Sea Snake

So we are about to get in the dinghy at Foxy's Taboo to get back to the boat and what do we see? A cream colored pencil thin snake swimming on the surface. Although it was thin, it looked to be 3-4 feet in length. I had never seen one in 30 years. Very strange

Capt Augie

There are NO sea snakes, in the Caribbean.

I saw one in Maho Bay a few weeks ago so apparently the snakes don't know that.

I have seen them in muskmeon bay coming to our night lights. They must be traveling thru.

I figured if several say they saw a Sea Snake in the BVI's they must be right. However, upon googling the question asking if there are Sea Snakes there the resounding answer from every article was no.

No Sea Snakes.

Google don't know everything yet

Very likely that it was an eel.


Shaptail Eel

"Google" pulls up reference articles from numerous legitimate sources. Here's another reference from a reliable source, B-V-I.com. Maybe you've heard of it?

Give "Google" a try sometime you might find it interesting.

Many land snakes are decent swimmers.

Then that would be a Land Snake that swims. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" />

Without a doubt we saw a sea snake at Salt Pond, striped and colorful. Not much scares me underwater, but this was a shocker We called the local St.John dive shop and they were well aware of it and thanked me. She said they were not aggressive but a little poisonous.

Shhhhh...if the BVI gov't hears about this they will tax it.

A "little poisonous"??

she said probably not deadly, <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" /> I did not go close enough to find out, my wife will attest, not an eel. However I have dove and snorkeled Salt Pond several times since.

Again, NO sea snakes in the Caribbean. The dive shop is either wrong or was pulling your leg.

Remember there were no Lion fish in the Atlantic
Now they're all over the place.

And according to this site, which I believe is run by ictheologists, the sharp tail eel can mimic the stripes of a sea snake.

There was no way she was pulling my leg, we had a serious conversation. She even to be aware of the situation a Salt Pond

There also are Orcas in the Caribbean.

And sea lions.

Did you report it? Supposedly, Caribbean monk seals are considered extinct, with the last confirmed sighting in 1952. You could be a footnote in "The Annals of Marine Mammals"!

It was not a monk seal. It was a sea lion.

The day I see a Polar bear I'm out of here <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

Curious how you could tell. Is there a pic you didn't post that shows ear flaps? Could it have been an escapee from Coral World in STT? I can't find anything about sea lions naturally occurring in the Caribbean. Thanks.

Difference:
https://oceanconservancy.org/blog/2017/0...and-a-sea-lion/

This album might have a few pictures.

I had read something similar to that and it really doesn't help based on the pics posted. I was hoping for more from Walker, who may have heard them bark (or not), seen the feet, seen ear flaps (or not), etc. If you really want to demo your google skills, find me something that says they are in the Caribbean (other than captive ones). Admittedly, my google skills suck! Thanks

If I recall, he escaped from Puerto Rico. I don't remember the details.

It was obvious you couldn't tell by looking at the pictures if it was a Seal or a Sea lion.
So I did a simple google search which goes into detail what the differences are.
I'm sure if we can see a picture of it moving on the beach we will know immediately.

I just enhanced Mangums second photo on my phone and the ear is a plain hole making it a Seal instead of a hole with a flap that would make it a Sea Lion.
I enhanced it by making it as light as possible and converted it to Tonal.

Wrong.

It was a Sea Lion. It escaped from an aquatic park in the DR. It was subsequently captured (Anguilla or St. Martin) and returned.

Sounds good!

https://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/specimenviewer.aspx?SpecimenID=238414

The little fellow really gets around <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

It could be a European swallow. It is reported that two of them can carry a coconut if they work as a team. (African swallows are non-migratory)

Amazing timing that I got the attached link in an e-mail this morning.

Uncommon Carribean

We saw a very similar snake, tannish white pencil thin about a foot and a 1/2 long while anchored at white bay, guana island. It was at night and while we were using a spotlight to see the tarpon, it swam right by.