Yellow Bellied Sea Snake

Description:

The yellow-bellied sea snake, as the name implies, has a distinctive bicolor pattern with a yellow underbelly and brown back, making it easily distinguishable from other sea snake species. Yellow-bellied sea snakes, like many other species of sea snake, are fully adapted to living their whole lives at sea: mating, eating and giving birth to live young. The venom of this species is highly potent, like other sea snakes. The length of this Snake was less than 1 meter.

Habitat:

The yellow-bellied sea snake is one of the most widely distributed snakes in the world. It is completely pelagic and is often observed on oceanic drift lines, using surface currents and storms to move around the ocean. Their distribution appears to be largely determined by favourable water temperatures, oceanic currents and recent formation of land bridges that have blocked farther dispersal. The yellow-bellied sea snake has an extensive distribution covering the entire tropical Indo-Pacific, as well as extending to Costa Rica, southern California, and northern Peru. It is the only sea snake to have reached the Hawaiian Islands. They have also been reported to occur in the Agulhas Current, with specimens found along the coasts of South Africa and Namibia. The sea snake has also been reported in colder waters such as the coasts of southern California, Tasmania, and New Zealand.

Notes:

Saw this snake lying motionless or very weak on the beach near the Resort we were staying. We notified the Resort Owner as we were not sure if the Snake is venomous and/or dying. They then told us it is a highly venomous snake and would try to 'rescue' it. They carefully brought it back to the resort, heat up some water and place the Snake in the heated water in a bucket. True enough, after a few minutes, the Snake was much more alert and moving more normally. After about 30 minutes, he then brought it back to the beach and released it to the sea.