Venomous yellow-bellied sea snake hits California shore

Trisha Thadani | USA TODAY

Rising ocean temperatures and warming climates brought by El Niño may be the reason an exotic and highly-venomous sea snake washed up on a California shoreline.

A surfer found a yellow-bellied sea snake Friday at the high tide line at Silverstrand Beach in Ventura County, California, according to Heal the Bay, an environmental group working to restore Santa Monica Bay.

These dangerous creatures typically spend their entire lives in the ocean, and this is the first time the animal has been spotted in the Southern California area in about 30 years, the group said, calling it a harbinger of El Niño.

After the non-profit posted information about the snake on its Facebook page, others took to the comments section of the post to report their own sightings. It is not clear if the reported sightings were of the same snake or different snakes.

The group warned people not to interact with the snake if they see one, but did encourage people to take a picture and report any sightings in California to iNaturalist and HerpMapper.

The snake found Friday died shortly after being transported to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's office in Ventura, according to the Los Angeles Times.

"The species is entirely aquatic. Seeing a yellow-bellied sea snake wash ashore indicates that the animal is most likely ill or injured," Greg Pauly, herpetology curator at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, said in a statement, according to the LA Times.

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