Indian Saltwater Crocodile

[Deepak Mistry]

Shot today from a boat in river Vashishthi near Chiplun, Maharashtra. This place is teaming with crocodiles and boasts a rich jungle around it. This seems a nice place to study crocodiles in Maharashtra, if anybody is interested. Two major rivers in this region, Vashishsthi & Savitri support a good population of crocs apart from some scattered individuals in other smaller local rivers.
Nikon D7200, Tamron 150-600mm @600, f/9, 1/1250 sec., ISO-1250, full frame

[Mrudul Godbole]

Nice sighting. Seems it was just about to get into water. I would have liked just a bit more space on the left, as it is touching the left frame. What time was this clicked? I think a slight negative exposure compensation would be good. Is this area under a reserved forest? What is the name? Thanks for sharing.

[Deepak Mistry]

Hi Mridul, the place is known as Maldoli. It's not a reserved forest as such. But is covered by a good forest cover and a couple of major rivers merging into the ocean thus creating a good habitat for flora n fauna. Human population in this particular region is pretty limited. This photo was clicked at around 11:30 am or so. Morning fog and tide timings limited our tour options very much. This particular specimen was basking on the bank when it heard the motor of our boat. Disturbed, it reluctantly started towards the water.
I take your point on the framing. As for the exposure, I was shooting on a slightly higher side since my earlier subject was backlit. Then suddenly this was spotted and in the hurry i did the novice mistake of not changing my exposure compensation. I tried to fix it in LR but seems i need more practice.

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

Nice image. Looks young and healthy. It is a Marsh crocodile (also called Mugger). Saltwater crocodile is not found on western coast including Maharashtra. Special appreciation for your endeavour in finding untamed wild in
not so known wilderness. Thanks for sharing. SaktiWild

Marsh crocodile: Crocodylus palustris
Saltwater crocodile: Crocodylus porosus

[Deepak Mistry]

Oh, thanks Saktida. I thought it looked more like the salty. More so because the other crocs looked distinctly different in coloring and body shape. I'll post a different photo in another thread.

[Murugan Anantharaman]

Nice picture of the mugger on the move, Deepak. This seems to be a mid size croc, muggers can really grow to be huge, its also to do with the habitat. As seen in many species the size of the animal is heavily influenced by its surroundings, while in some parts and mostly in captivity there have been record of crocs growing really huge whereas in the wild in certain areas they don't grow that big. Its quite awesome how nature tweaks its subjects to blend into the habitat. Thanks for sharing.