El Nino Washes Yellow Bellied Snake Up On California Beaches

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It was the El Nino in 1972 that swept a yellow belly snake away to the California beach. After this year’s El Nino, three rare kind of yellow bellied sea serpents have been reported to wash up on the beaches of California. These venomous yellow bellied sea snakes are known as Pelamis platura.

Pelamis platura are not native to the region of California. These poisonous snakes actually belong to the coastal areas of Africa, Asia, Australia, Central America and Mexico. But due to El Nino, the formation of unusually hot weather caused these yellow bellied sea snakes float here in California.

The venom of this sea snake specie is highly toxic for the fish that it preys normally. But it is not a danger to the humans on the seashore. There have never been any reported case of attack by these serpents on human.