Monday, December 17, 2007

Dec19 Ep4: Sea Snake Encounter



Wildlife encounter: Several banded seasnakes (on land), biggest is 1-in thick, 4feet long.
Adventure: Island-hopping, snorkelling, rock scrambling, and snake handling :)
Like their land counterparts - sea snakes are mostly feared or even hated by humans. Most people just consider them evil, nuisance, or simply useless. But by now, we should all know that all species play a certain role in the ecosystem. So just like cute or lovable animals like dolphins or turtles, we need to protect the sea snakes and keep that eco-system in balance. Sure their bites are deadly but it should not mean we should kill their kind.

Sea snakes are highly venomous. (Not poisonous. Poison kills when ingested, venom are chemical toxins that disrupts our organs/system when introduced to our body). In fact they’re more deadly than cobras. The good news is that, sea snake can ‘toggle on or off’ their venom flow, so generally (not always) – they inject venom only to hunt and eat, but not when biting for defense. It is formerly believed (at least in the diving community) that they can’t bite most human body parts except the ears or the ‘web-skin’ between our fingers. Some theory suggests though, that they can unlock their jaws deliberately (normally for swallowing) – but still not known if they do that when biting. Well, I’ll just keep my distance and not risk knowing it for myself :) - you get a venomous bite, and your life ticks away fast, without so much hope for a timely cure.

Saving animals doesn’t always mean cuddling and loving them, for those who doesn’t like snake too much – simply letting them live their own life in their natural habitat is already a conservation effort. After all, we’re only intruders and visitors of their habitat. And just like sharks, learning about them will lessen or eliminate deadly encounters.

Ang WILD!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love your blog entries, you really write well... hmmm very knowledgable ha. Love your rashguard too, bright colors... nice. Hehehehe. Seriously, content is quite impressive. Mabuhay!

Anonymous said...

hahaha ngayon ko lang nakita to ah... after a year? pukalang itsura ni cris diyan! paparomi, dami ko namang kuha ninyo na wala si cris, kailangan yan talaga? haha