Venomous sea snake discovery surprises beachgoers

Around six to 10 yellow-bellied sea snakes are sighted in New Zealand every year. This one washed up in Northland in May last year; the snake in the West Coast TikTok video is believed to be the same species. Photo / Samantha Cooper

A group of people were startled when they found a venomous sea snake on the beach, posting a video of the discovery to TikTok.

In the 12-second clip, posted on December 24, we see first a dusty grey-skinned creature lying motionless across the sand, its long body half in sun, half in shade. It’s not clear if this creature is dead or alive, friend or foe.

“What have we found, bro?” Don’t know if it’s an eel or a snake,” one man is heard saying as he slowly lifts the creature’s head with a stick.

The camera zooms in on the tail — it’s distinctively different from the rest of the body: as if dipped in yellow paint, checkered in cheetah-like black spots.

“Well, I’ve never seen an eel with a f****** tail like that — that’s a snake,” a comrade bellows.

Then it moves.

The creature writhes, contorting its mighty body with swift swishes across the sand. Several excited — and perhaps slightly unsettled — voices are heard all at once.

“WOOAAAH”

“Look at him g— ” and on that suspenseful note, the clip abruptly ends.

Several TikTok users were puzzled by the creature’s similarity in appearance to that of an eel, or something in between a snake and eel — a “sneel”.

“WHEN THE HECK DID WE START HAVING SNAKES,” asked one TikTok user.

Ages ago, apparently, many were quick to point out.

The appearance of the creature in the video is much like the yellow-bellied sea snake, an occasional visitor to New Zealand waters.

According to the Department of Conservation’s (DoC) website, this sea snake is a protected species in New Zealand, meaning that it’s illegal to kill or harass a sea snake or keep one without a permit. Though it’s true that they’re venomous, they’re also docile and New Zealand has no official record of bitings, DoC states.

They warn if you do find one of these, you shouldn’t try to touch or handle the animal but give it plenty of space and let other people in the area know it’s there. You can also report it by calling 0800 DOC HOT.

The big question — which New Zealand beach did this ordeal take place in? Well, it’s not clear, but the user included the hashtag #westcoast in his caption, and other commenters suggested Tangimoana Beach in Manawatū — the same beach where another yellow-bellied sea snake was found earlier this year by a man, who later received a criminal conviction for going against DoC’s advice to return the snake to sea.

This comes after a string of sightings of sea snakes around New Zealand — a sea krait was spotted on an Auckland beach just two weeks ago, and another in Auckland’s Viaduct Harbour last month.