But it's not entirely clear how the tragedy unfolded at Leaders Creek, 40km from Darwin, on Tuesday afternoon.
Noel Ramage (75) drowned, leaving his 72-year-old mate to fight off crocodiles for three hours after the men's tinny turned over.
The survivor threw spanners and spark plugs at menacing crocodiles and was trapped in muddy mangroves before being rescued and taken to hospital suffering shock. He's now been released and the body has been recovered.
However, based on initial reports, an expert believes it would be "extremely improbable for a crocodile to tip over a boat by itself".
Dr Adam Britton, a researcher at Charles Darwin University, told AAP he'd never heard of such a thing although the crocodile may have been attracted by the men's crab pots and they could have panicked, causing the boat to capsize.
Dr Britton also said NT authorities needed to remind people which boats are safe to take out into crocodile-infested waters.
"Perhaps one of the precautions that needs to be added to that list is to be extremely cautious if you take out a small unstable tinny," he said.
"Having said that, it is still a highly bizarre situation and extremely unlikely.
"I don't think people need to suddenly start getting terrified that they can't go out on the water in their boats, because such an incident as this is extremely unusual."
It's likely rangers will consider catching the crocodile and removing it from the waterways.
"Sometimes, of course, you don't know which animal is responsible: he doesn't have a guilty look on his face," Dr Britton said.
"The likely candidates are the ones that show the same behaviour again: they're cheeky, they're bold, they have confidence around people, and those are the ones you have to be very cautious around."
Mr Ramage was well known in his hometown of Bendigo in Victoria and on Wednesday his local Kangaroo Flat Rotary Club used its Facebook page to praise his community work.
