The sufferer of a lethal alligator assault in Florida did nearly all the pieces proper earlier than she was killed when the animal ripped her aside, in keeping with a wildlife skilled.
Brittany Clark, 31, was swimming within the Econlockhatchee River at Little Large Econ State Forest on Sunday afternoon after a hike along with her boyfriend when the alligator abruptly attacked her.
Conservation biologist and skilled alligator handler Joseph Wasilewski informed The Publish that the California native hadn’t taken pointless dangers — however warned of the hazards of coming into the water in Florida.
Clark was attacked at round 1:30 p.m. — in the midst of the day — which Wasilewski mentioned is the safer time to get within the water.
“It’s extra harmful at daybreak and nightfall,” Wasilewski — who has labored with and studied alligators and crocodiles for over 50 years — informed The Publish.
The Florida-based biologist additionally careworn the significance of getting somebody on lookout in case you do go swimming.
“I personally would solely swim in the course of the warmth of the day in an space that different persons are watching,” he mentioned.
“For those who do go within the water, be sure to have somebody standing by watching,” he mentioned. “Have somebody on the shore that’ll watch, as a result of if there’s an alligator, they’ll see it coming.”
Wasilewski defined that he had expertise himself in supervising dives in crocodile- or alligator-infested waters.
“Once I labored for Florida Energy and Mild, and there’s crocodiles on their property, they usually’re protected, after they have divers within the water, they’ve to rent me or anyone like me to face watch over the divers,” he mentioned.
Nevertheless, he added that the individual on lookout doesn’t should be an skilled on the animals.
“It’d be good if there was an skilled, however there’s not a whole lot of crocodile and alligator specialists,” Wasilewski mentioned.
“Simply have anyone with widespread sense as a be careful… an grownup that is aware of proper from unsuitable and good from unhealthy,” he added.
Wasilewski believes that the alligator that killed Clark was doubtless defending its territory, as June and July mark the nesting season for the large reptiles.
He additionally mentioned he was shocked to find the scale of the alligator — which he mentioned was larger than any he’d ever come throughout in his a long time of working with them.
“I don’t suppose I’ve ever seen a 13-footer within the wild, and I’ve seen tens of 1000’s of them,” he mentioned.
However Wasilewski had a transparent reply on easy methods to keep protected within the water in Florida.
“You’ll be able to quote me on this: keep the hell out,” he mentioned.
Clark’s dad, Robert Clark, beforehand informed The Publish that his daughter was along with her boyfriend, her roommate, and their canines on that fateful day.
He insisted that his daughter “did find out about wildlife” and the potential for an alligator to be within the water there, and blasted officers not doing extra to regulate the beasts and warn of the hazards.
“They didn’t go there to maliciously abuse alligators and fish and wildlife,” he mentioned.
“Nothing was finished, no boundaries put up, no warnings saying, ‘That is infested with alligators proper now, suppose twice about stepping within the water,” the grieving father added.
Wasilewski agreed that park rangers and workers had the accountability to warn the general public of the hazards of nesting alligators.
“Rangers, workers, individuals on the park, all of them know if there’s an enormous alligator round, and if there’s any potential hazard, all of them know that, and they’d and may warn the individuals or rope an space off,” he mentioned.
“I don’t know what warnings, if any, there have been.”
Clark’s devastated pal — who says she was along with her on the time — mentioned that the pair had joked about an alligator moments earlier than the lethal assault.
Clark’s boyfriend, Probability Allison, will be heard within the harrowing 911 name made as they desperately tried to avoid wasting her.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Fee, which manages the park, didn’t reply instantly to requests for remark.
A FWC spokesman beforehand informed The Publish: “Critical accidents attributable to alligators are uncommon in Florida.
“The FWC locations the very best precedence on public security and administers a Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program (SNAP) to handle complaints regarding particular alligators believed to pose a menace to individuals, pets or property.”
The spokesman added that when the FWC receives calls to its Nuisance Alligator Hotline, it dispatches contracted nuisance alligator trappers to resolve the state of affairs.
Between 1948 and 2025, the FWC recorded a complete of 500 unprovoked bites in Florida, of which 32 resulted in fatalities, Click on Orlando reported.
A GoFundMe web page, arrange by Clark’s aunt, Gena Smith, to assist with returning her physique to California, has to this point raised greater than $11,000.
