Date: April 2, 2019
Source: University of Adelaide
Sea
snakes, best known from shallow tropical waters, have been recorded swimming at
250 metres in the deep-sea 'twilight zone', smashing the previous diving record
of 133 metres held by sea snakes.
Footage
of a sea snake swimming at 245 metres deep, and another sea snake at 239 metres
has been provided to University of Adelaide researchers by INPEX Australia, an
exploration and production company operating in the Browse Basin off the
Kimberley coast of Australia. Both snakes appeared to belong to the same
species.
Sea
snakes are found in tropical waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans and are
typically associated with shallow water habitats like coral reefs and river estuaries.
"Sea
snakes were thought to only dive between a maximum of 50 to 100 metres because
they need to regularly swim to the sea surface to breathe air, so we were very
surprised to find them so deep," says Dr Jenna Crowe-Riddell, lead author
of the study and recent PhD graduate at the University of Adelaide's School of
Biological Sciences.
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