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Re: Shyster in the Ocean

Posted by Dave Collins on November 19, 2013, 5:18 pm, in reply to "Re: Shyster in the Ocean"
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The American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus), the species we have here and the one seen in the photo, are not normally aggressive. Adults are way out of their size range. Of course, small children are a different issue. All crocodile attacks I´ve read about involving this species involve situations where the croc feels threatened, like when it gets stepped on for example. Most incidents have involved fishermen wading and/or diving in mangroves and rivers where there are lots of crocs present. It seems that in general our fear of them is much greater than reality warrants. Finally, hard to predict where exactly you will see one in the ocean, but generally they are close to shore and they tend to frequent the ocean more here in Tenacatita Bay when the mouth of the mangrove is connected to the bay. Our mangrove and the Chamela-Cuixmala mangrove within the biosphere reserve host the biggest populations of the American crocodile on the coast of Jalisco.

They generally travel into the ocean to either look for fish or for another nearby habitat. And when the mangrove connects to the ocean a lot of fish within the mangrove are then able to make it into the ocean thus diminishing the food supply within the mangrove.
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