Surfers' tribute to Crocodile Hunter

Australian surfers staged an unusual tribute to Steve Irwin - by hitting the waves with a life-sized inflatable crocodile.



Surf photographer Stuart Gibson had the idea for the tribute which he captured on film and posted on his website, www.stugibson.net.

He says that, as well as being an ambassador for Australia and conservation, Irwin was a "self-confessed mad surfer".



Gibson says Irwin loved Tasmanian waves and set up the tribute on a day when a seven metre swell delivered huge waves off the Tasman peninsula.

He and fellow surfers Martin 'Para' Paradisis, Dan Ross, Richie Vaculik and Mark Matthews were tow-surfed into the waves - along with the blow-up croc.

According to Gibson, the conditions appeared to improve as soon as they brought the inflatable crocodile into the line-up.

"All the boys agreed that the wind dropped out and the sets got bigger with the croc out there," he said. "The croc got all the best waves."

Amazingly the inflatable crocodile survived repeated beatings at the hands of some of the world's biggest waves.

However, one of the surfers was less lucky. Matthews, 24, needed hospital treatment after hitting his head on his board or the rocky bottom. He was later allowed home.