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The victim of a deadly alligator attack in Florida did almost everything right before she was killed when the animal ripped her apart, according to a wildlife expert.
Brittany Clark, 31, was swimming in the Econlockhatchee River at Little Big Econ State Forest on Sunday afternoon after a hike with her boyfriend when the alligator suddenly attacked her.
Conservation biologist and experienced alligator handler Joseph Wasilewski told The Post that the California native hadn’t taken unnecessary risks — but warned of the dangers of entering the water in Florida.
Clark was attacked at around 1:30 p.m. — in the middle of the day — which Wasilewski said is the safer time to get in the water.
“It’s more dangerous at dawn and dusk,” Wasilewski — who has worked with and studied alligators and crocodiles for over 50 years — told The Post.
The Florida-based biologist also stressed the importance of having someone on lookout if you do go swimming.
“I personally would only swim during the heat of the day in an area that other people are watching,” he said.
“If you do go in the water, make sure you have someone standing by watching,” he said. “Have someone on the shore that’ll watch, because if there’s an alligator, they’ll see it coming.”
Wasilewski explained that he had experience himself in supervising dives in crocodile- or alligator-infested waters.
“When I worked for Florida Power and Light, and there’s crocodiles on their property, and they’re protected, when they have divers in the water, they have to hire me or somebody like me to stand watch over the divers,” he said.
However, he added that the person on lookout doesn’t need to be an expert on the animals.
“It’d be nice if there was an expert, but there’s not a lot of crocodile and alligator experts,” Wasilewski said.
“Just have somebody with common sense as a watch out… an adult that knows right from wrong and good from bad,” he added.
Wasilewski believes that the alligator that killed Clark was likely defending its territory, as June and July mark the nesting season for the giant reptiles.
He also said he was stunned to discover the size of the alligator — which he said was bigger than any he’d ever come across in his decades of working with them.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a 13-footer in the wild, and I’ve seen tens of thousands of them,” he said.
But Wasilewski had a clear answer on how to stay safe in the water in Florida.
“You can quote me on this: stay the hell out,” he said.
Clark’s dad, Robert Clark, previously told The Post that his daughter was with her boyfriend, her roommate, and their dogs on that fateful day.
He insisted that his daughter “did know about wildlife” and the potential for an alligator to be in the water there, and blasted officials not doing more to control the beasts and warn of the dangers.
“They didn’t go there to maliciously abuse alligators and fish and wildlife,” he said.
“Nothing was done, no barriers put up, no warnings saying, ‘This is infested with alligators right now, think twice about stepping in the water,” the grieving father added.
Wasilewski agreed that park rangers and staff had the responsibility to warn the public of the dangers of nesting alligators.
“Rangers, staff, people at the park, they all know if there’s a big alligator around, and if there’s any potential danger, they all know that, and they would and should warn the people or rope an area off,” he said.
“I don’t know what warnings, if any, there were.”
Clark’s devastated friend — who says she was with her at the time — said that the pair had joked about an alligator moments before the deadly attack.
Clark’s boyfriend, Chance Allison, can be heard in the harrowing 911 call made as they desperately tried to save her.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which manages the park, did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
A FWC spokesman previously told The Post: “Serious injuries caused by alligators are rare in Florida.
“The FWC places the highest priority on public safety and administers a Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program (SNAP) to address complaints concerning specific alligators believed to pose a threat to people, 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 situation.
Between 1948 and 2025, the FWC recorded a total of 500 unprovoked bites in Florida, of which 32 resulted in fatalities, Click Orlando reported.
A GoFundMe page, set up by Clark’s aunt, Gena Smith, to help with returning her body to California, has so far raised more than $11,000.
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