Scientists have discovered a what was believed an extinct species of sea snake. A pair of Australian short-nosed sea snake was found swimming in the coast of Western Australia.
It has been 15 years since humans had set eyes on the Australian short-nosed sea snake (Aipysurus apraefrontalis). The short-nosed snake has been officially listed as Critically Endangered back in 2010. These creatures had disappeared in their natural habitats. They have been found living at Ashmore Reef in the Timor Sea between 1998 and 2002.
The rediscovery of these sea snakes was confirmed by Grant Griffin, a Western Australia Park and Wildlife Officer. He sent photos of snakes taken in Ningaloo Reef to the ARC Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University.
"What is even more exciting is that they were courting, suggesting that they are members of a breeding population," Blanche D'Anastasi, a scientist with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University in Australia, said.
"This discovery is really exciting, we get another chance to protect these two endemic Western Australian sea snake species," D'Anastasi added in a press statement. "But in order to succeed in protecting them, we will need to monitor populations as well as undertake research into understanding their biology and the threats they face."
Researchers also discovered a group of leaf-scaled sea snakes (Aipysurus foliosquama) living 1,000 miles away from their natural habitat at Ashmore Reef. The leaf-scale snakes went from one of the most population-heavy snakes on the reef flats in the 1990s to no sightings since 2001. It is still not known what made these sea snakes disappear, but scientists point out that these might be because of habitat degradation and decline of ecosystem health.
"Clearly we need to identify the key threats to their survival in order to implement effective conservation strategies if we are going to protect these newly discovered coastal populations," Vimoksalehi Lukoschek of the Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies said in a release.
