An Umdloti resident was shocked to see a crocodile sunning itself on the banks of the Tongaat River while on her way to Ballito on Saturday afternoon.

Shivani Moodley was driving northbound on the M4 at about 1.30pm when she spotted the crocodile about 150m from the Tongaat River bridge.

“I love going to game reserves so I am always on the lookout for animals and normally have a good eye for them.

“I often see reed buck there when the tide is low but this was a complete surprise,” she said.

To confirm her suspicions, Moodley stopped near the bridge to take a video which startled the crocodile and it went back into the water.

“I did my shopping and stopped again at 3.30pm on my way home and the crocodile was back on the bank,” she said.

Although the sighting was unusual, crocodiles have been spotted near the river mouth before, said Crocodile Creek owner Peter Watson.

From the video, he identified it as a 1.4m juvenile Nile crocodile.

“River mouths are often an ideal nesting area for crocodiles, there are lots of reedbeds for cover and banks to rest on,” he said.

Typically, they only make their way downriver when there have been heavy rains further upstream, said Watson.

“Sometimes the crocs you see in river mouths can even be from a different river when they have been swept out to sea and taken refuge at the nearest freshwater source.”

For those worried about a potential attack, Watson said crocodiles are generally not a danger to humans unless provoked, much like sharks.

Catching them is a different story altogether and traps need to be put in the water until the target arrives.

“We try our best to lay traps to catch the crocs but they so often get stolen and sold for scrap metal.”

If you do see a crocodile, you can phone Crocodile Creek on 032 940 4444.