More than 60 species of highly venomous marine snakes in the family of cobras are known as sea snakes (Elapidae).
For the first time ever, a dolphin trained by the Navy hunted and devoured eight poisonous sea snakes in a single day.
Dolphin caught eating venomous sea snake
Ranae Smith/Unsplash
GoPro cameras were attached to a pair of bottlenose dolphins that the US Navy had trained to detect explosives using their sonar sounds by researchers at the National Marine Mammal Foundation in San Diego, California, as per Insider.
For their video project, the dolphins took time off from work. They wanted to observe them doing what they do best, which is to chase fish.
However, one of the dolphins selected a different type of meal. One day, cameras caught her devouring eight yellow-bellied sea snakes.
There was no evidence of dolphins eating sea snakes before this study, which has been published on Wednesday in the journal PLOS ONE. Instead, dolphins were seen playing with and releasing sea snakes. Consuming poisonous snakes might be risky.
The authors of the study saw that the dolphin snapped as it neared the snake and then hauled it in with a little more head jerking as the snake's flailing tail vanished and the dolphin let out a lengthy screech.
The researchers initially didn't trust what they were seeing. They looked for those other fish that could have the same appearance as a sea snake on video, but they were unsuccessful.
Following her sea snake meals, the dolphin exhibited no symptoms of sickness, according to the researchers. Because she was born in captivity, scientists suspect that she had simply never learned any differently, which is why she was seeking such dangerous prey.
She managed to capture many snakes on camera, all of which were relatively small; the researchers believe they were all young snakes.
One larger snake attempted to be caught by the dolphin, but still, it escaped.
Sea snakes have adapted to living in water to varying degrees since they split off from their land-based relatives, but none have done so to the extent as the yellow-bellied sea snake that spends its whole existence at sea, as per Australian Geographic.
It can swim both backward and forwards because of its paddle-like tail and laterally flattened ribbon-like body, which is ideal for movement in the open ocean.
The yellow-bellied sea snake has the widest distribution of any reptile, on land or in the water.
From the east coast of Africa to the west coast of the Americas, it can be spotted in tropical and subtropical waters.
It occured in Australia's coastal seas north of the mainland, all the way from Sydney to Perth.
The yellow-bellied sea snake produces live offspring, up to 6 at a time, each slightly over 2 cm long, like the majority of sea snakes.
Sea snake venom and its reaction
A powerful neurotoxin with a low LD50 is present in the venom of sea snakes.
Acetylcholinesterase, hyaluronidase, leucine aminopeptidase, 5'-nucleotidase, phosphomonoesterase, phosphodiesterase, and phospholipase A are among the enzymes found in sea snake venom, as per the National Library Of Medicine.
The most frequent reaction of the body to sea snake venom are respiratory arrest owing to diaphragm paralysis or drowning as a result of skeletal muscle paralysis.
Other symptoms include dysarthria, dysphagia, muscle spasms, paralysis, and dysphagia.
