{"id":3478,"date":"2012-04-03T08:17:00","date_gmt":"2012-04-03T08:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/?p=3478"},"modified":"2012-04-03T08:17:00","modified_gmt":"2012-04-03T08:17:00","slug":"true-north-crew-member-attacked-by-croc-released-from-hospital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/2012\/04\/true-north-crew-member-attacked-by-croc-released-from-hospital\/","title":{"rendered":"True North Crew Member Attacked by Croc Released from Hospital"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n
pic: File image of adventure vessel, True North, showing helicopter.<\/i><\/div>\n

A YOUNG woman who was attacked by a two-metre crocodile at a remote freshwater pool in the Kimberley region has been released from hospital.<\/p>\n

Tara Hawkes, 23, a crew member on the tourist vessel True North<\/a>, was swimming in Dugong Bay north of Derby on Sunday afternoon when a crocodile bit her upper leg as she left the water.<\/p>\n

She was flown in the boat’s helicopter to Derby Hospital, where she remained for two days before being released today.<\/p>\n

Early today a Derby Hospital spokesman said Ms Hawkes was in a stable condition and was in “good spirits.”<\/p>\n

Peter Trembath of North Star Cruises, the vessel’s operator, said Ms Hawkes’ injuries were not serious and only required cleaning and stitches.<\/p>\n

“We’re pleased she’s been discharged and we’re expecting her to make a speedy recovery,” he said.<\/p>\n

“She loves her job and loves what she does, and I expect she’ll be back at work as soon as she can.”<\/p>\n

Mr Trembath said crew members had checked the crystal-clear pool and seen no crocs, but obviously one was there.<\/p>\n

“As Tara was getting out of the water it latched onto her leg, but fortunately it wasn’t a very big animal.”<\/p>\n

Mr Trembath said the animal might have been a big freshwater croc or a small saltwater one.<\/p>\n

“Freshies don’t normally bite unless you step on them or if you corner them, which could have happened as she stepped out of the water.”<\/p>\n

Mr Trembath said early reports of tour passengers having a tug-of-war with the animal to free Ms Hawkes were not true.<\/p>\n

WA’s Department of Environment and Conservation has put out an alert to tour operators not to let people swim in the area because it’s believed the crocodile is still there.<\/p>\n

A department spokeswoman said it was believed the animal was a saltwater crocodile.<\/p>\n

The True North, which can carry up to 36 passengers, is continuing on its adventure cruise.<\/p>\n

A wildlife officer was on the way to the scene of the attack and the DEC says it is assessing options to deal with the crocodile.<\/p>\n

Dugong Bay is south of Talbot Bay, near Horizontal Falls, off Derby, 2500km north of Perth. <\/p>\n

True North, which can carry 36 passengers and has 20 staff, was purpose-built to access remote wilderness areas. It was the cruise ship used by American model Jerry Hall and her Perth-based boyfriend Warwick Hemsley on a recent trip to the Kimberley.<\/p>\n

Ms Hawkes posted pictures of True North on her Facebook page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Passengers pay thousands a day for a berth – a seven-night Kimberley adventure costs $9000-$14,000 a person. <\/p>\n

The vessel is due to take passengers from Wyndham to the King George Falls this weekend.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
Read more:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>http:\/\/www.news.com.au\/travel\/news\/woman-bitten-by-croc-in-was-kimberley\/story-e6frfq80-1226316880761#ixzz1qx31bXBZ<\/a> <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

pic: File image of adventure vessel, True North, showing helicopter. A YOUNG woman who was attacked by a two-metre crocodile at a remote freshwater pool in the Kimberley region has been released from hospital. Tara Hawkes, 23, a crew member on the tourist vessel True North, was swimming in Dugong Bay north of Derby on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[327,328],"class_list":["post-3478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-north-star-cruises","tag-true-north"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3478"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3478\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}