New Discovery Series ‘Legend Of Croc Gold’ Promises Plenty Of Danger And Drama


On the island of Bougainville, located off the coast of Papua New Guinea, there is a vast untapped gold reserve. According to Red Carpet Crash, there is one thing that has stopped miners from prospecting in the area, and it’s not the years of political unrest the island has experienced. Aggressive saltwater crocodiles guard Bougainville’s legendary rivers of gold, and they have claimed numerous lives. Now on Legend of Croc Gold, one team of fortune seekers is willing to travel into the lethal heart of crocodile country, where they are determined to mine the uncharted territory.

After the collapse of his previously thriving Alaskan mining business, Farley Dean decides that the reward far outweighs the risk and along with his family and crew, they venture off into the wilds of Bougainville Island. TV Weekly Now shared that as the Legend of Croc Gold crew wades into the dangerous waters searching for gold, they must stay ever vigilant and mindful that months earlier, a local boy was killed and eaten by a crocodile. The danger is real on this season of Legend of Croc Gold, but so is the reward if they can find a way to make their mining operation work.

According to National Geographic, saltwater crocodiles are considered “living fossils” that have remained relatively unchanged for 100 million years. Their jaws are extremely powerful, and they are the largest of the crocodilian group which includes crocodiles, alligators, and caiman. Males usually reach about 17 feet in length and weigh around 1,000 pounds, but some measuring up to 23 feet long and weighing in at a whopping 2,200 pounds are not that unusual.

“Salties” are considered an opportunistic predators and they often lurk just under the surface at the water’s edge, waiting for their chance to attack. They will feed on almost anything they can get their massive jaws on, including water buffalo, monkeys, wild boar, and even sharks. They have the ability to explode from the water by using their powerful tails to propel them, then they grasp their unsuspecting prey and drag it back into the water where the animal drowns. This is the kind of predator the Legend of Croc Gold miners will face in their quest for the gold.

On this season of the Legend of Croc Gold, Farley brings along his daughter, Meghan, who also happens to be a life-long, passionate gold prospector. Her bio on Discovery’s Legend of Croc Gold page states that she was worked alongside her father and brother at in their family gold mining operation. She has developed an extensive knowledge of mining techniques and tactics and plays a critical role in the expedition to Bougainville Island. Her job on Legend of Croc Gold entails coordinating the dredging crews and keeping accurate records of the gold removed from each prospecting site. There are only two things that really concern her about the six-week mission.

“If I can survive the heat and the crocs, the rest should be a cake walk,” Meghan states in her bio.

Ben Daniels joins the crew of the Legend of Croc Gold, seeing this as a once in a lifetime opportunity to visit an exotic locale. Like Meghan, Ben grew up with a gold pan in his hand and has gold fever running through his veins. Ben can fix just about any kind of mining equipment, and is eager to get their state-of-the-art equipment up and running. He also plans to teach new mining techniques to the people of Bougainville by showing them how to prospect gold the “Alaskan way.”

Captain Todd Beach is a certified master diver and licensed boat captain from Merced, California. He has worked in the waters along the coast of California and the Gulf of Mexico, and with over a decade of maritime experience and extensive navigation skills, he is an important part of Farley’s plan to explore the island’s dangerous Queens River.

Ian Rose is described as a hard charger with an appetite for action and adventure. Since he was 12-years-old, he and his brother used to prospect the hills and streams that surrounded their Alaskan homestead for gold. Ian has always been a hard worker and in the past he was a farm hand, firearms instructor, logger, and construction worker. He has a myriad of skills which makes him an important asset to Farley’s crew on this season of Legend of Croc Gold.

Bryce Dean caught the gold fever as a young boy and studied motorcycle and small engine repair out of high school. Like his father and sister, Bryce’s true passion is mining for gold, and he has worked several claims over the last few years. He believes that the untouched region of Bougainville Island that they have their eyes on just might enable them to make the next big gold discovery. By drawing on his experience, he will be able to help his father determine if a large-scale gold mining operation on the island is a feasible undertaking.

Commercial diver Sekeli Smith is the youngest member of the team and will undoubtedly assist Captain Beach on Legend of Croc Gold. He is also a certified master diver with over 1,200 dives to his credit, and his skills are important in the plan to dredge gold from the bottom of the Queens River. Although he has had a wide range of diving jobs in the past such as welding underwater, construction, and scallop harvesting, he has never dredged for gold. Sekeli has always wanted to dive for gold and despite the crocodiles that reside in the river, he decided it was worth taking a chance to leave his job and venture into the unknown waters.

“I would love to strike it big, and I hope it puts money in my pocket and makes my family proud,” he says in his bio.

Rounding out Farley’s crew is one of the most important members of the team, James “Croc Jim” Greene. Although he has never been to Alaska and has never mined for gold, he was born and raised in the back country of central Florida and has been handling both alligators and crocodiles for over 30 years. He is the Legend of Croc Gold’s resident crocodile expert, and he will be responsible for protecting the team from the deadly, man eating creatures that lurk in the river.

Farley has put together an impressive crew for the daunting task that stands before him. Each one of the team members have their own unique skill sets and experiences, which should serve them well on this season of Legend of Croc Gold. Only time will tell if Farley did enough planning and brought along the right people to help him accomplish his goal of retrieving a fortune in gold from Bougainville Island.

Will you be watching this new series? Leave your comments, thoughts, and opinions below. Legend of Croc Gold premieres on Wednesday, November 23 at 10 p.m. ET on the Discovery Channel.

[Featured Image by Discovery]

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