Croc spotted treading water near Nightcliff jetty, just 50m from shoreline

A ‘silly bugger’ took a death-defying plunge off a jetty in waters where a monster crocodile had been spotted.

Nightcliff beachgoers were “panicking” when they saw a teenager jump into the ocean from the jetty, with a croc treading water less than 50 metres from the shoreline.

At 10am on Wednesday, holiday-maker Nigel Thompson took footage of the crocodile paddling near the rocks at Nightcliff jetty, estimating the beast measured at least three and a half metres.

“I thought to myself, ‘I’m about 187 (centimetres tall)’, and it looked at least twice the size of me,” Mr Thompson, 47, told the NT News.

“I’ve seen my fair share of them out camping and this one had a fat belly, a big head, it was a decent-sized croc.”

Around 30 people stopped on the jetty to monitor the croc’s movements, and according to Mr Thompson, a teenager elicited “panic” from the crowd when he plunged from the boardwalk into the water.

A crocodile was spotted circling the waters around Nightcliff jetty. Picture: Nigel Thompson

Beachgoers “panicked” when a young man jumped into the water. Picture: Nigel Thompson

“Some silly bugger jumped in the water and when he did, the croc went underwater and everyone started panicking and yelling,” Mr Thompson said.

“I reckon he and his mate were just daring each other, they looked about 16 or 17.”

According to Mr Thompson, some locals seemed undaunted the following day even as word of the sighting travelled.

“(On Thursday morning) there were about ten people or so people out swimming,” he said.

“I was chatting to one of them and I said, ‘You know there was a croc here yesterday?’ and he goes, ‘Oh, yeah, we heard about that’ – I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.”

A spokesman for the Department of Parks and Wildlife told the NT News that a ranger attended the scene of the sighting but the crocodile could not be located.

DEPWS director of wildlife operations Kristen Hay warned Territorians that “any body of water in the Top End may contain large and potentially dangerous crocodiles”.

“That’s why we urge everyone to Be Crocwise and only swim where there are designated swimming signs,” Ms Hay said.

“Crocodile management activities such as surveying, trapping and removing saltwater crocodiles go a long way towards reducing the risk but can never eliminate the risk of crocodile attack in Top End waters.”

Crocs have been rearing their scaly heads around the Top End over the last few days, with one caught wondering around a gold mine, and another finally captured after stalking a small outback town.

Originally published as Croc spotted treading water near Nightcliff jetty, just 50m from shoreline