A man in Australia was airlifted to a nearby hospital after being attacked by a crocodile while snorkelling at an exclusive Queensland resort. Marcus McGowan, 51, has opened up about his ordeal and how he managed to prise the predator's jaws off his head, suffering lacerations.
The man was with a group of 17 swimmers and he was about 28 kilometres away from Haggerstone Island near Cape York when he was bitten from behind.
"I thought it was a shark but when I reached up, I realised it was a crocodile. I was able to lever its jaws open just far enough to get my head out," he told BBC.
However, the crocodile came back for the second attack, but he was unable to push it away and he suffered a bite to his hand.
He suffered lacerations to his head and hand in the attack.
Queensland's environment department is investigating the matter but said that "crocodiles in the open ocean can be difficult to locate as the animals often travel tens of kilometres per day".
According to BBC, Haggerstone Island Resort describes itself as a 'family-owned, exclusive luxury resort' and the entire island can be hired for $AU7,600 a night.
It was reported that crocodile attacks are uncommon in Australia but several were reported in the recent months.
Since crocodile hunting was banned in 1974, the state's crocodile population has rebounded from a low of some 5,000 animals to around 30,000 today.
