Sea Snake of the Great Barrier Reef

February 12, 2009 by Kimberly

If you’ve never actually seen video of the sea snake, or seen them in person, then describing them leaves something to the imagination.

They are not built like normal snakes in that their tail is flattened and shaped like a rudder to help propel them through the water.

It is said that these sea reptiles are among the most venomous creatures in the world. Sea snake venom is absolutely deadly!

They are, as you can see, alive and well on the Great Barrier Reef:

However, it is also said that their mouths don’t open wide enough to really get a chance to injure humans, unless they bite your toes or fingers.

I’ve actually seen sea snakes in Shark Bay off of Western Australia, and our tour guide jumped into the water to grab it to be sure we got a chance to see it. That tour guide was a trained professional and I recommend that NO ONE try this on their own.

The main reason being they’re deadly…”But you say they can’t bite us!”…Au contraire…

A sea snake, many years ago in Shark Bay, was caught accidentally by nets or something of that sort, and it had a huge bulge in it’s belly.

When dissected to figure out what was going on, it had a whole fish in it’s belly…Proof that their mouths can open wider than what people may think! Be very careful!

Scientific Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Elapidae