Crocodile eats shark in Proserpine River video goes viral after Dan Johnson shares on YouTube

Barely a week after a shark killed a croc at a Mackay beach, the tables have turned in a brutal Proserpine River encounter caught on camera and viewed tens of thousands of times.

Even for an experienced Proserpine River fisherman like Dan Johnson, a four-metre crocodile swallowing a live bull shark whole is not something you see every day.

And a video clip of the brutal encounter has now captured the world’s attention, racking up more than 95,000 views in a matter of days.

The Proserpine-based digital artist knew something was about to go down when he whipped out his smartphone at one of North Queensland’s most notorious croc-hot spots on Saturday afternoon.

He noticed a group of people further down the river kicking up a fuss when he hooked a bull shark and had just enough time to hit record – with his phone in one hand and fishing rod in the other – when he realised what they were saying: “The croc’s coming for you!”

Dan Johnson said he had seen the four-metre croc known as Boofhead many times while fishing and crabbing on the Proserpine River but never as close as when it came for his catch on Saturday. Picture: Supplied

“There was sort of two 4WDs full of young people and they were down there fishing as well and the crocodile was sort of lurking around them while they were fishing – it was sort of sitting near the edge of the bank, there might have been a crab pot or something which was attracting it sort of in close – and they started yelling and carrying on when I hooked on to the shark,” Mr Johnson said.

“I thought they were just excited cause I was hooked up, you know, I was biting a big fish, and then they were yahooing and I looked over and then realised they were yahooing going ‘It's coming for you, the croc’s coming.’”

With his wife Ebony, daughter Lily, and dog Taddy, he watched on in awe as the four-metre croc – known to locals as ‘Boofhead’ – devoured the helpless shark snagged in some old fishing line on the river bank.

Fourteen-year-old Lily, visiting from Melbourne, can be heard on the footage sympathising with the shark as it gets eaten alive.

“It’s fairly normal for me, growing up here I’ve seen these crocodiles and been around them all my life but she was like wow this is crazy – she's never seen anything like that in her life,” Mr Johnson said.

“So she's the one [in the video] saying ‘poor shark’ and freaking out a bit.”

By Sunday, the footage had blown up online, thanks to Mr Johnson’s brother Ben who shared it on Twitter.

A few days later and it was pushing 100,000 views and Mr Johnson’s phone was ringing off the hook with media outlets and agencies as far flung as the Spain, Singapore and the US wanting to broadcast the clip.

“It’s pretty crazy how fast it’s taken off and how far it’s gone,” he said.

“I think it sort of reminds people about the rawness of nature, the natural world – it’s dog eat dog.

“People become disconnected with it because they’re safe in their houses and then one day they walk into the wild and catch a glimpse of what happens in the wild and they’re confronted, they’re scared, they’re excited, they’re everything all at the same time.

“I think it sort of reminds them that nature is king, it’s still wild, it’s still there.”

The incident comes less than a week after authorities ruled out human intervention as the cause of a juvenile crocodile’s death at Bucasia Beach, pointing to a shark attack as a possible explanation.

Mr Johnson said he hesitated in uploading his footage as the last thing he wanted was to bring any negative attention to the crocodile in its natural habitat.

“It’s so amazing just to be able to go and see him in his natural environment, like six minutes from town.

“Some locals say he's 40 years old. And people come from all over the world to see him so I think protecting and preserving that is pretty important.”

“I hope people just respect him and be careful – don’t try to feed him or encourage him.

“The people who always have accidents are the people who are toying with danger for shits and giggles.

“The people who stand back and just admire and take a photo – they never get touched.”