On Wednesday, a lifeguard had a major scare at L’Arenal beach in L’Hospitalet de l’Infant. Shortly before seven in the morning, while at work, the man pulled out his phone to do two things, neither of which were particularly traditional: take a photo of a strange, dark figure about five feet tall that appeared to be swimming near the buoys. And call the manager of AquaGames, the company that runs the sandy water park, to let him know that he was convinced that the puzzling lump was nothing more or less than a crocodile.

Great fear. And curious confusion.

a suspicious shadow. L’Arenal beach, in L’Hospitalet de l’Infant, in Tarragona, has shown that it doesn’t take much for things to go wrong in the blink of an eye. This Wednesday, while on duty early in the morning, a security guard for some inflatable boats suddenly noticed a confusing shadow appearing in the water in the distance, a few meters from the buoys. So much so that he took out his mobile phone and took a photo in which, indeed, not far from the inflatables, you can see a dark, long, half-submerged lump.

So what was it? Easy to ask. Don’t answer much. Even less so now, and with the pressure to ensure the safety of those who swim. Tarragona’s DiaryThe newspaper that published the story explains that the tall figure quickly dived into the water when the guard wanted to check what it was all about, but he had time to appreciate a sudden movement that reminded him of a tail slap.

At first he thought it was a turtle approaching the sandy area to lay its eggs, but then he encountered the “surprise” of surprises, as the manager of the company that manages the water park would later describe it. Which? In fact, what stood in front of him was a crocodile. Or at least that’s what it seemed to him.

Raising the red flag. The mere suspicion was serious enough to warrant action, so shortly before seven in the morning the security guard decided to call his boss and tell him what he had seen. Or what he thought he had seen in the waters of L’Arenal. It was the first step in a long security protocol that ended with a ban on swimming in the area for several hours, the police mobilizing, a raid being launched and a great deal of anticipation being created.

“We couldn’t take any risks, given that there was an animal in the water, whether it was a crocodile or not, and that the first swimmers were arriving at L’Arenal,” explains manager Xavier Mangrané. Tarragona’s Diary. Result: Local Police and 112 were alerted, security protocol was activated, the red flag was raised, lifeguards, Rural Agents, Seprona, Mossos d’Esquadra were notified and a raid began, extending from both the sea and the sandbanks. The objective was clear. If there was a 1.5-meter crocodile loose in the area, it had to be caught.

Three hours of pain. The beach remained closed for about three hours, during which time there were still doubts about whether a large reptile was prowling the area. Nothing was seen. The crocodile was free to roam, but it made headlines in the media nationwide. At around 11am, the beach was reopened to the public and a yellow flag was raised, which soon turned green. There was no sign of the crocodile. The sun rose on Thursday without surprise.

What did the watchman see? Big question. We have the photo he took. And more importantly, the Agents Rurals biologist’s commentary, after examining the subject in detail and expanding it with programs that increase its comprehensibility, reached a clear conclusion: What is shown in the photo is not a crocodile, but a stingray. , a stingray (Dasyatis parsnipThe species is widely distributed in the seas, often moving along coastal areas, measuring up to about 60 centimeters or two meters perfectly, and attracting attention with its whip-shaped tail.

“Not very convincing”. After the scare at L’Hospitalet de l’Infant, the Catalan network RAC1 spoke to Joan Pino, a doctor in Biology, who admitted that it would be quite surprising to find a crocodile on the coast of Tarragona. “It is not very credible, since there is only one saltwater crocodile in Australia, which occupies the Asian continent,” the expert commented. Climate change could facilitate the movement of species and animals that usually swim in warmer waters at other latitudes and can be found in the Mediterranean; but it would be logical to talk about fish or turtles, not crocodiles.

This is not the first fear. Perhaps the idea of ​​​​seeing a crocodile swimming a few meters from the L’Arenal buoys is interesting, but the truth is that the ranger had every reason to be on the alert. In July 2022, the same beach had to be evacuated for an hour due to a much more specific threat: lifeguards and swimmers saw two sharks close to shore, which caused the red flag to be raised. On Wednesday, without going any further, there was another announcement gathered in Les Cases-Marjal de Alcanar. Daily which resulted in the beach being closed for over an hour.

…not the first large reptile. Perhaps there is another more recent case that explains the alarm generated at L’Hospitalet de l’Infant. Just a few weeks ago, Agents Rurals had to deal with a similar threat in the Besòs River, which flows through Santa Coloma de Gramenet, just 150 km away. In this case, the warning was also justified: technicians had to capture a crocodile after receiving a tip from a person who found it unexpectedly.

The reptile arrived at the Catalan Amphibian and Reptile Rescue Center (CRAC) in Masquefa, adding a nice chapter to the history of Agents Rurals, who in 2006 had to catch a crocodile in the Can Borrel reservoir, from Collserola, and then, in 2007, they took the noose again to catch another specimen of 70 centimeters in Besós, in Santa Coloma.

“Either they abandoned him or he ran away.”The latest crocodile caught this month at least – a specimen that was 60cm long and between two and three years old but can reach 2.5m – is believed to have been abandoned near a bridge. “Either they abandoned him or he escaped,” lamented CRAC’s Joaquim Soler. Pioneer: “A dangerous wild aminal. Did the buyer take that into account?”

Pino from RAC1 agrees: “Baby crocodiles are very beautiful when purchased, but when they grow up they start to cause problems and even cause some fear.” The introduction of the new Animal Welfare Law just one year ago has changed the perspective on the acquisition of such animals, as well as arthropods, poisonous fish and amphibians, and large wild mammals.

Images | Wikipedia (Seryam) and Simon Watkinson (Unsplash)

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