Deprecated: Return type of Requests_Cookie_Jar::offsetExists($key) should either be compatible with ArrayAccess::offsetExists(mixed $offset): bool, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in /home1/wildfac1/public_html/wp-includes/Requests/Cookie/Jar.php on line 63

Deprecated: Return type of Requests_Cookie_Jar::offsetGet($key) should either be compatible with ArrayAccess::offsetGet(mixed $offset): mixed, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in /home1/wildfac1/public_html/wp-includes/Requests/Cookie/Jar.php on line 73

Deprecated: Return type of Requests_Cookie_Jar::offsetSet($key, $value) should either be compatible with ArrayAccess::offsetSet(mixed $offset, mixed $value): void, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in /home1/wildfac1/public_html/wp-includes/Requests/Cookie/Jar.php on line 89

Deprecated: Return type of Requests_Cookie_Jar::offsetUnset($key) should either be compatible with ArrayAccess::offsetUnset(mixed $offset): void, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in /home1/wildfac1/public_html/wp-includes/Requests/Cookie/Jar.php on line 102

Deprecated: Return type of Requests_Cookie_Jar::getIterator() should either be compatible with IteratorAggregate::getIterator(): Traversable, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in /home1/wildfac1/public_html/wp-includes/Requests/Cookie/Jar.php on line 111

Deprecated: http_build_query(): Passing null to parameter #2 ($numeric_prefix) of type string is deprecated in /home1/wildfac1/public_html/wp-includes/Requests/Transport/cURL.php on line 345

Deprecated: Return type of Requests_Utility_CaseInsensitiveDictionary::offsetExists($key) should either be compatible with ArrayAccess::offsetExists(mixed $offset): bool, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in /home1/wildfac1/public_html/wp-includes/Requests/Utility/CaseInsensitiveDictionary.php on line 40

Deprecated: Return type of Requests_Utility_CaseInsensitiveDictionary::offsetGet($key) should either be compatible with ArrayAccess::offsetGet(mixed $offset): mixed, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in /home1/wildfac1/public_html/wp-includes/Requests/Utility/CaseInsensitiveDictionary.php on line 51

Deprecated: Return type of Requests_Utility_CaseInsensitiveDictionary::offsetSet($key, $value) should either be compatible with ArrayAccess::offsetSet(mixed $offset, mixed $value): void, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in /home1/wildfac1/public_html/wp-includes/Requests/Utility/CaseInsensitiveDictionary.php on line 68

Deprecated: Return type of Requests_Utility_CaseInsensitiveDictionary::offsetUnset($key) should either be compatible with ArrayAccess::offsetUnset(mixed $offset): void, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in /home1/wildfac1/public_html/wp-includes/Requests/Utility/CaseInsensitiveDictionary.php on line 82

Deprecated: Return type of Requests_Utility_CaseInsensitiveDictionary::getIterator() should either be compatible with IteratorAggregate::getIterator(): Traversable, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in /home1/wildfac1/public_html/wp-includes/Requests/Utility/CaseInsensitiveDictionary.php on line 91

Deprecated: http_build_query(): Passing null to parameter #2 ($numeric_prefix) of type string is deprecated in /home1/wildfac1/public_html/wp-includes/Requests/Transport/cURL.php on line 345

Deprecated: Constant FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING is deprecated in /home1/wildfac1/public_html/wp-content/plugins/wordpress-seo/src/conditionals/third-party/elementor-edit-conditional.php on line 22

Deprecated: Constant FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING is deprecated in /home1/wildfac1/public_html/wp-content/plugins/wordpress-seo/src/conditionals/third-party/elementor-edit-conditional.php on line 28
Description of the Pelagic Sea Snake
Deprecated: strtolower(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in /home1/wildfac1/public_html/wp-content/plugins/wordpress-seo/src/generators/schema-generator.php on line 186
Original Wild Facts, Reptiles

Wild Fact #909 – Life at Sea – Pelagic Sea Snake

We will continue with the Galapagos Island theme today. This time we are going to head to the waters surrounding the famous islands. The pelagic sea snake (also referred to as the Yellow-Bellied Sea Snake) is an interesting animal that spends almost all of its time at sea.  In fact, this particular snake becomes helpless when washed up on land.

The pelagic sea snake is a venomous snake that can get up to about 1 meter (3 feet) in length.  So how do these slippery reptiles live? Well, during the day they will be out hunting and when night falls they head to the ocean floor and sleep.  Occasionally, they will need to come to the surface to grab a breath of fresh air. Impressively, the sea snake can stay underwater for almost three and a half hours.  How can they breathe underwater for so long? That is a very good question! Thank you for asking.  The pelagic sea snake utilizes something called cutaneous breathing.  Basically, they are able to breathe through their skin by removing the oxygen from the water and releasing carbon dioxide (maybe they are the cause of climate change!).  Another interesting feature of the sea snake that allows them to live under water is their salt gland.  This special gland under their tongue allows them to filter the salt out of the water.  Obviously, this is a very important characteristic for surviving in a marine environment.

For the most part, you don’t need to worry about these venomous snakes as they don’t tend to be aggressive; however, they have been known to aggregate together by the thousands.  Something tells me that most of you would not try swimming through thousands of yellow-bellied sea snakes or any kind of snake for that matter.  I for one don’t blame you!

I hope you enjoyed the second installment of the Wild Facts – Animals of the Galapagos.  Have a great day!

2 Comments

  1. Oh my gosh! I haven’t been here in such a long time! I’ve missed many posts that you have done Nathan. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas this year and did you know that you did the flamingo post twice? Just thought I’d let you know!

    1. Thanks Anml_lvr! I had no idea that the Flamingo fact was posted twice. I have been having some major issues with WordPress lately. The scheduling feature no longer works, comments were messed up, etc.

      I did have a wonderful holiday! I hope you had a great Christmas as well. I guess you are still on Christmas vacation! Lucky You!!!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.