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An uneasy truce has formed between saltwater crocodiles on the dried-out Kapalga Causeway in Kakadu National Park, as they wait for the rains to come.
In an area about the size of a suburban house block, the crocodiles are stuck high and dry, awaiting a wet season that is delayed in line with the El Nino climate pattern.
"They're not eating, they've got no fresh water, they've just got to sit it out together," Kakadu crocodile expert Garry Lindner said.
"There is no advantage in attacking and killing each other because they want to conserve their energy and stay still and cool as much as they can throughout this hot, dry period."
Some ranging in size from 3.5 metres to more than four metres long, the crocodiles have a remarkable ability to remain in daily 40-plus temperatures without water, provided they have some shade.
"These crocs can sit in this situation for probably another couple of months. In between now and February you're going to get intermittent rain ... it might not be enough to flood the paperbark forest here, but it will be enough to keep them going," Mr Lindner said.
Kapalga Causeway is a floodplain system between the South Alligator and West Alligator Rivers, and during the wet season water levels can reach waist height.
Two of the crocodiles sheltering under tree roots at the Causeway have been seen there since 2007, when they returned to the site after being released into the main South Alligator river.
Mr Lindner said, given the area can be flooded, it shows the crocodiles are well adapted to a floodplain landscape that is both wet and dry.
Bureau of Meteorology climatologist Greg Browning said the drier than usual start to the wet season is in step with the strong El Nino of late.
"Particularly over the northern Top End, we've seen well below average rainfall. The context is that can change very quickly with a few thunderstorms and some shower activity, but the forecast is suggesting we're not likely to see that."
Mr Browning said real change for the Top End comes with the onset of the monsoon.
"That's also delayed typically with an El Nino climate pattern. We may see these drier conditions go through December and it may not be till January when the monsoon takes hold," Mr Browning said.
In Darwin, normal onset of the monsoon usually occurs around Boxing Day, up to New Year's Eve, however this year the El Nino could see that delayed to early or even mid-January.
"Once the monsoon rains start to kick in, especially if it's very active, you can see a lot of rainfall and those areas do become flooded for the second half of the wet season, going from bone dry to flood water," Mr Browning said.
"It's dramatic, and one of the things people love about the Top End and the tropics. That contrast from brown and lifeless to fluorescent green and teaming with water."
