Croc Grabs Australian Fisherman by the Neck in Brutal Attack

A fisherman is recovering from serious injuries after he was attacked by a saltwater crocodile off the coast of northern Australia.

The 45-year-old was diving for trepang (sea cucumber) off the Cobourg Peninsula when the crocodile struck.

The man had been working from a Tasmanian Seafoods boat with a group of divers in Knocker Bay, about 112 miles northeast of Darwin.

He struggled with the saltwater crocodile, which police said was believed to be anywhere from 6 feet, 5 inches to 9 feet, 8 inches long, and managed to escape.

It bit him on the head, neck, shoulders and arms, the Northern Territory News reported.

Saltwater crocodiles are considered extremely dangerous, and although rare, most attacks by adult "salties" are fatal given the animals' strength and size.

Senior District Ranger Peter Fitzgerald said the man's diving companions rescued him and took him to the Black Point ranger station.

"Another person on the boat... dragged him out of the water," he said. "He'd got bitten a few times by the croc. He's just been in the wrong place at the wrong time."

The man was flown by helicopter to Royal Darwin Hospital.

He is in a stable condition and doctors say he won't need significant surgery.

In 2005 another diver was killed by a crocodile while in the water at nearby Trepang Bay. Aquarium owner Russell Butel, 55, was taken by a 14-foot croc while diving for clown fish.

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