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A highly venomous yellow-bellied sea snake was seen at Crystal Cove in Orange County on Sept. 11 for the first time since 2018
Experts linked the rare sighting to this season’s Super El Niño, which is pushing tropical species into California waters
The species, typically found in warmer waters, only washes ashore when sick or injured
A rare, venomous sea snake has washed up on the shore of a California beach for the first time since 2018, according to reports.
Jackie Aguilar spoke exclusively to CBS News Los Angeles on Wednesday, Sept. 16, sharing video she provided of what appears to be a yellow-bellied sea snake, a fully aquatic, highly venomous snake found in tropical oceanic waters around the world, except for the Atlantic Ocean. The incident happened on Sept. 11.
The snake’s venom is highly toxic and contains potent neurotoxins and myotoxins, according to the Australian Museum, which adds that bites can lead to total paralysis and death.
Stock image of a yellow-bellied sea snake
Credit: getty
The museum added that the species only drifts ashore if the snakes are sick or injured.
Aguilar said she didn’t know the snake was venomous, but realized while walking with her family at Crystal Cove in Orange County that it looked sluggish. The footage showed her using what appeared to be an oar to pick up the snake and toss it back into the water.
“They’re all telling me that it’s one of the most poisonous ones,” she said of what her relatives warned. “And then I started researching it and I found out it was, like, the yellow-bellied one.”
Captain Chad Steffen of Dana Wharf Sportsfishing and Whalewatching also spoke with the outlet about the “very venomous” sea snake, adding that they typically don’t bite and aren’t aggressive.
The rare sighting would mark the first time the yellow-bellied sea snake has been seen in California since 2018, and only the sixth confirmed sighting in California since 1972, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing Greg Pauly, a reptile expert with the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
A little more than a month before Aguilar’s discovery, scientists predicted that yellow-bellied sea snakes could be spotted in SoCal due to this season’s Super El Niño, Surfer reported on Aug. 10.
“Oceanographers are anticipating a major reshuffling of marine life as exceptionally warm Pacific waters push northward, potentially bringing tropical and subtropical species into California waters where they are rarely seen,” the outlet wrote.
The yellow-bellied sea snakes are typically found in warmer waters farther south.
Douglas McCauley, director of the Benioff Ocean Initiative at UC Santa Barbara, spoke to USA Today in July, adding, “We expect to see all kinds of weird tropical things come up with this warm water.”
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The snake sighting follows other recent, rare occurrences such as a hammerhead shark and bluefin tuna being observed along southern California’s coast.
“You don’t really know what’s in there,” Aguilar told CBS News Los Angeles of the vast ocean. “But now, like seeing it, I’m more scared.”
PEOPLE reached out to the Newport Bay Conservancy for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
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