A LUCKY woman has escaped unscathed after unknowingly swimming just feet away from a lurking crocodile.
Alicia May went for a morning dip in the Rollingstone Creek near Townsville, Australia, and accidentally caught the terrifying encounter on camera.
7 NewsA woman has accidentally recorded herself taking a dip near a crocodile[/caption]
Queensland DesiThe crocodile was spotted mere metres away from her in the creek[/caption]
Queensland DesiThe woman didn’t notice the scary encounter until she rewatched the video later[/caption]
The mother-of-five has been taking her children to the creek as a family weekend ritual for over a decade.
She frequently films underwater to capture the wholesome moments of her kids playing.
But when she rewatched the footage one day, she noticed a huge, dark outline lurking at the bottom of the murky waters.
In the clip, a faint figure of a long creature with a tail and two feet appears for a few seconds.
“I was a little bit shocked that I saw something quite big on the video so I played it slowly, paused and zoomed in.
“I’m like, ‘Wait, this actually looks like a crocodile’,” she told ABC.
Convinced that she spotted a crocodile in the video, May reported it to the Department of Environment Science and Innovation (DESI).
Tony Frisby, DESI senior wildlife officer, confirmed that it was indeed a “sizeable” species of a crocodile, estimated to be three metres long.
The wildlife officers conducted a search of the creek and nearby areas using a drone in a bid to find the beast – but failed to locate it.
The crocodile was spotted in the zone where reptiles get removed by rangers if they display dangerous behaviour.
Mr Frisby added that the crocodiles will often swim upstream in search of fresh water or prey such as pigs, birds or wallabies.
“Crocodiles are highly mobile, and they travel upstream in our rivers and creeks to source freshwater and feed on animals that come down to the banks to drink,” Mr Frisby said.
“You never know what is lurking in waterways, and people really need to make sensible choices when they’re near the water in Croc Country.”
The department has installed crocodile warnings in the area, and has urged visitors to steer clear of the creek.
Any sightings of the reptile need to be reported to the wildlife officers.
The terrified mother said her close encounter with the beast was enough keep her from returning to the swimming spot ever again.
“It’s quite scary because we actually go swimming in a lot of creeks all the time. We go off hiking and stuff and have little adventures,” May said.
“This has definitely scared me.”