A nature photographer had a brush with a “very venomous” sea snake which appeared within the mud he was mendacity in whereas photographing mudskippers.
Nick Volpe’s hysterical response to the black-ringed mangrove snake slithering behind him is justified given {that a} chunk would have been extraordinarily nasty.
SURPRISE SEA SNAKE!!!!🤯🐍
Whilst we have been deep in mud photographing mudskippers, I seen a shrimp goby leap infront of me (preliminary response) earlier than realising it was being folllwed by a venomous Black-ringed Mangrove Snake!!!!! 💛🖤
These snakes are literally a sort 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’s 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 e mail trade, PetaPixel requested Volpe what would have occurred if the ocean 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.”
Numerous social media customers have been amazed at how depsite rolling round in thick mud, Volpe managed to maintain his Canon R5 dry, “It’s just pure determination,” says Volpe.
According to Yahoo News Australia, 26-year-old Volpe is initially from Darwin however moved to Melbourne 5 years in the past and was within the East Point Reserve when the ocean snake incident occurred.
The video was captured by his accomplice Lucyna Kania and has racked up a whole lot of hundreds of views throughout 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 might be discovered on his web site, Instagram, X, and Facebook.
Image credit: Photographs by Nick Volpe
