Wildlife rescuers and biologists are worried about a new trend, as for the second time in two months, an extremely rare and venomous sea serpent apparently washed up ashore on a California beach.
The snake is not indigenous to the area, where the snake usually hunts hundreds of miles from the beach.This male yellow bellied sea snake measured 27 inches where its was discovered already dead last week during a coastal cleanup campaign by the Surfrider Foundation in Huntington Beach.
Prior to this, a two foot long yellow bellied sea snake was spotted last October where it slithered into the Silver Strand State Beach in Ventura County. The snake died shortly after it was taken to the local U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service office.
This venomous snake species is also known as Pelamis platura where it was first spotted in San Clemente in Southern California in 1972 during an El Nino season.
According to herpetological curator Greg Pauly, from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, he believes that the sea serpent found in Huntington Beach was forced to hunt towards the northern region of its tropical habitat due to an unusual occurrence of warming ocean temperatures that was caused by a powerful El Nino this year.
Pauly adds that this sudden discovery of these aquatic, highly venomous snakes in this region is both incredible and fascinating however, this is not considered as an invasion since nobody ever died from the bite of this snake.
He also says that their fangs are so tiny where they cannot even open their mouths wide enough to bite someone. The biggest safety concern here will be going to the beach and picking one up, then driving home with it.
The snakes also appear to have a flat, paddlelike tails with black spot patterns and a bright yellow underside which is why they are called yellow bellied sea snakes. These snakes also travel far and wide where they cruise along warmer tropical coastal waters of Baja, California, Mexico, Central America, Africa, Asia and Australia.