A man who was left stranded on a Queensland island after a crocodile attacked his kayak told rescuers he had never paddled so fast in his life when the beast sank its teeth into his small vessel.
The man, who is yet to be identified, was rescued on Saturday morning, four days after he had set off from Yeppoon on a journey to Stanage Bay, which is about 200km north of the central Queensland town.
His kayak was attacked about 3km off Townshend Island in the Shoalwater Bay area, about 111km north of Rockhampton.
"It's croc country out there," an Australian Maritime Safety Authority spokeswoman told AAP.
"He said it's the fastest he's ever paddled."
The man was well provisioned, as he was expecting his trip from Yeppoon to Stanage Bay to take several days.
Bad weather kept the kayaker stuck on the island and he activated his personal locator beacon after not being able to leave due to low tides.
An RACQ helicopter out of Rockhampton rescued the man after his beacon was detected at 7am on Saturday.
There were no reports of him being injured, the AMSA spokeswoman said.
