on Sunday when a crocodile 6ft to 7ft long clamped down on his head and neck and attempted to drown him in a movement known as a death roll.

“It went straight away to the top of my head and diving under the water he tried to do that spinning thing,” Galeran said.

“It was going so fast — everything happened in less than five seconds and then I fell free,” he added.

“If it was a bit bigger crocodile, I wouldn’t be talking to you now. I just feel that I’ve been lucky and I just think if it was a bigger crocodile, I maybe wouldn’t have any head,” he said.

Galeran said he escaped by repeatedly punching the crocodile’s body.

Fishing boat skipper Craig van Lawick said he thought Galeran, an Australian resident, was joking about being attacked by a crocodile until he saw the blood.

Galeran was taken to a hospital in the remote mining town of Nhulunbuy, where he received several stitches to wounds to his head and neck.

Zoologist Charlie Manolis said the crocodile probably weighed less than 40kg and was too small to be a serious threat to an adult. It had probably misjudged Galeran’s size in the moonless night.

“Had it been a four meter (13ft) or bigger crocodile, there would have been a 100% chance that he’d be dead now,” said Manolis, chief scientist at Darwin’s Crocodylus Park crocodile farm.

“That size animal in daylight would probably not have gone near him. It can cause you significant damage if the animal really bites you a fair bit, but really they’re not strong enough to overpower a full grown human,” he added.

Northern Territory government rangers set a trap yesterday to catch the crocodile at the site of the attack.

Crocodiles can grow up to 6 meters (20ft) long and have become abundant across Australia’s tropical north since they became protected by federal law in 1971.