DARWIN/SYDNEY — A mottled yellow-green and brown saltwater crocodile lies mostly submerged in the muddy waters of an Australian river, only its ochre eyes visible above a triangular snout as it scans for prey.

When just such a reptile killed Charlene O'Sullivan's daughter 15 years ago, her first thought was that every one of the predators should be killed or caught around her home city of Darwin, to spare others from similar heartbreak.

Now she prefers a less drastic safety measure: education.

"I initially probably supported removing every crocodile," said O'Sullivan, whose daughter Briony was 11 when she was taken while swimming with friends at a waterhole in 2009.

"But you remove one crocodile from a creek or a waterway, another one's just going to move in," the former real estate agent said.

"We need to respect the environment we're in, know they are there, and think smart about what sort of situation you put yourself in."

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