Scientists searching for sea snakes never expected to stumble across this find.

In a chance discovery, a team of biologists were returning from a sea snake research mission in Queensland, Australia when they found a new venomous species.

The team, led by University of Queensland’s Associate Professor Bryan Fry, uncovered a new species of bandy-bandy snake at Weipa, a town on the west coast of the Cape York Peninsula, in the far northeast of Australia.

Prof. Fry said bandy-bandies were burrowing snakes so they were surprised when they found it on a concrete block by the sea, after coming in from a night of sea snake spotting.

“We later discovered that the snake had slithered over from a pile of bauxite rubble waiting to be loaded onto a ship,” he said.

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