For the third time in recent months, a rare venomous sea snake has
washed up on a Southern California beach, hundreds of miles from its
normal waters.
The 20-inch-long yellow-bellied serpent was found
about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday at Dog Beach in Coronado by a passerby who
alerted lifeguards, Coronado city officials said in a statement. The
lifeguard put the snake in a bucket, where it died soon afterward,
officials said.
Two of the snakes have washed up on Southern California shores in recent months -- one 27 inches long in Huntington Beach in December and a 2-footer in Ventura County in October. Both died.
The species, known to scientists as Pelamis platura, was first seen in Southern California in San Clemente in 1972 during an El Niño.
Greg
Pauly, herpetological curator at the Natural History Museum of Los
Angeles County, told The Times last month that he believed the reptile
in Huntington Beach may have been prompted to navigate north of its
normal tropical habitat by the spread of unusually warm ocean
temperatures because of the strong El Niño this year.
“It
is incredible and fascinating to have two of these aquatic, highly
venomous snakes suddenly show up around here,” he said. “But this is not
an invasion, and no one has ever died from the bite of this animal.”
“Their
fangs are tiny and they can barely open their mouths wide enough to
bite a person,” he said. “So, unless you pick one up, the biggest safety
concern with going to the beach is with driving there and then driving
home.”
The sea snake has a bright yellow underside and a flat,
paddlelike tail with black spots. It is the most wide-ranging snake
species on Earth, cruising the warm tropical waters off the coasts of
Africa, Asia, Australia, Central America and Mexico.
The snake found Tuesday will be turned over to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Coronado city officials said.
Culled from YAHOO
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