Fatal shores? Sea snakes wash up on Southern California beaches

2015-11-10T18:38:00-05:00

For the first time since the early 1970s, a highly venomous sea snake has turned up on a southern California beach—the latest in a string of unusual wildlife sightings, including hammerhead sharks and red-footed boobies. Though a bite from this yellow-bellied snake can theoretically be lethal, shutting down all nerve signals to the respiratory system, “Jaws” this is not: the snake attacks only when provoked, and no one has ever documented a human fatality from Pelamis platura.

According to the Economist, the sea snakes and other unusual sea creatures popping up along the coast of Southern California are a symptom of the emergence of a mass of warm water, which may likely lead up to one of the most intense El Niño's in memory.

"This snake, which typically lives in tropical waters, has never before turned up so far north (in this hemisphere at least). While it is not clear what has brought it to Ventura County, experts say its arrival is a symptom of the record high ocean temperatures along the west coast. The phenomenon, climate scientists say, appeared in 2013 with the emergence of “the blob”, a large mass of warm water (four or five degrees Fahrenheit hotter than average) in the Pacific Ocean."

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Fatal shores? Sea snakes wash up on Southern California beaches