Tourists witnessed a huge crocodile battling a shark in the waters of the Adelaide River in northern Australia.
It turns out that the Australian wildlife is not only trying to kill humans, but apex predators seem to want to kill each other too.
In what has been described as a full on head-to-head clash between a well-known local crocodile and a bull-shark, the 5.5 meter long croc appears to have stepped out the victor.
Tourist Andrew Paice and his family were on a wildlife cruise on the Adelaide River when the spectacle played off.
The tour started when Brutus, the three-legged 80-year-old crocodile, leapt out of the water to grab a piece of meat held to him by one of the guides.
“It was on the way back to the jetty, we went past Brutus again, he was up on the bank,” Paice told AFP.
“As we were going past, we noticed that there was a fin. We thought it was a barramundi (fish) or something.
“And the guide took the boat in for a closer look and lo’ and behold… it was a shark.”
Locals of the area have speculated that Brutus the crocodile lost one of his two front legs to a shark and must have been exacting his revenge on the bull shark.
“But from listening to other people, it was probably more likely a big crocodile (which took his front leg). But who knows? It was either a crocodile or a shark,” Paice said.
“My 7-year-old daughter was awestruck. So were the rest of the people (onboard) including the guide; he had never seen it before either and he had been there for about 30 years. He was so excited.”
While some said they believed that Brutus won the battle with the (unnamed) bull shark, Paice said he wasn’t so sure, adding that poor Brutus had only a few teeth left.
“When we went past the first time the croc was lying there with the shark in its mouth,” he said.
“When we pulled the boat in closer it slid back into the water. And when the shark, or the mouth of the croc, hit the water, the shark started to thrash around.
“So it was certainly still alive. We couldn’t see any blood anywhere. It may have got away; it may have got eaten — we don’t know. He didn’t put that display on for us unfortunately,” Paice told AFP.
