A nature photographer had a brush with a “very venomous” sea snake which appeared in the mud he was lying in while photographing mudskippers.
Nick Volpe’s hysterical reaction to the black-ringed mangrove snake slithering behind him is justified given that a bite would have been extremely nasty.
SURPRISE SEA SNAKE!!!!🤯🐍
Whilst we were deep in mud photographing mudskippers, I noticed a shrimp goby jump infront of me (initial reaction) before realising it was being folllwed by a venomous Black-ringed Mangrove Snake!!!!! 💛🖤
These snakes are actually a type of sea… pic.twitter.com/z6FTU7H6oX
— Nick Volpe (@nvolpewild) January 14, 2024
“Whilst we were deep in mud photographing mudskippers, I noticed a shrimp goby jump in front of me (initial reaction) before realizing it was being followed by a venomous black-ringed mangrove snake,” Volpe, who is from Australia, writes on social media.
“These snakes are actually a type of sea snake and feed on gobies in mangrove-lined creeks! Best surprise ever!”
In an email exchange, PetaPixel asked Volpe what would have happened if the sea snake had bitten him.
“Not likely, sea snakes are fairly reluctant to bite,” Volpe says. “They are very venomous though so it wouldn’t have been the prettiest situation if I did get bitten, would have had to go straight to hospital.”
A number of social media users were amazed at how depsite rolling around in thick mud, Volpe managed to keep his Canon R5 dry, “It’s just pure determination,” says Volpe.
According to Yahoo News Australia, 26-year-old Volpe is originally from Darwin but moved to Melbourne five years ago and was in the East Point Reserve when the sea snake incident happened.
The video was captured by his partner Lucyna Kania and has racked up hundreds of thousands of views across social media.
“It all happened pretty quickly and it was a bit of a shock, but we were so excited because it was the first one we’d ever seen of that species,” says Volpe, who studied environmental science.
“That snake is usually found in estuaries or rivers where crocodiles are found, and one you don’t get to often see. So to see one up close and fairly safely, we were pretty happy about that. It’s an amazing opportunity to see it, and the best surprise ever.”
More of Volpe’s work can be found on his website, Instagram, X, and Facebook.
Image credits: Photographs by Nick Volpe