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Coming Face To Face With A Deadly Sea Snake

Filed under: Philippines    Written by:Chris Mitchell.

While scuba diving in the Philippines recently, I spotted a beautiful but deadly black and white banded sea snake. I started taking photos and then I realised the sea snake had started taking an interest in me...

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I'm back from two glorious weeks in the Philippines and all in one piece too, which I'm all the more thankful for after this particular incident with a sea snake. I was diving at Sogod Bay in Southern Leyte, which is, incidentally, a spectacular place to go scuba diving. The whole area is totally unspoilt at the moment, with very few hotels or other tourist amenities - just a couple of dive resorts like the guys I was diving with at Sogod Bay Scuba Resort. It must have been what Thailand looked like 20 years ago.

Anyway, I was taking photos underwater with my big Nikon and Ikelite rig. I'd lent my trusty Canon IXUS camera to Pedro, my Divemaster, so he could take some pix as well if he wanted. Pedro has got the sharpest eyes of pretty much any dive guide I've met and is brilliant at finding critters on the reef. When I spotted the sea snake, I started following it along the reef at a respectful distance, snapping away and trying to capture its fast moving grace. I was staring at the snake through the viewfinder of my camera, which tends to focus your mind on nothing else but what you can see. It suddenly occured to me that the sea snake was actually getting closer to me even though I was stationary. It then occured to me that it was so close I couldn't get it in focus. I peered over the top of my camera. And the sea snake peered straight back at me:

Sea Snake Scuba Diving Philippines
Me making a new friend underwater. Photo: Pedro Batestil

It really is quite an eerie feeling to be looking into the eyes of a snake while both of you are suspended underwater. I already knew that sea snakes rarely attack people and even if they do, they have a hard job getting a purchase with their fangs to inject their deadly venom. Even so, the sea snake was currently about 12 inches from my fingers holding the camera. I suddenly realised what was going on - the snake was staring at its own reflection in the dome port of my camera. I hoped it wasn't going to start headbutting the camera. Or decide to wrap itself round the strobe handle which I was holding. Or wrap itself round my leg, for that matter. Luckily I didn't have to think about it too much longer - after a couple more seconds, the snake gently slipped away through the water, back onto the reef and then was gone. Pedro, meanwhile, had been keeping close watch and taking photos - it's his handiwork about that caught the moment when I came face to face with a deadly sea snake.

Here's a couple of the many, many photos I took of the sea snake while far enough away from it to focus the lens:

Sea Snake on the Coral Reef Philippines

Sea Snake Close Up Philippines

I'll be writing more about scuba diving in the Philippines on my scuba diving blog, Divehappy.com

Posted on April 30th, 2007.


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5 Responses to “Coming Face To Face With A Deadly Sea Snake”

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Fantastic photos, Chris. Especially the first one.
I just love those snakes, the colours are simply beautiful. And, yes, the philippines is a fantastic place to catch an eyeful of them.
Can’t wait to hear more about the diving at Leyte -
Nath

Nath
May 1st, 2007

Thanks Nath! I have to confess I did zap the photos with the “Auto Colours” button in Macromedia Fireworks, and it is quite staggering how much it enhances the photo. Taking pix underwater is really tricky and I’ve got a lot more to learn, but it’s a lot of fun too…

Chris Mitchell
May 1st, 2007

Hi Chris,
How deep were you with those two cameras in the water?

Jas
May 3rd, 2007

With the sea snake, I was only about 5 metres down. The Canon IXUS has a Canon-made housing which works to 30 metres (100 feet) and the Ikelite housing for the Nikon is good to 60 metres (180 feet). I definitely recommend both housings, although the Ikelite is expensive and bulky and needs an external strobe, while the Canon housing is pretty cheap and compact.

Chris Mitchell
May 4th, 2007

wow! you got yourself a really great set of pictures Chris.

Does it cost much for a underwater camera, a diving package and accommodations in Southern Leyte?

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March 19th, 2008

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