Rare sea snake spotted at Bhandup

The snake

Wildlife enthusiasts have spotted an uncommon snake while on a nature trail around Bhandup Pumping station. Though it is difficult to identify the species, experts feel that the reptile is a sea snake, which is difficult to sight.

Founder of PAWS and Honorary Wildlife Warden (Mumbai city) Sunish Subramanian Kunju said, "The sighting of sea snakes is very rare, but they are not a protected species. When we reached the spot, we realised that it was a highly venomous sea snake."
Kunju and his volunteers noticed that the snake did not have any external injuries and hence, it was released at the Airoli flamingo sanctuary on the same day.

Researcher Shawn D'So-uza from Dakshin Foundation said, "I have seen the pictures of the sea snake that was rescued from Bhandup Pumping Station area. To me, it appears to be a Hydrophis lapemoides. It's not very common around Mumbai coast. The two common sea snakes that we find here are the beaked sea snake [also known as hooked nosed sea snake] and short sea snake." Around seven sea snakes are found along Mumbai coast.

21 species around Indian coast.

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