Deadly Swimming Snake Hunts Deep Sea Fish
Category
🐳
AnimalsTranscript
00:00 A toxic serpent stalks Australia's reefs.
00:03 A six-foot-long predator with a lethal bite.
00:09 The olive sea snake.
00:14 Unable to move on land,
00:20 the olive sea snake is extensively adapted to an aquatic lifestyle.
00:29 But like all snakes, it's an air-breathing reptile.
00:33 It has a giant lung that runs nearly the length of its body,
00:42 allowing it to stay submerged for hours at a time.
00:47 As it tracks small fish and invertebrates
00:52 amongst the nooks and crannies of the reef.
00:56 (MUSIC)
01:05 Specialised valves in the sea snake's nostrils
01:08 prevent water from entering its lungs when diving.
01:11 And while its vertically flattened tail provides propulsion when on the hunt,
01:17 it also serves to protect the snake from becoming the hunted.
01:23 (MUSIC)
01:26 Like eyes in the back of its head,
01:28 photoreceptors on top of its tail act as an early warning system
01:33 to detect passing predators,
01:35 giving the serpent a head start on hiding from hungry eyes.
01:41 But for the prey species of this stealthy assassin,
01:50 there are few places to hide.
01:52 (MUSIC)
02:01 Offering a false sense of security,
02:03 the confined space of this fish's refuge is easily infiltrated.
02:08 The serpent strikes with the longest fangs of all sea snakes,
02:17 injecting neurotoxic venom and fast acting peptides
02:21 that lead to almost instantaneous paralysis.
02:25 Potentially lethal to humans,
02:29 this highly toxic venom claims the fish's life within moments.
02:34 (MUSIC)
02:48 (MUSIC)