Us humans like to think that we’re at the top of the food chain, but the brutal truth is that if a crocodile wanted your omelette and it came over to collect, there’s really very little you could do.
Now, of course the situation above is hypothetical – if a crocodile has ever stolen your omelette then please contact us immediately – but that’s pretty much what happened to Australian fisherman Ben Stack earlier this week.
Poor Ben was reeling in a Threadfin fish which was rather stubborn. Or so he thought. Was it putting up a final fight? Maybe it was hiding under a log on the riverbed? Nope. It was just that a crocodile was after the fish too.
“While I was slowly gaining some line, I was admiring the excellent fighting ticker of these fish,” recalled Ben. “The fish had another run and went straight under the boat.
“Then everything stopped, no vibration, no kicking or head shaking, no fight, just a heavy dead weight. ‘Damn, he’s run under a log’, I thought. What took place in the next few seconds felt like a lifetime. Or was it that I felt my life only had a few seconds…”
Certainly, the close encounter looks pretty freakin’ scary.
After all, the crocodile was clearly hungry, and the fisherman was trying to take his food away. Maybe he’d just kill two birds with one stone and trade up for a bigger meal.
Thankfully, that wasn’t the case, and instead of a quiet fishing trip, Ben was rewarded with what must be the most memorable moment of his life.
The fisherman continued: “First, I saw a bit of silver, then I saw my lure with the fishes mouth wide open…
“It was at this moment, I realised I was staring eye to eye with a solid salt water crocodile.
“We were face to face and no more than 20 inches apart. Fright kicked in, I released the leader and flew backwards into the boat.”
To be fair, as awesome as Ben’s story is, the real winner here was the fish. The little swimmer had just had a hook put through his mouth, and he was about to be eaten by a giant crocodile, then boom, he produces the great escape.
He’s probably back to wining and dining lady fish in the waters down under now rather than being chopped into bits in a crocodile’s mouth.
One thing is for sure anyone, if the photos are anything to go by, the fish was almost definitely the most surprised of the lot.