Anti-bush protester paddles canoe to Indonesia

CANBERRA: An American man, reportedly angry about US President George W Bush and other world leaders, has set off in a canoe to paddle from northern Australia to Indonesia in protest, police said yesterday.

The man, identified only as a 38-year-old American, set off from a beach in the tropical northern city of Darwin late on Monday in a 6m outrigger canoe for Indonesia, more than 1,000km to the north.

His stunt sparked a massive search across crocodile and shark-infested waters off northern Australia. Police have also asked commercial shipping to be on the lookout.

Australian radio reported the man had landed on a beach on Bathurst Island, 80km north of Darwin, on Wednesday and asked locals if he had reached Indonesia.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3022241a12,00.html

That's all symbolic and stuff, but hey buddy....we could use you here in the US getting the vote out!

Paddling to Indonesia? I suppose I would do it if Bush were re-elected.

1. I've never heard of sharks and crocodiles living in the same
water. Do sharks often hang out in marshlands?

2. Why a "massive search"? Is it illegal to paddle a boat to Indonesia?

Australian Saltwater Crocodile

"Single individuals can be found some distance from their usual range (e.g. Japan, islands in the Indian Ocean), as they can travel long distances (over a thousand km) by sea - barnacles have been found on the scales of a few stray individuals. This sea-faring ability probably helps to explain their wide distribution.
...
As its name implies, this species has a high tolerance for salinity, being found in brackish water around coastal areas and in rivers. However, it is also present in freshwater rivers, billabongs and swamps. Movement between different habitats occurs between the dry and wet season, and as a result of social status - juveniles are raised in freshwater areas, but eventually sub-adult crocodiles are usually forced out of these areas (used for breeding by dominant, territorial adults), into more marginal and saline areas. Subordinate animals unable to establish a territory in a tidal river system are either killed or forced out into the sea where they move around the coast in search of another river system."

Probably not illegal (though does he have his passport with him?) But if he can mistake an island 80km away for Indonesia 1000km away, there's a good chance he'll kill himself in the attempt.