Two men who were enjoying sailing on a yacht have been attacked and trapped on a rock by a dangerous flesh-eating crocodile.
The men sent an SOS signal as they sought for help
According to a report by The Sun UK, the Police officers who
investigated the creepy SOS sign spotted in the Australian outback say
it was made in 2013 by two desperate friends trapped by a hungry
crocodile.
The sign, written in rocks, was spotted by an eagle-eyed pilot
flying over the Swift Bay area in Western Australia and sparked a search
for a potential castaway.
Authorities found no trace of human activity after a thorough
search of the area and the nearest populated site is a camping
destination Mitchell Plateau – hundreds of miles away.
The site is so remote that cops were only able to access it by using helicopter, reports ABC.
But after police put a call out to the public for help on social
media the mystery appears to have been solved… by a Londoner who knew
all about the incredible story.
The person said two men were sailing a yacht in the Kimberley
region and used an inflatable dinghy to go ashore in Swift Bay,
according to the Mail Online.
Instead of finding a fresh water spring and Aboriginal art, the pair were confronted by a man-eating crocodile.
“They tied the dinghy to a rock and when they saw a 3.5metre
crocodile swimming towards them, got out and scrambled onto the rock as
the crocodile took a large bite out of the dinghy,” the Londoner claims.
“The dingy deflated and they were stranded with the crocodile
remaining in the area, and so managed to climb further up the rock where
they remained huddled overnight.”
The killer croc cut off their route back to the yacht and forced
the pair to built a rock shelter and source water and food as they tried
to get help.
File photo: An attacking, man-eating crocodile forced two men to shelter on the island for a whole week
For seven days the castaways were stranded as more crocodiles began hovering between them and their boat.
“Desperate to get off the remote beach, they made a cross out
of oars, a large SOS with white rocks and tied up the hull of the dinghy
by the bow above the high water mark, which to a sailor would look
‘wrong’,” the man told police.
After an exhausting week they managed to flag down a passing motor
yacht and were rescued – suffering weight loss and hypothermia.
Police used the story as a warning to all those exploring the remote areas of Australia.
Before the true nature of the sign was revealed, a spokesperson for
WA Police said cops were left scratching their heads as to who could
have created the sign.
They said: “Police have conducted a ground search of the area
but did not locate any persons or any indication of recent human
activity in the vicinity.
“Police are trying to establish if there are any missing persons in the area who require assistance.
“Anyone who can assist police with locating or identifying the person(s) who made the SOS is urged to call Crime Stoppers.”
Senior Sergeant Peter Reeves confirmed that someone may have
previously camped at the site – but it is hard to determine how long
ago, reports ABC.
He said: “We’ve done a ground search and aerial search of the
area and there are indications that there may have been someone camped
there at one point in time, but it’s just not clear how long ago that
was.”
SOS is a distress signal which is recognised through out the world since its inception in the early part of the 20th Century.
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