Kimberley Expedition: Day 6 (Morning)

After breakfast, we went off in the Xplorer again … this time up the Porosus Creek. We were accompanied by the two zodiacs that later took us on 20-minute rides for a closer glimpse of the mudskippers and flame fiddler crabs. The bonus was a couple of Brahminy kites.

We had our best wildlife sightings from the Xplorer, however. First was a chestnut rail … which Guest Lecturer Anne described as being a “lifer species” as they are very shy and very difficult to see. Another sighting was an eagle ray. We’ve seen a couple of them flying out of the water — something they apparently do to get rid of the little fish that “clean” them — but this one was close enough to see the spots.

The primary target of this cruise on the Porosus Creek was Crocodylus Porosus … a species of salties (aka estuarine or salt water crocodiles) found in these waters. They are the largest living reptile and the largest terrestrial predator in the world … with at least one male recorded at a little over 23 feet.

Although we’d been hearing frequent warnings about the Kimberley waters being home to crocodiles — and thus dangerous to swim — we had yet to see any. That changed today. We saw two of them … a small one about 5 feet long and an adult that was twice as long. Male or female? No idea. Both were swimming, so we have yet to see these critters sunning themselves. And likely will not do so as the water is still warm enough that the crocs don’t feel the need to leave their domain to warm up.

A delightful cruise with beautiful scenery and plenty of wildlife sightings.En savoir plus