A yellow-bellied sea snake washed ashore in Orange County, California, marking the first time the venomous serpent has been seen in the state since 2018, according to reports and social media video. The animal is not a danger to people as long as they do not handle it, experts say.
Jackie Aguilar spoke exclusively to CBS News Los Angeles on Wednesday, Sept. 16, sharing video she provided of what appears to be a yellow-bellied sea snake. The incident happened on Sept. 11. The footage was shot in Crystal Cove, according to the news station. Cellphone camera footage broadcast by CBS Los Angeles shows the snake on a beach at night and someone trying to use what appears to be the base of a palm frond to pick it up and toss it back into the water. Aguilar said she did not know the snake was venomous, but realized while walking with her family at Crystal Cove in Orange County that it looked sluggish.
The yellow-bellied sea snake is a fully aquatic, highly venomous snake found in tropical oceanic waters around the world, except for the Atlantic Ocean. Its venom contains potent neurotoxins and myotoxins, according to the Australian Museum, which adds that bites can lead to total paralysis and death. The museum added that the species only drifts ashore if the snakes are sick or injured. Aguilar said relatives warned her that it was one of the most poisonous ones. “And then I started researching it and I found out it was, like, the yellow-bellied one,” she said.
Seeing such a slithery tourist this far north is rare but not unheard of. There were two other sightings of the species in Orange County in January and November of 2018, said Greg Pauly, a reptile expert with the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. There have been six confirmed sightings in California since 1972, he said. Friday’s reported sighting would be particularly unusual because of how early in the year it occurred. In previous cases, the snakes washed ashore when water temperatures dropped to a point that they became sick and lethargic, Pauly said. He is now trying to get in touch with the people who saw the snake to obtain more video and verify the sighting.
Other uncommon marine animals have wandered into California waters this year. Fishermen recorded a hammerhead shark off the Malibu Pier last month; and another was seen off Laguna Beach this month, the Orange County Register reported. A whale shark was spotted between Malibu and Santa Barbara Island earlier this month. And the Natural History Museum announced Wednesday that a longfinned bigeye fish, normally found only from Baja California to Peru, was caught off the Venice Fishing Pier.
The sea snake’s possible sighting is likely connected to this summer’s warm ocean water, said Hayley Crowell, a snake expert at San Diego State University. The serpents hunt for fish in open water and can easily get caught in currents. If they’re blown off course and far from home, they might not realize it if the water temperature is still within their comfort zone. “They’re kind of like floating noodles who got lost,” Crowell said.
The snakes are named for their distinctive yellow underside, which contrasts dramatically with their darker top half. The yellow-bellied sea snake is one of about 65 to 75 species of “true” sea snakes, meaning they live their entire lives in the water and give birth to live young there, Crowell said. Because yellow-bellied sea snakes are completely adapted to living in the ocean, they are helpless and virtually unable to move if they wash up on the beach. They use their potent venom to kill prey and are not considered dangerous to people because humans don’t look anything like food to them.
“You have to do a lot to get bit by one,” Crowell said. “If you’re not handling them, you’re fine.” Asked about the video footage of the snake on the Orange County beach, Crowell said it was heartening to see someone trying to help the sea snake. But, she said, it would generally be recommended to call wildlife officials for help in a similar situation. “I definitely wouldn’t recommend messing with one if you don’t know what you’re messing with,” Crowell said.
Captain Chad Steffen of Dana Wharf Sportsfishing and Whalewatching also spoke with CBS News Los Angeles about the “very venomous” sea snake, adding that they typically don’t bite and aren’t aggressive.
A little more than a month before Aguilar’s discovery, scientists predicted that yellow-bellied sea snakes could be spotted in Southern California due to this season’s Super El Niño, Surfer reported on Aug. 10. “Oceanographers are anticipating a major reshuffling of marine life as exceptionally warm Pacific waters push northward, potentially bringing tropical and subtropical species into California waters where they are rarely seen,” the outlet wrote. Douglas McCauley, director of the Benioff Ocean Initiative at UC Santa Barbara, spoke to USA Today in July, adding, “We expect to see all kinds of weird tropical things come up with this warm water.”
The snake sighting follows other recent, rare occurrences such as a hammerhead shark and bluefin tuna being observed along Southern California’s coast. “You don’t really know what’s in there,” Aguilar told CBS News Los Angeles of the vast ocean. “But now, like seeing it, I’m more scared.” PEOPLE reached out to the Newport Bay Conservancy for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
