Sea Snakes

AnnaC

New Member
Hello, I was swimming today and saw a white snake crawling on the bottom of the ocean and wonder if it might be poisonous and dangerous. It was white with brown spots, about 1 meter long and the body was thin. I would appreciate any comments since I walk along the shore and am concerned that the snake might be dangerous to step on. Thank you.
 
Hello,

I suspect what you saw was a brown spotted eel. Check it out on google and report back. I have never heard of sea snakes here but have seen them in the South Pacific and they are not white with brown spots. kr
 
An eel indeed. No worries, they usually don't swim near beaches, they're too shy for that!
Also they're not poisonous.
 
We have seen snakes on the walk from Flemands to Colombier, in Pte. Milou and other parts of the island. They go their way and we go ours. Never had a problem.
 
Sea snake

Hello,

I suspect what you saw was a brown spotted eel. Check it out on google and report back. I have never heard of sea snakes here but have seen them in the South Pacific and they are not white with brown spots. kr
Hello! I checked on google and haven't found one like that….but it is definetely not an eel. It is more than half thiner than any eel I've seen. And it is only 8-10 feet away from shore so when you walk in the water you can step on it.
 
Sea snake

Hello,

I suspect what you saw was a brown spotted eel. Check it out on google and report back. I have never heard of sea snakes here but have seen them in the South Pacific and they are not white with brown spots. kr

An eel indeed. No worries, they usually don't swim near beaches, they're too shy for that!
Also they're not poisonous.

It isn't eel! It is very thin and only a few feet away from the shore where many people bath and walk…..not a shy snake.
 
Take a look here: http://reefguide.org/carib/spottedmoray.html

There are a lot of spotted moray eels in the waters surrounding St Barths and believe me, they are more scared of you that you from them! They are shy animals usually hiding inside or below rocks. The only time you can see them swimming in open water is when they're looking for food. And no, they don't eat humans... :D
 
I actually saw a beautiful moray eel swimming in a few inches of water in the boat ramp at the end of the harbor in Gustavia one evening. A great surprise.

But the "snake" seen in the water was almost certainly a snake eel. Google "caribbean snake eel" and lots of pics will come up. I've seen them many times snorkeling around the island including one this last February in Colombier.

Enjoy.

Tom
 
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