The Mystery Of The Sea Snakes (90/268)

The Mystery Of The Sea Snakes (90/268)

The sea snakes are probably the most venomous vertebrates in the world. Yet Dr. Glen Burns treats them so affectionately that one tends to forget the danger. It's as if his continuous speaking soothes the animal. "In 20 years of working with the animals, I have never been bitten, maybe because I began to think and feel like a sea snake." Yet if the maritime biologist were to make a mistake and be bitten, he would not reach the 100-kilometre distant mainland alive. Their venom has made the sea snakes one of evolution's most successful specimens. For 100 million years they have been gliding through the seas. Since the last great global drop in temperature, sea snakes have become the latest model of the snake family. On the one hand, they seem to be an immature prototype - they still have to rise to the water's surface to breathe, even though their skin is already able to take in oxygen from the water. On the other hand, they have developed highly specialized survival and hunting strategies. Glenn Burns researches these dangerous animals in the wild. Many species roam over thousands of kilometres to mate. Glenn Burns observes the sea snakes along the Great Barrier Reef, probably the place where the sea snakes set out on their triumphal expedition through the tropical seas. The maritime biologist has worked with 17 species of sea snakes and, by means of tracking devices, has established that one species covered over 3,000 kilometres in search of nutrition. Who knows when the first sea snakes will turn up in the Mediterranean?

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