| The thousands of islands and islets of the Buccaneer Archipelago in northwestern Australia block the entrance to King Sound, an inlet of the sea. They are largely uninhabited, apart from a scattering of communities of Aborigines. Covered with tropical rainforest and mangrove swamps, these islands comprise a habitat that is half land and half water, where sea and fresh waters mingle with the ebb and flow of tides with a vertical range of up to 40 feet (12 m), the highest on the Australian continent. The estuary crocodile, also known as the saltwater crocodile, is the archipelago’s most distinguished resident. These fearsome carnivores are born in fresh water. The adult males then drive the young animals toward more saline waters where, unusually for reptiles, they can live thanks to glands that excrete salt. Though highly sought-after for its skin, the crocodile is doing well in Australia because its natural habitat has been preserved and because it is also farmed.
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.&title2=Estuary crocodile, Buccaneer Archipelago, Kimberley, Western Australia (16°17’ S, 123°20’ E).&title3=Cocodrilo de los estuarios, archipiélago de los Bucaneros, West Kimberley, Australia (16°17’S-123°20’E). "download in wallpaper")
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