located 250 miles south of Cancun and 40
nautical miles off the eastern coast of
Mexico nestled in a protective barrier
reef this tiny island chain is home to
over 500 of the most genetically pure
crocodiles on earth join us as we
venture into the pristine waters of the
Caribbean to explore the fascinating
world of the crocodiles of Banco
Chinchorro in this episode we'll
discover what makes Banco Chinchorro the
perfect home for crocodiles
stepping off a perfectly good boat to
stand face to face with a crocodile
wasn't on my bucket list when you're not
at the top of the food chain it can be a
little unnerving and under normal
circumstances I wouldn't recommend it
but when you're in Banco Chinchorro with
one of the world's foremost crocodile
guides you can look into the eyes of the
largest reptile on earth how did this
get started and why do we swim with
these crocodiles specifically the reason
why we can go in the water is because
the fishermen have been living in Ormond
E with the crocodiles for many years the
crocodile are used to people the
crocodiles have comes out of their
natural living area the mangrove and
they go in open sea so they're not super
comfortable they're also a bit more
protective about themselves
we can go in there because they see us
as a predator as well once we're across
each other we pay full focus to the
crocodile all the time crocodile is not
gonna do anything until they feel like
okay I'm absolutely sure and because we
have the big cameras in between and we
have a stick to guide them left and
right
they feel like okay I don't have a big
opportunity right here they're a bit
relaxed you can see them so close you
people can learn a bit about their
behavior I would not do this on any
random spots it's just because the setup
here is right for it we can do it it's a
unique environment the crocodiles and
humans have a long history one that's
been established over many generations
still this type of ecotourism is only
possible with a set of rigorous safety
protocols developing those rules and
procedures has been the work of marine
ecologist Louise Lombardo what we're
trying to do there and all the touristic
activities we have with animals around
here it's to create an environmental
education experience well what we did
with a crocodile activity we created a
rule book you need the right kind of
boat you need the right kind of training
you need the right kind of
infrastructure you need a lot of things
so it's not that we want just one guy to
have it but we want the right guys to
have your permits to do it from the
beginning you have to have really
serious regulations about everything
mostly safety during activity there's
also a lot of information so people
really do get sensitized about the the
animal the species they just don't see
it like a huge dinosaur anymore they
know it's a part of something and they
know the importance they have
well we're in the water with a
five-meter dinosaur right in front of
them just face-to-face just staring at
them being so close to an animal that
can just shoot an arm out of you and one
bite it's a so humbling for me you know
you feel so ha ha I'm just absolutely
nothing in front of an animal like this
we've been working with the local
population to teaching environmental
education mostly not extractive use of
the natural resources and we use a
crocodile as an example like you know
what 30 years ago you were killing those
guys and you made what 10 20 pesos would
that with a meat but right now we're
driving with them and we're creating a
lot of money with it what I love the
most is people I can hear from in the
water they're like wow this was amazing
and it's it's just super beautiful to
see and you can only understand it if
you do it
here ecotourism benefits everyone
the crocodiles and their habitats are
protected the local population is fairly
compensated and visitors can enjoy a
once-in-a-lifetime experience
you