Karlie Brady

Journalist

A wayward juvenile crocodile has surprised swimmers at Agincourt reef this afternoon after it was spotted swimming around the Quicksilver pontoon.

Witnesses on the pontoon have reported seeing the animal swimming around the floating platform while crew members monitored its behaviour. 

In a statement, Doug Baird, Quicksilver Group Environmental and Compliance Manager said a crocodile out this far from land is an uncommon occurrence.

“This is the first time in our operation of travelling to Agincourt on a daily basis for over 30 years we have ever seen a crocodile so far out at sea,” he said.

“The 1 to 1.5 crocodile was approximately 40 km east of Cape Tribulation and the QLD Environment and Heritage Wildlife Officers believe it may have been flushed out during the recent heavy storms and got a little lost.

“Our platform-based crew monitored the crocodile which was away from the platform but once it became active as an extra precaution our Skipper asked everyone to exit the water.

“It was certainly a unique wildlife experience for our visitors today,” Mr Baird said.

The Quicksilver crew is currently keeping tabs on the crocodile and the Wildlife Officers have advised that if it does not move on which is the most likely scenario, they will travel to the reef tomorrow to assess the situation.

Tourist, Claire Huang, who was on board at the time, told Newsport, passengers were told to get out of the water for about 15 minutes before it was declared safe to get back in.