SEA SNAKES 
While drawing in their nets Malayan fishermen are occasionally bitten 
and killed by sea snakes, caught among the fish. Related to the cobras and 
kraits, these marine serpents are confined in range to the Indian and western 
Pacific oceans. Only one species, the yellow-bellied sea snake, is found in 
New World Pacific waters. 
These reptiles vary from four to twelve feet in length; their body is 
heavy, their head and neck strikingly slender by comparison. The diameter 
of the body may be four to six times that of the head. The flattened tail 
serves as an oar to propel them through the water. Fishes and eels on which 
they feed are paralyzed by strong venom. Malcolm Smith who has studied 
the clan observes that though sea snakes crowd around oriental harbors, 
they are docile by nature and will not attack swimmers or small craft; it is 
only when cornered and confused, as in the meshes of a fish net, that they 
are dangerous. 
Sea snakes are thoroughly adapted to marine life and may be seen as 
far as a thousand miles from shore, though as a rule they prefer regions 
close to the land. Their bodies are often covered with green algae. As a 
rule these reptiles come to the surface for air at frequent intervals, but 
when necessary, they can remain submerged for a long while, drawing air 
from the water which they “swallow” and eject in a regular flow. 
Some species have brilliant rings and may easily be seen from passing 
boats. It is these creatures, no doubt, that formed the basis for many of the 
tall stories told by medieval mariners about sea monsters that bored holes 
in the sides of ships or strangled seamen who had fallen overboard into 
their sinewy folds. Most sea snakes are exclusively marine, though they 
survive a long time when removed from the water. One genus, however, is 
known to prowl about tropical marshes and can slide gracefully in and 
out of the water. Unlike other sea snakes these have broad abdominal plates 
adapted to locomotion on land. 
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