Highly venomous sea snake that was believed to be extinct for 23 years is spotted in full view

A sea snake so rare that the species was thought to be locally extinct for more than two decades has been found off the coast of Western Australia.

Scientists were conducting research at Ashmore Reef when they came across the Short-nosed sea snake, 67 metres below the ocean surface on April 12. 

The species used to be a regular sighting in the shallows at Ashmore Reef but have been gradually declining since 1970s until it ‘seemingly disappeared in 1998’.

The sighting is the first time the sea snake has been seen at the Ashmore Reef for years 

Scientists were on board a research vessel equipped with ‘advanced robotic technologies’ and were looking at a dead sea shell when they stumbled across the snake, researcher Blanche D’Anastasi from the Australian Institute of Marine Science said.  

‘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,’ Ms D’Anastasi said. 

‘They asked to zoom in on it and they realised straight away it was a short-nosed sea snake.

Scientists were looking at a dead sea shell when they discovered the sea snake

‘They contacted me soon after and were like, ‘Is this what we think it is?’ 

AIMS’ Dr Karen Miller said the snake had not been sighted at the Ashmore Reef since 1998 and said it was a ‘second chance’ to research and protect the species.  

‘The short-nosed sea snake was thought to be lost forever from Ashmore – so it truly is a remarkable find, the whole ship of researchers was squealing in excitement,’ she said.

‘We can’t protect species we don’t know are there… we’re at depths no-one has explored before, gaining critical knowledge as we uncover Ashmore’s deep-sea secrets.’  

The Ashmore Reef is located 320km from the north west coast of Western Australia 

Ashmore Reef, where the snake was found is located about 320km off the north-west coast of Western Australia and Ms D’Anastasi says it was once filled with sea snakes.

‘They’ve been gradually declining since the ’70s, but things started really going awry in 2002,’ Ms D’Anastasi said.

‘You used to find about 50 snakes per day if you were walking the reef site.

‘By 2002 it was down to 20 snakes per day, by 2010 it was down to 10, and then in 2012 there were no snakes left in the shallows.’

The rediscovery of the snakes has raised questions about their origins said Ms D’Anastasi.

‘Are they part of a breeding population that remained undetected, or are these just straggling individuals that remain following the shallow water extinction event?’, she questioned.

The sea snakes were seen in abundance until sightings began to decline from the 1970s

‘Are these snakes a different species to the coastal ones?

‘Can we take action to protect them?’

The Short-nosed snake is a member of the Elapidae family which means it has short, hollow fixed fangs capable of injecting a predominately neurotoxic venom.

Other varieties of Elapidae snakes include the very deadly taipan and death adder.

 The snake was found in what is know as the twilight zone which refers to ocean depths ranging between 30m and 150m where some sunlight still penetrates.