The Northern Coroner's Office has confirmed the fatal injuries suffered by Cairns spear fisher David Fordson earlier this month were caused by a "large estuarine crocodile".
The advice prompted warnings for boaties and divers to take extra precautions when visiting coastal Cape York this summer with crocodiles being spotted well offshore and at popular mooring sites.
In a statement, a coroner’s spokesperson said a post-mortem examination had been carried out during which police had sought specialist opinion from experts in crocodile and shark behaviour.
Mr Fordson, 49, was skipper of the cargo barge Torres Starservicing the Cairns to Thursday Island route when, ahead of schedule, they stopped to fish at the remote Cairncross Island group.
The alarm was raised when Mr Fordson failed to return to the vessel and his body was found in the early hours of December 6, with injuries initially thought to be from either a crocodile or a shark.
Underwater filmmaker and experienced boatie Ben Cropp has spent many years travelling the Cape York coastline and said he had noticed increasing numbers of crocodiles in the area.
Early summer is mating season for the animals, when the males are wandering further afield and looking for a female.
"On a recent trip we saw a lot of crocodiles and croc tracks all the way down the coast, and crocodiles at every offshore
island we went to," he said.
island we went to," he said.
"We’re talking six or eight miles out … on one little sand cay we saw three crocodiles, with three big tiger sharks in the shallows.
"These look like lovely places to moor but they are actually very, very dangerous, and Bushy Cay (where Mr Fordson was attacked) is only about three miles off the coast so it’s a lot closer to shore."
Mr Cropp said over the past seven years he had frequently seen a 3.5m crocodile lying on the sand at Bushy Cay.
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