The yellow-bellied sea snake is a rare sight on California beaches, but has made appearances before. Photo:Wikimedia Commons
Move over sharks, there’s a new game in town. Warm waters in Southern California led to an unexpected visitor last week: a highly venemous sea snake.
The critter was spotted by Jackie Aguilar last Friday night at Crystal Cove in Orange County. As seen in a video, Aguilar and her family were walking along the sand when they encountered the colorful reptile. Using a piece of driftwood, they attempted to help the animal back in the water, not knowing of the danger it posed. “They are all telling me it’s like one of the most poisonous ones,” she told CBS. “I started researching it and I found out it’s the yellow-bellied one.”
Though yellow-bellied sea snakes are, in fact, extremely venomous, they rarely bite people. Moreover, as University of Florida sea snake expert Harvey Lillywhite told National Geographic, their venom is more adapted to stun fish, their primary source of prey. Marine naturalist Chad Steffen told CBS, “They are very venomous, but they are also very clumsy and sluggish out of water. They are not inclined to bite. They aren’t aggressive.”
The snakes are common in Central America, but seeing them venture into colder waters is more rare. The last time one of the creatures was seen in Southern California was 2018, also near Newport Beach. However, as KTLA warned in August, waters warmed by El Niño conditions have brought several subtropical species with them. Alongside the yellow-bellied sea snakes, stingrays and hammerhead sharks could also make appearances.
“Some of these kinds of interesting oddities that are never a part of California will become part of this temporarily tropical El Niño-heated California,” Douglas McCauley told USA Today. McCauley is the director of the Benioff Ocean Initiative at UC Santa Barbara.
