9/8/2006 - FijiFAQ#2 - Are sea snakes dangerous?
Potentially yes but not really. There are lots of long wiggly things that live in the sea and most of the ones that you will encounter are actually not sea snakes. The sea snake you are most likely to see in Fiji whilst goggling is the Banded/Yellow-Lipped/Colubrine Sea Krait (Laticauda colubrina). These are fairly small, being about half to one and a half meters in length and generally not much thicker than a man's thumb. They are however the sixth most venomous snake in the world (behind Australia's Taipans, King Browns and Tiger snakes), with fangs able to deliver a mixture of of powerful neurotoxins and myotoxins which affect the nervous system and skeletal muscles.
The chances of being bitten by one of these sea kraits is minimal though and it really would be a treat to see one while out goggling. They are amphibious reptiles which differ only from land-based snakes in having specially adapted paddle-like tails for swimming and diving. They must surface to breath every fifteen minutes or so and will be observed snooping and poking around the shallow reef edge in search of eels to eat. They search for using their forked tongue as a sensor and have little or no interest in you. They pose no threat unless agitated or provoked and even then would find it hard to deliver their venom as their jaws are very small and their fangs extremely delicate.
Sea kraits split their time equally between land and sea, moving between one environment and the other every ten days, returning to land in order to digest their food, get it on, lay their eggs and shed their skin, which they must do frequently as they are vulnerable to water-borne parasites.
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9/8/2006 - are these the ones I saw in Noumea? |
| Posted by Tae |
Well, when I was snorkling on the reef islands out from Noumea? They instructed us to make fists if we saw one - not to beat them up, but because they can only bite the skin between the fingers - webbing right?
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10/8/2006 - Actual attacks |
| Posted by rickydazla |
They could bite you on the earlobe too! The thing is, they would only be likely to have a go if you did punch them.
EVERYWHERE I have read or heard about sea snakes I always get quoted this thing that the only people who get bitten (or the people most likely to get bitten) are fisherman who have to remove snakes tangled in their nets. However, finding reports of fisherman actually being bitten is impossible. |
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14/8/2006 - Interesting Snake Facts |
| Posted by rickydazla |
I went to refresh my 1st Aid with the Fiji Red Cross today and learnt that:
1) These are called dadakulaci in Fijian.
2) They can open their jaws so that they are 180 degrees apart and, as such, the common myth that their heads are too small to bite you is untrue.
3) There is no (none. zero) documentary evidence of anyone in the the Fiji Islands ever having been bitten by one.
4) On Vomo Island, where I work, there is an old story that if you ASK for a pillow, when you wake up it will have turned into a dadakulaci.
So there you go
Edited by rickydazla on 14/8/2006 at 02:26 |
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21/8/2006 - Mmmmm - Snake |
| Posted by Homer |
Stuffed Diamondback
~ 1 - 3 ft. or longer Snake
~ 1 cup dried cornbread cubes
~ 1 tbsp oil
~ 1/2 cup beef stock
~ 1/2 stalk of celery, chopped
~ 1/2 onion,chopped
~ 1 tbsp Jack Daniels whiskey
~ 1 cup molasses
~ 1 cherry tomato
Slice down belly of snake from bottom of jaw to tail with a shallow cut. Gut the snake and throw away internals. Run gutted snake under warm tap water and remove extra blood.
In a mixing bowl, mix cornbread cubes, oil, beef stock, celery and onion. Allow to stand for 10-15 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.
Roll stuffing into a snake shape and insert along the inside of snake. Close up skin and sew together with cooking twine in a zig-zag pattern.
In a small mixing bowl, mix Jack Daniels and molasses. Set aside.
Place snake in a casserole dish. Make sure snake does not overlap as uneven cooking will occur.
With a cooking brush, brush snake with Jack Daniels glaze. Pour extra glaze around the snake in the casserole dish.
Place casserole dish into 275 degree oven for an hour and a half or until tender.
Remove casserole dish from oven and prop open snake's mouth. Place cherry tomato in mouth for appearance.
Serve and Enjoy!
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1/9/2006 - Snake |
| Posted by Trickymum |
| We saw a snake in Surrey today. Only an adder that slithered away into the bushes as soon as we saw it, but a real snake! |
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26/2/2007 - fiji |
| Posted by Anonymous |
| a good site to check out is fijivoices.com you can ask people questions about fiji and they will post back answers usually in a few hours. you can pretty much find all you need to know about fiji on that web site. |
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8/5/2007 - Wasn't so docile for me! |
| Posted by Globetrotter |
I was wading through the coral in fiji and a snake started chasing me through the water. I swear it was nipping at me: i had scratches on my legs. Next thing i know i feel as if its gone, but then i looked down and it had wrapped itself around my foot!! I was absolutely petrified. I tried to shake it off but it just wound tighter. I was screaming so loudly that my mum thought i had broken my leg! But i was quite a bit off shore so it wasn't very easy to get back/or her to come and get me. My brother wanted to go back and leave me! Fortunately i was wearing those ***** they give you if you want to go wading in the water so not to hurt your feet --- so i shook the shoe off and lef the snake floating on it and hobbled back, frightend to death and bawling like a baby!
I am so scared now, that i have a phobia of the sea and refuse to go back in (like jaws!) but no joke, it was absolutely terrifying when it was happening. |
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9/5/2007 - Wow |
| Posted by rickydazla |
| My condolences on having been traumatised so. Does highlight my point a little though - if the snake really wanted to kill you it could and would have done. As it stands it sounds like it may just have been getting friendly. Were you wearing black and white stripey reef walkers? |
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9/1/2008 - Snakes |
| Posted by Anonymous |
| i like rusty spoons |
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10/3/2008 - sea snakes |
| Posted by woollysnorkeller |
| We have just returned from Tonga. One thing we did see that intrigued us was a long snake like creature. At first i thought it was just a piece of rope but it wasn't. If you studied it it had a wide mouth with sort of filter like suckers. We went snorkelling off Fafa island at various different times of the day and in various weathers. It was probably more prevalent after a storm and in the evening. Anyone know what it was? |
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10/3/2008 - "Long snake like creature" |
| Posted by rickydazla |
| Sounds like a type of sea cucumber thats often called a Tiger's Tail, amongst other things. Google "Synapta maculata" and see if you can find some pictures that match what you were looking at |
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3/9/2010 - Dadakulaci |
| Posted by Anonymous |
| Bula !! I'm Fijian and I am very much aware of the Sea Krait aka dadakulaci. There is are two islands close to Tradewinds, Lami Town, Suva. One is called Mosquito island and the other snake island. There are not really much mozzys at Mosquito Is., but there are definitly a lot of snakes in Snake island. Maybe u should all check it out. |
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17/11/2011 - sMuLQDTweSHKK |
| Posted by Ethica |
| I'm impressed! You've managed the amolst impossible. |
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17/11/2011 - HwcuiznJbYqXXoo |
| Posted by paescrj |
| V73kAy <a href="http://wvambjykqdlx.com/">wvambjykqdlx</a> |
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