Banded Sea Snake, Auckland Viaduct

[Michael Szabo]

NZ Herald reports today that a "banded sea krait" was photographed opposite the Maritime Museum at Auckland Viaduct this morning by the crew of the Peretū and reported to DOC:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/sea-snake ... 1668482510

[Paul Scofield]

Find the statement about this species protected status interesting.

This is either a change in policy or a mistake.

If you read here:

https://www.epa.govt.nz/industry-areas/ ... w-zealand/

Snakes of all species are prohibited animals

And in the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Acy 1996 Schedule 2 Prohibited new organisms are defined as

1) Any snake of any species whatever.
2 Any venomous reptile, venomous amphibian, venomous fish, or venomous invertebrate. (In this item, venomous means capable of inflicting poisonous wounds harmful to human health.)

I know of at least 2 Hydrophis snakes found alive on beaches that were euthanized by Government officials.

I welcome the placing of sea snakes on the protected list (if true).

Paul

[Studio Pajaro]

Sea snakes are considered a native species under the Wildlife Act 1953. They are not a new organism as they appear in NZ occasionally.
Cheers

[andrewcrossland]

Be careful what you wish for around dangerous snakes like kraits. I’ve narrowly escaped being bitten by one in the tropics and know of at least two people who have died from bites. There’s pretty good reason to euthanise species like kraits that come ashore - it’s a different scenario to sea snakes that stay in the water and yes, indeed, are a scarce but annual feature of northern NZ’s reptile fauna.