PU commented:".......an old white pointer in the Tasman Strait known as Barnacle Bill who was estimated to be around 6 tonnes."

I just love a good fish story - a 6 tonne pointer? I don't think so. Actually, the shark you are referring to was called Barnacle Bill and then renamed Barnacle Lil by Alf Dean (hero shark fisher from the 50's) after he recognised it to be a female. He estimated her to be around 20 feet or approximately 6 metres, not 6 tonne.

diesel

Crocodiles were jumping long before humans reached Australia.
Parallel Universe,
That can't be disputed because it's more than likely right. The problem from my perspective & from having seen more crocodiles in the wild & up close in one night than most people would see in a lifetime that they are being coached to jump way more than is normal for them. Once some of them spread into other areas they'll continue to leap up when a non-coached croc very likely wouldn't. I have never seen a crocodile leap up in 30 years but that doesn't mean they don't. I have as have others, seen crocodiles leap off high banks right over a dinghy & belly-fop into the creek but not leap up.
I have seen groupers that have been coached & they show up as soon as you stop the boat. Groupers in other areas don't.
I can't help thinking that conditioning wild animals does have an impact on safety for boating & bush walking. The Adelaide River outfit is doing the wrong thing in my book & so do some operators on Cape York. Just look at how shy whales were until recently & now the come right up to the boats. What's stopping a predator from doing the same once they realise there's no danger ? A predator shark which has experienced burley or chumming from shark cage dive boats will not think twice about homing in on a diver. In some States of the US chumming is actually illegal & so it should be here too.

Indi, it's the old saying, that for every action, there is a reaction, and it's the reaction that can be dangerous in many cases.

There us enough evidence to prove to me that sharks and crocs learn new ways to hunt.

I have witnessed first hand how sharks have learned in less than ten years that boats starting and stopping in blue water means an easy meal may be on offer.

I'll have to dig up that book now. 'Whale of a Tale' I think it was called. The shark fisherman had broken his own world record several times as I recall it. First to catch a two ton white pointer and then I think maybe he caught around 3 tons before the sport was banned. I think he was talking about 6 tonnes weight. It was the biggest shark he ever saw. One funny bit of trivia springs to mind. Back in those days they got rid of unwelcome sharks by throwing a quart of kero over the side. Excellent shark repellant but not considered environmentally friendly enough nowadays I'm sure.

Crocs could certainly learn to associate boats with food and remember jumping to be the way of getting at it. I took a ride on the Adelaide River Queen some years ago and watched an old man croc struggle to get half his body out of the water. He must have weighed a ton. Ruled that end of the river. The little crocs had no problem.