Alligator at sea?

[mgk]

http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/pets-a...ound-20-miles-out-to-sea-swimming-with-whales

Some researches found a living alligator 20 miles out to sea.

I have a question for you reptile keepers, why are some corcs saltwater and other crocs (and alligators) freshwater? what is the difference they don't have gills, I assume they don't continually drink the water like fish, why does the salinity matter?

 

[studd muffin]

interesting!

 

[duster1971]

not 100% but i think it might have something to do with (permiable skin?) and just like a frog absorbing moister from its suroundings and not being able to process salt out causing kidny failur and eventualy death. if im right than cool if im wrong then hopfuly somone has the answer and corect my mistake.

 

[Aqua Sanctuary]

I think saltwater crocs have an organ that processes the salt in the water. I could be mistaken.

 

[krichardson]

Twenty miles out seems dangerously far if the craft is an inflated boat.It's one thing to have one in a last resort emergency type situation but to willingly get in one and travel that distance from shore seems pretty risky.

 

[jag123]

It sounds like the researchers were in an inflatable boat that was part of a larger research vessel. Alligator mississippiensis does live in salt marshes however, and its ability to live in saline environments is not that surprising. Saltwater crocs however do live in similar environments like billabongs in Australia - again a highly saline environment. I believe they do have a way of expelling salt that they absorb from the water much the same way marine iguanas expel salt after grazing on algae in the sea. Cool story - may just be a freak thing and the poor gator got caught in a riptide and couldn't recover its bearings.

 

[12 Volt Man]

I was in Cozumel over Christmas, bonefishing with my dad and we ran into a 12 foot alligator in the lagoon, that was full ocean (caribbean sea).

it was definitely an alligator as it had a huge broad head. it was massive.

luckily we were not wading at the time, we were fishing from a skiff boat.

 

[Vicious_Fish]

I was in Cozumel over Christmas, bonefishing with my dad and we ran into a 12 foot alligator in the lagoon, that was full ocean (caribbean sea).

it was definitely an alligator as it had a huge broad head. it was massive.

luckily we were not wading at the time, we were fishing from a skiff boat.

You sure it wasn't an American Croc? They are native to Cozumel.