⌛ Sea Snake

My gf and I were snorkeling in front my rental property, in approx 9 feet of water, near an large mixture of plants and coral a 6ft or longer, black and white banded snake swam towards us with its mouth wide open. The inside of its mouth was white.

The lady landlord said these snakes are aggressive when pregnant. A spear fisherman said to ignore it, he said the snake may bite if you touch it by accident. He said once a snake was on his leg and it swam away without biting.

Ive been in the water 3 times since Ive purchased my prescription googles and all 3 times we have seen this type of snake.

Any insight regarding this matter will be appreciated.

 

Sea snakes are poisonous but are considered nonaggressive. If the snake you saw is aggressive for some reason, I wouldn't want to provoke it. I don't know if the hospitals in Duma stock antivenim for sea snakes or for that matter, for any snake bite from cobras and vipers.

 

Sea Snakes are very poisonous but are absolutely NOT aggressive when you sea them, or even touch by accident (unless you step on them or squeeze them), As they are air-breathers they might be "nervous" when you interrupt their way to the surface.
The shape of their head and position of the teeth make it also almost impossible that they even can bite you.
Sea-Snakes are quite common in the waters around the PI. If you see them under water you can approach them slowly and watch them for minutes from less than a meter, when they search for food or just resting somewhere in the corals and rocks.
Here in the Duma area you can find 3 different sea snakes, from a distance, they look very similar.

cheers

Rhoody

 

During my dive at Apo some years ago I saw 10 seasnakes at one dive.
I never had the idea that they are dangerous and you can come very close to them when you do it slowly.
So go snorkeling and see how the swim and move.

Have fun

J.DiverGreetings J.Diver

 

Wow..you guys are lucky. I've been diving for thirty years and I've likely only seen a couple dozen sea snakes...ok the red sea doesn't have any where I did a lot of diving...but have dove on trips to the Philippines since '82 and haven't seen many myself. Bugger...reptiles are my favourite animals but I hardly get to see sea snakes closely. Must be me....anyway, if there is ten divers in the water...and a loose remora comes along...guess who it attaches to. Yup, me, watashiwa, and it takes ten minutes to get rid of it...knock it off...it comes back...knock it off...LOL.....

 

Thanks for the assurance, Rhoody. I am petrified of sea snakes. It is indeed common to see them around Duma and in Siquijor.
One night we went shrimping in Siquijor and when we hauled our net into the banca, a six-foot long sea snake rolled out of the net! We scrambled to avoid the snake and in the process, tipped the banca over in the darkness of the night. We just laughed off our loss. LOL!

 

At least it wasn`t " Snakes on a Plane "

DI`ers , Hehehehehee ... what a terrible premise for a movie . Sea Snakes are very poisonous , from what I`ve been told ... there moths are too small to bite humans . Still , if bitten , the venom would kill within hours . Avoid reaching in reefs ( ala mooray eels ) , both creatures would strike out of defense ... not in a offensive manor . In Malapascua , there is a dive at Snake Island. A tiny island with a 100 + meter swim thru . I saw 200 + sea snakes and was glad when we cleared the darkness of the center of the cave . Fun though . PS I need to go diving , an locals have a regular gig . I have a small AVON inflatable ... Diba ? Kevin

 

Are there any box jellyfish around Duma's sea?

 

Normally, a sea snake will not inject its venom when it bites. The sea snakes become more aggressive during mating.

9-10 days after a full moon will be the time that you might see box jellyfish. They have been to Guam but, I never saw or was diving in the area that they were spotted. Not sure if they are here in the Philippines.

I would think that a good hospital should have anti-venom for sea snakes.

Dangerous and Venomous Ocean Organisms (Critters - Sea Creatures - Marine Animals) of Hawai`i

 

I have seen a box jellyfish with twenty foot long tentacles in Sumilon. Gave me goosebumps.
One young fisherman in Bantayan had a tentacle touch his chest accidentally. He survived but suffered great pain and trauma.