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Speaker 1: Now as we head into the long weekend, many of

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Speaker 1: you know doubt keen to get out to Manton Dam

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Speaker 1: for a bit of water skiing or wakeboarding, but there's

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Speaker 1: been reports of a crocodile sighting at the popular spot.

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Speaker 1: Now joining us on the line is Darwin Urban Park's

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Speaker 1: district manager Louise Keen. Good morning to you, Louise.

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Speaker 2: Good morning Katie.

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Speaker 1: Lovely to have you on the show. Louise, tell me

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Speaker 1: a bit more about this sighting of a crocodile.

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Speaker 2: Well, we opened for reopened for in water activity on

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Speaker 2: Monday at noon midday and then shortly after we received

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Speaker 2: some footage of crop via our social media channel, so

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Speaker 2: we made the decision to close the park twin water

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Speaker 2: activity and water activity on Monday afternoon, and then we

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Speaker 2: commenced Wednesday evening with our croc spots to see if

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Speaker 2: we could catch the elusive animals. So we've been undertaking

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Speaker 2: that Wednesday night and last night and tonight's our third

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Speaker 2: night of that survey.

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Speaker 1: So talk what you do to try and spot the

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Speaker 1: crocodile or see if there is a crocodile in there

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Speaker 1: are salty.

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Speaker 2: Well, there's many ways the rangers do that they've got,

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Speaker 2: they put the boat in and conduct visual observation, So

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Speaker 2: they are puttering around the dam checking for ice shines,

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Speaker 2: using a heavy duty spotlight to pick up the red

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Speaker 2: eye shine of the croc and then if something's picked up,

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Speaker 2: it's sort of monitored, monitored, and then any action if necessary,

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Speaker 2: is taken once a confirmed sighting is made, and then

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Speaker 2: the same and so on for the following nights to

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Speaker 2: try and establish if there is a saltwater crocodile in

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Speaker 2: there or if it's a freshwater crocodile. We know there

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Speaker 2: are freshwater crocodiles in the dam and large freshwater crocodiles

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Speaker 2: that people can commonly confuse with salties, so it's having

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Speaker 2: the visual observations out across the dam to see what

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Speaker 2: they can confirm for freshwater or salt water and so on.

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Speaker 1: The vision that was sent through did it appear to

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Speaker 1: be a salty or was it too difficult to tell?

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Speaker 2: It was inconclusive. It was difficult, It was grainy, it

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Speaker 2: was scratchy, it was blurry, so it was inconclusive. So

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Speaker 2: obviously erring on the side of caution, as we take

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Speaker 2: safety seriously. The move was taken to conduct the surveys

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Speaker 2: and run some confirmation checks to see what the team

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Speaker 2: could identify fresher or salty out there.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so, Louise, at this point in time, is Manton

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Speaker 1: Dam still going to be closed for the weekend?

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Speaker 2: Look uncertain at this point. We will know more after

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Speaker 2: this evening's survey. So if it's good to open and

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Speaker 2: we get the approval to reopen, we're intending to reopen

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Speaker 2: by noon on Saturday. But we do encourage people to

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Speaker 2: check the website before they go, because if something is

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Speaker 2: seen and we need to take some additional action, we'll

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Speaker 2: need to potentially remain closed for a bit longer. So

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Speaker 2: for people to avoid being disappointed packing the kids and

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Speaker 2: the family out to go for a day of boating

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Speaker 2: or fishing, we encourage them to check the website before

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Speaker 2: they leave to avoid disappointment of getting there and the

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Speaker 2: gates still closed.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, good advice. I mean, how many people would you

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Speaker 1: think that you'd you know, like, is there an approximate

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Speaker 1: of how many people you might suspect of going to

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Speaker 1: head out to Manton Dam on a long weekend.

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Speaker 2: Usually, Look, it gets pretty crowded. If you've been there,

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Speaker 2: you know the car park is a decent size and

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Speaker 2: it gets full of vehicles, trailers, people out there enjoying

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Speaker 2: their water sports and their picnics with families. So it's

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Speaker 2: a popular location.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, now I guess if it stays closed. If it

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Speaker 1: remains closed, what are some of the other popular spots

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Speaker 1: that are a bit closer to town.

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Speaker 2: Look, if people are like we, swimming's not encouraged at

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Speaker 2: mant and Dam, so that's off the table. So if

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Speaker 2: people are looking to enjoy family time in the parks,

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Speaker 2: that heading off to Lichfield for swimming in the water

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Speaker 2: holes there that's great. Or taking the kids for the

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Speaker 2: little ones to Howard Springs for the little paddle pools there,

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Speaker 2: that's a lovely option. So lots open and we encourage

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Speaker 2: again people to check our website for what's open in

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Speaker 2: our parks and reserves across the long weekend, or if

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Speaker 2: they're keen to head further afield, the parks and Catherine

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Speaker 2: and Madaaranka and so one are great for water recreation

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Speaker 2: over the long weekend.

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Speaker 1: Well, there's certainly lots on this weekend. Whether you head

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Speaker 1: out and about and head out for a spot of

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Speaker 1: swimming in one of those safe locations to do so.

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Speaker 1: Or whether you're heading to the Glenty or one of

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Speaker 1: the other wonderful events, says so much on this long weekend,

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Speaker 1: isn't there.

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Speaker 2: Loways nd Or head down to the center and do

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Speaker 2: a dry boat race down down the todd well that'd

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Speaker 2: beam and go to the todd safe for no crocodile.

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Speaker 1: Will dar An Urban Parks District Manager Louise Keen lovely

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Speaker 1: to speak to you this morning. Thanks so much for

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Speaker 1: your time.

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Speaker 2: Thank you Katie, thank you