Sea Snakes Oahu

[Blueringocto_73]

Many years ago I was diving at Nanakuli Beach, Hawaii and I saw close-up what appeared to be a Banded Sea Snake. However there is a Banded Snake Eel that looks similar.

Is there any chance that it was this species of sea snake or was it the eel for sure? I just feel like I was watching a sea snake because the body shape was cylindrical. What say you Hawaiian divers?

Top picture is the sea snake that I thought I saw.

 

[Dan]

It certainly looks like the sea snake in Raja Ampat, Indonesia, as shown in the above picture I took a few years ago.

If it goes to the surface to breath, then it's a sea snake. Eel don't do that. Eel has gills.

 

[Blueringocto_73]

Thanks for the info. So the snake or eel that I saw moved through the reef appearing to hunt. I never saw it surface in the 2 minutes that I watched it.

It was completely ignoring me even though it got my heart rate up. I am knowledgeable about land snakes, but just don't know whether that species of sea snake could be in Hawaiian waters.

 

[Dan]

2 minutes is not long enough to watch. It can stay down there for a good 15 minutes or longer.

If it is a Napoleon snake eel, it likes to hover on the sandy bottom & bury itself in the sand with just head popping out on the sand. It won't be swimming on top of coral. It waits for a prey to swim by. You will see them when you muck dive in place like Lembeh, Indonesia. The pattern is not just black & white band, it's more like black, white, light brown band.

 

[Blueringocto_73]

Thanks again, it looked more like the Harlequin Eel if it was an eel. But it was an agile swimmer more like a snake than an eel. The color was definitely black and white bands.

It didn't appear to be localized to one part of the reef like an eel. More like it was hunting large areas. It was about 4 feet long or a little longer. Of coarse optical distortion might have made it look larger. So I'm not sure.

 

[Dan]

Then there is Zebra moray eel that I saw in Sea of Cortez & in Lembeh that has similar black & white pattern, but it's more like a black background with thin white bands like you see on African Zebra.

 

[Blueringocto_73]

Beautiful eel! I'm going to go with my experience as being the sea snake. Unless someone tells me that it would be impossible for a Banded Sea Snake to inhabit those waters.

 

[Dan]

Ya, it is difficult to make a distinction between the snake eel & sea snake, when you see one swimming by. In general, if you see one swimming by on the coral, hunting for food, I would bet it is sea snake.

If you have a chance to see one up close or even better, to take a picture of it, then you will see if there is an elongated dorsal fin along its body or not. Sea snake would be just tubular, as you mentioned earlier, like land snake, without a dorsal fin. Sea snake has only a fin at the tail end.

Above is a harlequin snake eel. You can see clearly its dorsal fin. It also hovers on sandy bottom like other snake eels.

 

[Blueringocto_73]

That clinches it. There was no dorsal fin on the animal I saw. But if that species of sea snake never makes it to Hawaiian waters according to the experts, it will remain one of those unsolved mysteries.

For now though I'm sure it was a Banded Sea Snake. Thanks

 

[Dan]

Apparently there are banded sea snakes in Hawaii. This guy saw one & took a video of it while he was spearfishing. He even tried to grab it. LOL.