[Coral-List] Comparing diving destinations (SEA SNAKES)

Eugene Shinn eshinn at marine.usf.edu
Thu Mar 29 15:23:26 EDT 2012


Hi Keven Reed, I was interested in your comment that sea snakes do 
not  drink sea water so I went to the website you posted < 
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081106153629.htm>
for more conformation. Back when I worked in the Arabian Gulf There 
were few times while diving that I did not encounter sea snakes. The 
were very docile and most native fishermen seemed unaware that they 
were poisonous. On the other hand they were very much afraid of any 
land based snakes. Considering the aridity of the climate in that 
region it is difficult to image that they found fresh water (salinity 
in the gulf is around 40ppt) lenses at the surface. There were, 
however, persistent stories among the few remaining pearl divers that 
there were submarine fresh water springs where divers would take goat 
skins below to obtain freshwater. The finding that these snakes 
require fresh water lends credence to the stories told to me by some 
old pearl divers. Thanks, Gene
-- 


No Rocks, No Water, No Ecosystem (EAS)
------------------------------------ -----------------------------------
E. A. Shinn, Courtesy Professor
University of South Florida
College of Marine Science Room 221A
140 Seventh Avenue South
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
<eshinn at marine.usf.edu>
Tel 727 553-1158---------------------------------- 
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