Croc kills diver - Dehiwala, Sri Lanka

[DandyDon]

Sri Lanka is an island nation off of the southern end of India.

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Jan 03, Colombo: A professional diver engaged in diving in the sea as an ornamental fisherman has died after being attacked by a crocodile in the seas off the coast of Dehiwala this morning, Police said.

The deceased has been identified as a 53 year old father of one living in the Ratmalana Railway houses.

The victim was admitted to the Kalubowila Teaching Hospital following the attack but he was pronounced dead on admission, hospital sources said.

A group of fishermen has seen a crocodile of about 15 feet long dragging the victim as he dived into the sea. Although they have managed to rescue him, the crocodile’s grip has severely injured his chest and arm.

Even after the incident, the crocodile was seen lurking on the beach.

His remains are currently kept the Kalubowila Hospital morgue.

Officials at the Attidiya Wildlife Office have launched an operation to capture the crocodile.

There have been reports of crocodiles in the sea off Dehiwala area on several previous occasions. According to ecologists, this species of crocodile has also been reported to live near the sea. Although the Department of Wildlife in collaboration with the Navy have launched several operations to trap these sea crocodiles, the operations were unsuccessful due to the transient nature of the crocodiles.

 

[drrich2]

Capture these sea crocodiles? And...do what with them? I imagine something may be lost in the translation, but the reporter doesn't seem to have much knowledge about crocodiles.

 

[dmaziuk]

Probably the same logic they use on tigers: once it starts hunting humans, it'll keep doing it. With tigers at least, they've been dealing with 'em for a very long time so I'd assume they know what they're doing -- learned the hard way.

 

[kelemvor]

Sad day for the man's son.

 

[drrich2]

Probably the same logic they use on tigers: once it starts hunting humans, it'll keep doing it.

Glad you brought that up, because I suspect there's a significant difference with this type of animal. Healthy, capable tigers usually don't prey on humans (though in a region called the Sundarbans it doesn't seem as unusual; it's possible those tigers' ancestors weren't subjected to culling of man-killers by humans much). When a tiger takes to killing humans, it may be due to physical problems impairing the ability to hunt usual prey. In other words, most tigers, moderately hungry, observing a human in the wild probably won't attack.

With large salt-water crocodiles, though, is that the case?

With some animals, it makes sense to cull individuals who killed a human. Tigers, leopards, lions and bears come to mind. Those individuals are considered atypical.

Does it make sense to assume a 15 foot crocodile that killed someone opportunistically is atypical?

If the goal is to remove all large crocodiles from an area, I doubt they'd capture them. More like shoot to kill.

 

[dmaziuk]

Maybe "capture" is a case of "lost in translation" and the meaning is more like "get", as you suspect. Or it's deliberate for our delicate Western sensibilities.

 

[drrich2]

I like crocodiles and don't care to fear-monger toward them, and I'm not sure how much dive tourists need to be wary of them (e.g.: how much risk is there, how much can you really do to mitigate it, and how much are visiting divers warned about them), but @DandyDon posting about a crocodile attack isn't near.

So, for people traveling to parts of Australia, Indonesia, PNG and the Solomon Islands, is 'crocodile awareness' something that ought to be called out as meriting special attention?

DandyDon posted this thread, Croc attacks kill two - Solomon Islands, and there's content that may interest people curious about crocodile-related risks.

Recreational divers (who aren't spear fishing) tend to show more concern over the risk of drowning, separation from their dive boat and being adrift at sea, decompression-related problems or injuries from falls (e.g.: on the boat) rather than marine life attacks. Particularly if you stay off the bottom and don't grab anything (which should protect you from cone snails, blue-ringed octopus, stonefish, stingrays, etc...). The main exception is jellyfish, and a full wetsuit can do wonders (though the irukandji of Australia is still a threat). Then there's the nesting titan triggerfish menace...

Perhaps more attention ought to be paid to predator attacks in some parts of the world? Are salt-water crocodiles a candidate for such attention?

 

[Searcaigh]

When we were diving HMS Hermes at Batticaloa on the east coast of Sri Lanka a few years ago, the guy that ran the I've centre only mentioned crocodiles after about three or four days when we'd be wading in waist deep water almost every morning loading gear onto the boats.

Everyone was more aware after that, and it wasn't something any of us had given a thought about previously.

 

[DandyDon]

cone snails, blue-ringed octopus, stonefish, stingrays, etc...). The main exception is jellyfish, and a full wetsuit can do wonders (though the irukandji of Australia is still a threat).

I read somewhere that that octopus doesn't show its blue rings unless preparing to attack. I have to wonder if divers intentionally irritate it at times. They get lots of hospitalizations but seem to be good and saving people.

I read elsewhere that irukandji are very dangerous if you can't get treated quickly, except on one island where kids play with them as they're not venomous there.

But then you can read lots of things online these days.

 

[tursiops]

I read somewhere that that octopus doesn't show its blue rings unless preparing to attack.

I read somewhere that the Earth is flat.