{"id":62850,"date":"2025-04-30T11:56:08","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T11:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/62850\/"},"modified":"2025-04-30T11:56:08","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T11:56:08","slug":"yellow-bellied-sea-snake-found-on-south-islands-west-coast-the-second-one-in-new-zealand-in-a-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/62850\/","title":{"rendered":"Yellow-bellied sea snake found on South Island\u2019s West Coast, the second one in New Zealand in a week"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"\">\u201cIt sort of had a curled look and I thought, \u2018I\u2019ll have a look at that\u2019. When I\u2019d bent down I thought, \u2018oh no, I better kick it to see what it is\u2019,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cWhen I bent down and kicked it, it moved.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cI freaked out all right&#8230; so I actually continued on with my walk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">She figured the tide would take the snake away.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<a class=\"ad__link\" data-test-ui=\"ad__link\" href=\"https:\/\/advertising.nzme.co.nz\/\" data-ad-env=\"both\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Advertise with NZME.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Her partner John Van Dissel discovered the snake was poisonous after a Google search.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">After realising the snake could pose a danger to the public, the couple contacted the Department of Conservation (DoC).<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The pair returned to the beach accompanied by a DoC ranger.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cThey put it in a bucket, lifted it up with a stick and then it was trying to get out again, so it was very much alive,\u201d Breeze said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cThey said the snake would be on its last legs and it wouldn\u2019t survive because it\u2019s too cold here. I think it was lying in the sun and that\u2019s what kept it alive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">A DoC spokesperson confirmed it had responded to a call from the public about the snake.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cThe snake likely came down as part of the recent cyclone, the temperature here is too cold for them to survive and the snake died,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">A yellow-bellied sea snake was also discovered on Omaha Beach near Auckland on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Both snakes likely wound up on New Zealand\u2019s beaches because of recent weather events.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The snake is found throughout the Pacific Ocean, particularly in warmer tropical waters, and is native to New Zealand.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<a class=\"ad__link\" data-test-ui=\"ad__link\" href=\"https:\/\/advertising.nzme.co.nz\/\" data-ad-env=\"both\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Advertise with NZME.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"\">They are highly venomous but are described as docile.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">About six to 10 of the snakes were seen in New Zealand each year, mostly around the northeast coast of the North Island.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The department reminded the public it was illegal to kill or possess a native sea snake and urged anyone who saw the animal to report it immediately by calling 0800 DOC HOT (0800 362 468).<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Breeze said she did not know what the department\u2019s plans were for the snake, but she hoped it could remain in her hometown at the National Kiwi Centre and Aquarium.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cIt sort of had a curled look and I thought, \u2018I\u2019ll have a look at that\u2019. When I\u2019d&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62851,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3847],"tags":[32454,21627,256,32453,9641,254,3120,70,15003,14122,17297,31108,20573,5598,16,15,6495,7474,1717,32452,9642],"class_list":{"0":"post-62850","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-coast","9":"tag-found","10":"tag-in","11":"tag-islands","12":"tag-new","13":"tag-on","14":"tag-one","15":"tag-science","16":"tag-sea","17":"tag-second","18":"tag-shaw","19":"tag-snake","20":"tag-south","21":"tag-the","22":"tag-uk","23":"tag-united-kingdom","24":"tag-week","25":"tag-west","26":"tag-wildlife","27":"tag-yellowbellied","28":"tag-zealand"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114426792052520643","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62850\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}