Several venomous yellow-bellied sea snakes have washed ashore in Algoa Bay.
The most recent was photographed at Loch Ness, a surf spot near Noordhoek, on Gqeberha’s Wild Side.
The eye-catching but dangerous species made the news when several of them stranded along the Garden Route coastline recently, but Bayworld-based herpetologist Dr Werner Conradie said on Monday a number had already emerged in the Bay.
“Sea snakes are from the tropics and they live in the open ocean, eating small fish.
“Occasionally the yellow-bellied sea snake, which is the one we see, gets caught in currents which bring it down to our waters.
“Usually it’s only one or two a year but occasionally there is a spike like the one we are experiencing currently which is probably linked to bad weather, high seas and climate change.”
Conradie said there had been at least 10 confirmed yellow-bellied sea snake stranding cases in the southern and Eastern Cape so far in 2024.
“Including seven in and around Gqeberha, including this one near Noordhoek, as well as at Jeffreys Bay and in the Tsitsikamma.
“Because they are not used to the cold, they go into shock or die and then they are washed ashore.
“Their venom has not been studied properly but they are from the cobra family so it will be a neurotoxin and potentially lethal.
“We also don’t have an anti-venom for the species available here so it is best to avoid them if they are still alive.”
HeraldLIVE
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