Stunned photographer captures rare sighting of ‘very venomous’ sea snake

A nature photographer had a brush with a venomous sea snake while he was lying in mud photographing mudskippers.

Nick Volpe’s shocked reaction to the black-ringed mangrove snake slithering behind him is justified, given that a bite would have been nasty.

“Whilst we were deep in mud photographing mudskippers, I noticed a shrimp goby jump in front of me, before realising it was being followed by a venomous black-ringed mangrove snake,” Nick said of the experience.

He admitted that while sea snakes are “fairly reluctant to bite”, they are “very venomous” and he would have needed to go straight to hospital if bitten.

Nick was photographing wildlife in Darwin, the capital of Australia’s Northern Territory, when he saw the snake.