The long-nosed enhydrina: poisonous and extremely aggressive. Guilty of 50% of sea snake bites (8 photos)

The deadliest sea snake. Bites with or without reason. One of the most dangerous creatures in the ocean... Sounds scary. Until you look at the composite sketch of the "super killer". You'll probably die laughing! Does this joke of nature really exist somewhere or is it just a joke from a drunk taxidermist?





What are you laughing at?! I am death! I am horror!

Actually, yes, this meme face is a living species of marine reptile - the beaked sea snake. A widespread species, by the way. You can meet them in the Indian and Pacific Oceans: from the Persian Gulf all the way to Northern Australia.



He ate his fill of mud and sits there contentedly.

In words, it may seem "so what, big deal, it's somewhere out there, swimming among the waves." In fact, toxic laces live not far from the shore, in river mouths and in all sorts of bays. This means that there is a high chance of meeting a snake face to face during a vacation in Thailand, for example. Or in the Maldives. Tour operators will definitely not tell you about such neighbors on the beach, so read the Book of Animals and be sure to keep your eyes peeled while diving.





When I finally took mine to the Maldives.

The long-nosed enhydrines belong to the elapid family. This means that their relatives are the most famous poisoners of wildlife: king cobras, black mambas, coral asps, kraits. But the family is not without its own character, as they say. Enhydrins grow to an average of 90 centimeters in length. It seems like a lot, but it is difficult to notice the sea creature - the snake dissolves in restless waters thanks to its gray-blue color. This is convenient when you lead an ambush lifestyle and catch small fish. And it is also useful if you are Gulchatay and are embarrassed to show your face.



This is approximately what the face of a person who has returned from vacation to work looks like.

In this way, enhydrins are somewhat similar to a nerdy chemist. Everyone laughs at him, but after school he makes potions that Mendeleev himself would envy. The reptile's toxins instantly affect the nerves and muscles, causing pain, paralysis and, in fact, death. Of course, there is an antidote, but will you have time to swim to the shore? The snake has no schedule - they can bite tourists on the heels both day and night.



You are evil! I'm leaving you!

And now a little math. In order to kick the bucket, a person needs only 1.5 mg of reptile poison. At one time, the snake releases from 7.5 to 9 mg of poison. One bite of an enhydrine can send 4-6 people on an eternal journey to their forefathers.



Finally, the photographer found a cool angle! And all he had to do was scare them with deadly poison!

Yes, there are taipans and Dubois's snakes in the sea - reptiles that are much more poisonous than enhydrines. But more than half of all fatal bites from sea snakes were caused by our meme faces. On the one hand, because reptiles are aggressive in themselves. You don't even have to do anything, the snake itself will find a reason to dig. On the other hand, the snout snakes often get caught in fishing nets. According to research, 45% of fishermen surveyed confirmed that they regularly fish out enhydrine from their catch.



Damn fishermen, they could have at least paid for the taxi ride home!..

And when the reptiles don't bite people, they start to terrorize underwater and bottom dwellers. The snakes can hold their breath for 5 hours, so they can stick their noses everywhere. Usually, the laces catch catfish, but sometimes they can diversify their diet with puffer fish.



Especially often, the enhydrina bites residents of India. However, India leads in the number of victims from snake bites around the world.

And only in January-February do the enhydrinas allow themselves to take a short time-out from the endless search for new victims. The mating season is coming! True, no one has yet dared to swim into the ocean and watch how it all happens. We know that one female gives birth to about 10 snakes. But since there is nowhere to lay eggs in the water, the mother incubates them inside herself. After a couple of months of such pregnancy, the children are born quite independent and swim away from sin. While they are small, there is nothing to do at depth: the local prey is too tough, and the competition is too toxic.