This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. com, a leading footwear and footcare blog that discusses the importance of wearing the right footwear for the right occasion. In 2014, the 18-foot croc "Brutus" – whose missing front leg has sometimes been attributed to shark bite – chomped one in the Adelaide River. But American alligators regularly inhabit brackish waters in estuaries, mangrove swamps and saltmarshes.

Crocodiles may also use marine habitat for nesting: American crocs in South Florida mostly frequent mangrove swamps, but some females enter Florida Bay off the Everglades National Park coast to lay eggs on remote keys. Tiger sharks – which commonly patrol coastal waterways – could pose a threat to any croc, given their large size, robust serrated teeth (which can saw through a sea-turtle shell like nobody's business), and up-for-anything predatory habits.And in 2010, a snorkeller was killed by a croc over a coral reef in open coastal waters off Havelock Island, in a corner of the Andaman Islands not previously known for the reptiles.

Recent deluges in the Altamaha River basin may have carried this gator out to sea: the observers noted marsh wrack and other debris near the reptile. Studies from places like Florida's Shark River Estuary and Sapelo Island off Georgia suggest certain coastal alligators make a tradeoff: they endure the physical hardships of brackish habitats – plus the workout of shuttling between them and the freshwater havens where they recharge – because these spots are such productive hunting grounds.And in August, a saltie peaceably joined comparably sized lemon sharks circling a boat on a Kimberley river. An American crocodile nicknamed "Cletus" is famous for being the only one of his kind to inhabit the waters of the Dry Tortugas, a remote cluster of islands west of Florida's Key West. A bloody surf skirmish followed, according to a shore-bound witness, who saw "sharks and alligators rise on the crest of the waves and fight like dogs".