Venomous Snakes Washing Up On Calif. Beaches; El Niño To Blame?
The snake died while being transported to the local U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s office, according to the Ventura County Star. The reason? Scientists say we can thank good ol’ El Niño.
The yellow bellied sea snake usually lives its entire life in the ocean, but unfortunately, we live in unusual times. Heal the Bay says the last time the snake, which is highly poisonous and typically lives in warm waters, was seen in California during the early 1980s during an El Niño.
A yellow-bellied sea snake, Pelamis platurus, was found Friday at the high tide line at Silverstrand Beach in Ventura County by a surfer, according to officials at the Heal the Bay organization and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
“A few”? That means, more than one, right?
The group urged anyone who spots the snake in public not to handle it and instead take photos, note its exact location, and report the sighting to iNaturalist and Herp Mapper. “Not sure what the end result was…It did get washed back into the ocean but I lost track of it soon after”.
Without a doubt, El Nino weather events disrupt the normal cycle of things all over the world, from killer typhoons in the Pacific to droughts and the migration of tropical marine species into waters further north of their regular habitats.It just depends on where you happen to live geographically, with how your region will be impacted.
But if you’re still planning on hitting the beach despite all this, there’s a good chance you’ll walk away unscathed, as long as you play it cool.