Scott Hislop photographed this saltwater crocodile in the swimming hole at Berry Springs on Sunday, two days before it attacked a woman
A SALTWATER crocodile had been lurking in a popular swimming hole for at least two days before attacking a woman.
Scott Hislop, 37, filmed the 1.5m female croc from underneath the water at Berry Springs on Sunday and even had footage of himself taken giving it the bird.
The croc was shot a few hours after biting a woman on the neck as she swam up to it despite being warned to stay clear. It was the first saltwater crocodile seen at the springs during the dry season in living memory.
Mr Hislop was swimming underwater when he looked up and saw the saltie lying on the surface under some pandanas.
"I was just about to surface when I saw it," the electrical technician said.
"We were only one metre apart. I couldn't believe it.
"I got out of there as fast as I could."
Mr Hislop, of Virginia, said he thought at first the croc was a "reasonable" size and feared for the safety of his two sons, Tain, 9, and six-year-old Jake, who were in the water nearby.
"I thought my kids were just the right size for it to take," he said.
But when he realised the saltie was only 1.5m, he and his sons swam under the croc and filmed it with an underwater video camera.
"My kids didn't believe the croc was real," he said.
The woman was recovering at her nearby home yesterday. She refused medical treatment and asked for the croc not to be harmed.
The attack was witnessed by several people.
Teal Coe, 20, of Virginia, said the woman "deserved" to be bitten because she got too close.
"I told her to stay away but she said she knew all about crocs," he said.
"She borrowed a mask and swam over to it.
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