WEBVTT - How Do Sea Snakes Work?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren Bogle bomb here. Every so often, yellow

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<v Speaker 1>bellied sea snakes tie themselves in knots, but they, like

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<v Speaker 1>all servants, must regularly shed their skin. But the process

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<v Speaker 1>demands friction, and in the open sea it can be

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<v Speaker 1>hard to find a rock or reef to rub up against,

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<v Speaker 1>So the animals play contortionist twisting coils around coils, they

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<v Speaker 1>peel off old skin in an acrobatic looping maneuver. The

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<v Speaker 1>exercise has a nice side effect. Barnacles, oysters and other

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<v Speaker 1>tiny hitchhikers plague these snakes. To frequent sheds help keep

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<v Speaker 1>their numbers down. If you're an armless, legless air breather,

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<v Speaker 1>life in the ocean is fraught with challenges, yet the

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<v Speaker 1>fifty plus sea snake species alive today use all kinds

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<v Speaker 1>of amazing tricks to get by. A snake at sea

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<v Speaker 1>is not automatically a sea snake. Lots of unrelated species

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<v Speaker 1>frolic in our oceans from time to time. Reticulated pythons,

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<v Speaker 1>for example, will swim between islands along the coasts of

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<v Speaker 1>southeastern Asia, crossing distances that could wear out an Olympian

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<v Speaker 1>That doesn't, however, make them sea snakes. When naturalists talk

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<v Speaker 1>about sea snakes, they're usually referring to two very specific

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<v Speaker 1>groups of reptiles that are part of the Cobra family,

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<v Speaker 1>true sea snakes genus name Hydrophenia and sea krits or

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<v Speaker 1>lat cottona. We've already mentioned one of the former species,

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<v Speaker 1>yellow bellied sea snakes. Those oddball not tires are classic

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<v Speaker 1>hydro feads. True sea snakes like these have sworn off

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<v Speaker 1>of dry land altogether. Fully marine, they give birth to

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<v Speaker 1>live young at sea. Terrestrial births just aren't an option.

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<v Speaker 1>Hydro Feeds never ex the water voluntarily because they lack

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<v Speaker 1>the wide belly scales that other snakes used to crawl

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<v Speaker 1>over solid ground. Drop one on a beach in a

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<v Speaker 1>poor creature would struggle to move under its own power.

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<v Speaker 1>Sea krates are a bit less streamlined, but they're more

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<v Speaker 1>competent on land. They mate, shed and digest some of

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<v Speaker 1>their meals outside the water. Equipped with the requisite belly scales,

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<v Speaker 1>the animals are free to hit the turf, and like

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<v Speaker 1>sea turtles, they lay eggs in beachside nests. But the

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<v Speaker 1>similarities between these groups far outweigh their differences. All sea

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<v Speaker 1>krets and true sea snakes have paddle shaped tails that

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<v Speaker 1>help them zip through the water. They're also venomous, but

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<v Speaker 1>seldom kill human beings. The animals tend to be docile

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<v Speaker 1>around people, and bites usually only happen when a snake

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<v Speaker 1>feels trapped and stressed out. One banded sea kright fatally

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<v Speaker 1>bit a man after a fishing net ensnared it. Most

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<v Speaker 1>sea snakes inject their venom through hollow fangs at the

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<v Speaker 1>front of their mouth rather than waste its ammo. A

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<v Speaker 1>frightened sea snake will often administer dry bites striking its

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<v Speaker 1>foe without releasing pressure venom, but give them a wide

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<v Speaker 1>berth just to be safe. Neurotoxins in sea snake venoms

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<v Speaker 1>attack the victim's nervous system. Paralysis, spasms, and respiratory problems

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<v Speaker 1>may occur as the chemicals do their work. Fish are

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<v Speaker 1>the main food source for the vast majority of species.

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<v Speaker 1>Sometimes it pays to let dinner come to you. The

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<v Speaker 1>yellow bellied sea snake lies motionless at the ocean's surface,

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<v Speaker 1>waiting for careless fish to take refuge under its coils

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<v Speaker 1>before grabbing them. Other sea snakes drag fish out of

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<v Speaker 1>the cracks and crevices and coral reefs. Such hiding places

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<v Speaker 1>are frequented by eels, the banded seacrite's favorite prey, while

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<v Speaker 1>more rays can be dangerous. Game chrits immobilize them with

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<v Speaker 1>venom and then swallow the creatures whole. A few species,

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<v Speaker 1>like the spine tailed sea snake, eat only fish eggs.

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<v Speaker 1>These specialists have tiny fangs, and some have exceptionally weak venom.

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<v Speaker 1>Caviar can't swim away, so there's no need to give

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<v Speaker 1>it paralysis, but let a. Cattids and hydro feeds can't

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<v Speaker 1>drink sea water, so they need to keep hydrated by

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<v Speaker 1>other means. Sea krites have been observed licking fresh water

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<v Speaker 1>droplets off of plant leaves when they come ashore and

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<v Speaker 1>after storm. They sometimes gather on islands to drink from puddles.

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<v Speaker 1>When it rains over the ocean, an interesting phenomenon occurs.

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<v Speaker 1>New fallen drops congregate at the surface to form a

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<v Speaker 1>temporary and drinkable lens of fresh water. Yellow bellied sea

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<v Speaker 1>snakes use those lenses to quench their thirst, zeroing in

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<v Speaker 1>before the rainwater gets inundated with too much salt. Both

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<v Speaker 1>seacrites and true sea snakes have valves that can seal

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<v Speaker 1>off their nostrils and keep out water during dives. Some

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<v Speaker 1>species are known to stay underwater for three and a

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<v Speaker 1>half hours on end. None of these guys possess gills, though.

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<v Speaker 1>In twenty nineteen, researchers learned that the blue banded sea snake,

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<v Speaker 1>a true species, uses intricate blood vessels on its head

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<v Speaker 1>to pull oxygen straight out of the water. Not a

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<v Speaker 1>bad superpower. Sharks, crocodiles, and some birds of prey will

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<v Speaker 1>all eat sea snakes if given the chance to confuse attackers.

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<v Speaker 1>The yellow lipped seacrite has evolved deceptive markings that make

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<v Speaker 1>the end of its tail look like a second head.

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<v Speaker 1>Pollution is another big threat, especially to snakes who swim

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<v Speaker 1>and feed near industrial sites. Long before humans started contaminating things,

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<v Speaker 1>sea snakes had spread out across the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

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<v Speaker 1>Two landlocked lakes in the South Pacific have their own

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<v Speaker 1>resident species as well, just don't bother looking for them.

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<v Speaker 1>In the Atlantic, Earth's second biggest ocean, is free of

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<v Speaker 1>all sea snakes. Geography and climate may explain why the

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<v Speaker 1>scientists think that the reptiles ancestors evolved in the Western

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<v Speaker 1>Pacific six to eight million years ago. By the time

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<v Speaker 1>modern species reached the America's the Panama land Bridge between

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<v Speaker 1>North and South America might have already closed up and

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<v Speaker 1>cold water kills sea snakes so that have been unable

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<v Speaker 1>to swim around South America's Cape Horn. Meanwhile, Africa's southeastern

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<v Speaker 1>coast gets very little rainfall. Any sea snake foolish enough

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<v Speaker 1>to hang out there would have had a difficult time

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<v Speaker 1>staying hydrated. Even survivalists do have their limitations. Today's episode

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<v Speaker 1>was written by Mark Mancini and produced by Tyler Clay.

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<v Speaker 1>For more on this lots of other curious topics, visit

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<v Speaker 1>how stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff is a production

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