Recently in Southern California, a venomous sea snake washed up on the beach, leaving beachgoers in fear. However, scientists who study these marine reptiles had a different reaction, that of pure bliss and excitement. The stranded dead snake (which was dead even on discovery on Dec, 12th), was Pelamis platura, a yellow-bellied sea snake that is the most common marine snake worldwide.

Nonetheless, in spite of its vast range of habitats, this reptile isn’t normally seen in the waters of the coast of Southern California. This is because it is likely to stay in the warm waters just south of the coastline, near Baja California, Mexico. Still, two of these creatures washed up on California beaches in 2015, leaving many questioning why the snake is drifting on the outskirts of its usual domain.

Greg Pauly, assistant curator of herpetology at Natural History Museum of Los Angeles said that they’ve had only five documented sightings of the Pelamis platura ever. Before 2015, they only had three recordings of the snake sighting. 1972 was the last time a yellow-bellied sea snake was sighted in California, when it washed ashore in San Clemente, he reported to Live Science.

Why are they drifting from their natural habitat?

Pauly reported that the yellow-bellied snake had only been sighted in that area during the years of El Niño, or the time when the sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, including the waters south of Southern California, are abnormally high. According to Pauly, it might be that as the sea surface temperatures hike, the yellow bellied sea snake drifts afar north, beyond its normal habitat.

Nevertheless, as the western U.S. ocean temperatures start to drop during winter period, the snakes may fall ill or have hardly enough food for their survival. Hence, they get washed up on the beaches due to poor health or when they are already dead.

Humans who are frightened of getting bit by the venomous yellow-bellied sea snake may not grieve for the washed up dead snakes ashore, however, the truth is that Pelamis platura don’t pose much of a threat to people as long as people who come across them don’t go on touching the snakes.

Although the bite of a yellow-bellied snake delivers neurotoxins, their venom is intended to take down little fish, not fairly large human beings. The size of their mouth and fangs are not designed for biting huge prey. Pauly noted that there have been no reported fatalities resulting from envenomation by a yellow-bellied snake.

El Niño is one factor that contributes to the rise in water levels in the sea. Another reason that might be affecting the temperatures of the water in order for the snakes to drift from their habitat is PDO (Pacific Decadal Oscillation. Another reason is blobs. All these factors may be encouraging the warm temperatures, which lead the yellow-bellied snakes to think that the other parts of the north coast are favorable as well.

If you happen to site an unusual sea creature washed up on your beach, take as many pictures as you wish, but please, do not touch.