A
Anonymous
Guest
Hi all:
We were out hunting this morning and I came across this creature, washed up on the beach. He is Hydrophiidae Pelamis Platurus, the Yellow-Bellied Sea Snake.
<image src="http://www.findmall.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10284/seasnake1.jpg">
Not a very friendly looking animal. He is venomous and extremely deadly. There is no antivenin, and one bite means certain death. About 2 ft long (60cm), he looks almost totally black, but on closer examination, you can see the yellow scales along his sides. His body is almost flat, thin and tall in cross-section, and his tail looks like a paddle. They are fast swimmers, able to swim about 3.2 km (almost 2 miles) per hour. Fortunately for me, they are sluggish on land, and not aggressive unless threatened.
<image src="http://www.findmall.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10284/seasnake2.jpg">
He turned his head to watch me, as I took this close-up. Then a big wave came in, and he swam away in the surf.
I feel that seeing and photographing this animal in the wild is a rare opportuniy and a privilege, but he does make one stop and reconsider the wisdom of swimming, much less hunting, in these waters.
And of course in hind sight, to question the wisdom of taking a close-up photo of a very dangerous animal.
fod
We were out hunting this morning and I came across this creature, washed up on the beach. He is Hydrophiidae Pelamis Platurus, the Yellow-Bellied Sea Snake.
<image src="http://www.findmall.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10284/seasnake1.jpg">
Not a very friendly looking animal. He is venomous and extremely deadly. There is no antivenin, and one bite means certain death. About 2 ft long (60cm), he looks almost totally black, but on closer examination, you can see the yellow scales along his sides. His body is almost flat, thin and tall in cross-section, and his tail looks like a paddle. They are fast swimmers, able to swim about 3.2 km (almost 2 miles) per hour. Fortunately for me, they are sluggish on land, and not aggressive unless threatened.
<image src="http://www.findmall.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10284/seasnake2.jpg">
He turned his head to watch me, as I took this close-up. Then a big wave came in, and he swam away in the surf.
I feel that seeing and photographing this animal in the wild is a rare opportuniy and a privilege, but he does make one stop and reconsider the wisdom of swimming, much less hunting, in these waters.
And of course in hind sight, to question the wisdom of taking a close-up photo of a very dangerous animal.
fod