A yellow-bellied sea snake washed ashore in Orange County, giving beachgoers in Southern California a rare encounter with a venomous species seen in California for the first time since 2018. Greg Pauly, a reptile expert with the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, said he is trying to reach the people who saw it to get more video and verify the sighting.
Cellphone footage broadcast by CBS Los Angeles showed the snake on a beach at night in Crystal Cove. Someone tried to lift it with the base of a palm frond and toss it back into the water, a brief look that matched the kind of moment experts have been tracking since the species last turned up in the state.
Orange County sightings in 2018
Pauly said there had been two other Orange County sightings of the species in January 2018 and November 2018. He said there have been six sightings in California since 1972, which puts this one in a very small group of reports rather than an ordinary beach encounter.
The Friday sighting was especially unusual because it came early in the year. Pauly said previous cases involved snakes that washed ashore when water temperatures dropped to a point that left them sick and lethargic.
Greg Pauly and Hayley Crowell
Hayley Crowell, a snake expert at San Diego State University, said the possible sighting is likely tied to this summer's warm ocean water. She said the animals hunt for fish in open water and can easily get caught in currents.
That drifting pattern helps explain why the snake turned up far from its usual range. Crowell described sea snakes by saying, “They're kind of like floating noodles who got lost,” and added, “You have to do a lot to get bit by one,” and “If you’re not handling them, you’re fine.”
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Yellow-bellied sea snakes are one of about 65 to 75 species of true sea snakes. They live their entire lives in the water and give birth to live young there, using potent venom to kill prey. Crowell said they are not considered dangerous to people because humans do not look like food to them.
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County added a yellow-bellied sea snake to its collection last week, and the discovery was the first known report of the species in Southern California since 1983. Pauly is still seeking more footage from the people who saw the snake, and the unanswered question is what carried it to Crystal Cove this time.
