A freediver has captured his incredible up close encounter with an enormous saltwater crocodile in the Northern Territory.
Chris Burnham had a very rare experience sharing the water with the giant reptile swimming off the coast of Arnhem Land Freediving Mask on October 26.
Mr Burnham was in the water with three experienced divers and had no idea the crocodile was there until his friend yelled out ‘croc!’
He captured beautiful footage of the reptile swimming calmly through the ocean and Freediving Suit posted it on social media on November 21.
Chris Burnham filmed his encounter with a saltwater crocodile (pictured) off Arnhem Land
‘After living in Arnhem land Freediving Fins for eight years and barely having a crocodile encounter it made me really complacent,’ Mr Burnham posted on Facebook.
‘This encounter was as good as they come, the scariest part was swimming past it without seeing it, only to have Mitch scream “croc” soon after he rolled out of the boat, noticing it on the bottom after the bubbles cleared from his mask.’
The footage shows the crocodile moving majestically through the gorgeous blue water, swimming alongside fish off the Gulf of Carpentaria.
Mr Burnham said the divers monitored the crocodile before swimming closer.
Mr Burnham said he had no idea the crocodile was beneath him until his mate screamed out ‘croc!’
Mr Burnham (pictured) said the divers spent twenty minutes swimming with big crocodile
‘We watched the crocodile for six minutes before diving on it and ended up spending around 20 minutes in the water swimming with the majestic lizard,’ he said.
The crocodile makes a creepy ascent from the deep at the end of the video to end up sharing the surface just metres away from Mr Burnham.
Mr Burnham shot the footage on a mobile phone and said he felt safe throughout the swim, with his diving group sharing more than 50 years accumulated experience with crocs in the area.
‘I by no means condone swimming with crocodiles,’ Mr Burnham said.
‘This was a unique encounter as you can tell from the 15 kilogram Spanish mackerel swimming around it in the blue water.
‘There is some up close and personal footage I will save for a later date.’
Mr Burnham said the Freediving Suit group monitored the crocodile before swimming up closer, getting to just metres away from the enormous croc
