Saltwater Crocs?

[freshorangina]

So the folks at UDC found a saltwater croc at Ted Point today. I am very curious how common this kind of sighting is for Utila. If anyone has any info about this I would love to hear it!

 

[Doc]

Been seen at First Bight on Roatan. They used to be everywhere, but....,

 

[laurenceh]

i think its the first sighting on utila in a couple of decades.

 

[GoProHonduras]

People have sighted them in the lagoon and beach areas occasionally in the last 10 years, but this is the first time we have a recorded sighting on an actual dive! It was estimated to be 6ft in size.

 

[Passantino]

Just to be clear, this is not the Saltwater Crocodile of Australia/India fame (Crocodylus porosus) although locals call it by the same name and it makes sense as people are seeing it on the reef, it is actually the American Crocodile (Crocodylus acutus). I know this is common sense tomost but a lot of people are talking about it (especially Aussies on Utila) as if it is the same species.

 

[The Chairman]

:crocodile: This thread is useless without pics! I love to see these critters.

 

[DandyDon]

:crocodile: This thread is useless without pics! I love to see these critters.

Here are some Sloeber shared on FB, which I think he borrowed from someone else there...

 

[rob@diveinutila.com]

Like everyone said occasionally but very very rare - there was one filmed several years ago in tuna boil by a dive boat out whale sharking some miles off the north shore of Utila.

 

[Sloeber]

Thanks for linking the photos, Dandy Don. They are indeed not mine. I shared photos from both the Bay Islands College of Diving and Utila Dive Center. I could be wrong, so someone correct me if I am, but I think BICD found it first at Ted's Point which was later seen by UDC at Airport Caves? Or a combination there of. I had planned 2 shore dives at Airport Caves for the afternoon and hadn't heard anything of the sightings. I thought it was crazy how busy those dive sites were that afternoon because there were divers literally crawling all over those sites.

It'll be interesting to see how long it sticks around, and if we can keep the locals away from it.

 

[Sloeber]

Probably worth noting here that on the same day the crocodile was spotted on the east, out west Coral View had an encounter with a Manta Ray during their IDC training dives.