Extremely Venomous Snake Thought To be Extinct, Found In The Ocean

A sea snake, which was so rare scientists believed it was extinct, was recently rediscovered off the coast of Western Australia. According to the Daily Mail, no one has seen this creature for more than two decades.

The snake could be found in the shallow waters at Ashmore Reef, but since the 1970s, the animals made a rare appearance. In 1998, the venomous sea snake “seemingly disappeared.”

During the discovery, scientists were on a research vessel that had “advanced robotic technologies.” While on the trip, researchers were looking at a dead sea shell but then made the shocking discovery, according to Blanche D’Anastasi, a researcher from the Australian Institute of Marine Science.

“The robot was looking at a dead shell and [the researchers] were trying to pick it up and it had a sea snake sitting next to it,” D’Anastasi said. “They asked to zoom in on it and they realized straight away it was a short-nosed sea snake.”

Highly venomous sea snake believed to be extinct for the past 23 years is spotted off Western Australia https://t.co/5zJK9Fcmpq

— Daily Mail Australia (@DailyMailAU) April 22, 2021