Gold Coast man wards off Sydneysiders with warning of killer crocodile

Oh snap! A Gold Coast surf coach had 14,000 followers on social media biting after posting terrifying footage of a crocodile he’d “tagged” at Mount Warning. SEE THE FOOTAGE

A Gold Coast surf coach had his 14,000 Instagram followers biting after a prank involving a fully grown crocodile which he claimed was near Mount Warning.

The video shows a mature crocodile taking a leisurely dip in what appears to be the Gold Coast hinterland, moving past the camera before disappearing under the water’s surface.

Surf coach Jay Phillips tagged the video’s location as Mount Warning. Source: Instagram

Although Mount Warning may be just a stone’s throw from the Gold Coast, it’s certainly a long way from crocodile country up in Tropical North Queensland.

The Bulletin reached out to Jay Phillips, surf coach and president of Snapper Rocks Surfriders Club about the footage.

He confessed the video was a fake and an “elaborate ploy” to keep his interstate mates “out of Queensland.”

“It’s not really Mount Warning but thought I’d tag the location to scare all my Sydney mates from coming to Queensland when the border reopens,” he said.

“It was a protective measure against a Covid-19 influx from down south.”

The crocodile mounts a wall before disappearing under the surface. Source: Instagram

He said his mates were messaging him “non-stop” about the crawling crocodile and that it might have “done the trick”.

There have been numerous reports about crocodiles coming this far south in recent years, with the most recent in 2013, when a juvenile crocodile was found on the streets of the Gold Coast.

The most recent rogue reptile was discovered near Southport Cemetery on Queen St by a passing motorist, and was believed to be being kept illegally by someone.

The man who found the reptile kept it in his bathtub for the night before handing it over to staff at Tallebudgera’s David Fleay Wildlife Park.

The Queensland border reopens on Monday, December 13 after Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the state was expected to hit its 80 per cent double vaccinated target later this week.

Thousands are expected to flood in.