Sea snake killed 4 teens in 1962 - any clue on what species?

Jrvis1999 · 01-09-22, 02:00 PM

I vividly remember watching a documentary that featured a historical sea snake attack, just off the coast of Pensacola, which is where I used to live.

In the early sixties in Pensacola, five boys, aged between 14 and 17 set out on a raft to explore the shipwreck of the USS Massachusetts, located about a mile out to sea. On the way there, the five boys spotted a brownish green sea snake and they panicked. They attempted to swim to the USS Massachusetts, but the sea snake began to chase them, McClure said.

The boy said that from behind he heard his friends screaming that the snake had bit them, followed by silence. He said it took hours for him to swim to shore as the water was rough, and this sea snake was still chasing them down. One of his friends was swimming in front of him when he saw the snake lunge at him and bite him, and then he saw his friend go under.

That was the boy's testimony anyhow. Are venomous sea snakes normally that aggressive? He (the McClure boy) said that it was a large sea snake about twelve feet long. He said it was a brownish green color, had green eyes with 'oval pupils' and had teeth. He said that the head 'resembled that of a sea turtle except more elongated and with teeth'.

McClure himself died a few years ago, but he was active on internet forums, where he was requesting to members of those forums to identify the species of sea snake that killed his friends when he was a teenager.

ClockwerkBonnet · 01-17-22, 03:13 PM

I'm not that big of an expert on sea snakes, so I can't really conclude if it was being that aggressive. It is a myth that most snakes chase people on purpose, though; it could be that the snake was more afraid than angry.

That being said, sea snake venom IS highly potent. The victims probably flailed about a lot while trying to swim away, making the snake all the more nervous.

Roman · 02-07-22, 09:23 AM

This is very doubtful. There are no sea snakes in the Atlantic ocean, they are distributed in the tropical Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, most of them close to coastal waters in South east Asia and Australia.

One species, the yellow-bellied sea snake (Hydrophis platurus) can and will cross open water (it is pelagic) and can be found as far west as the eastern coast of Africa and as far east as the western coast of North and South America, from California south to northern Peru.

“The yellow-bellied sea snake is the only sea snake to have been found in the Atlantic Ocean, although only in limited circumstances. The yellow-bellied sea snake's occurrence into the Atlantic is not considered a part of its native range, but rather a dispersal from its native Pacific range” (Harvey B Lillywhite, Coleman M Sheehy, Harold Heatwole, François Brischoux, David W Steadman; "Why Are There No Sea Snakes in the Atlantic?", BioScience, Volume 68, Issue 1, 1 January 2018, Pages 15–24)

2The yellow-bellied sea snake has also been found in the Colombian Caribbean four separate times, making it the only sea snake to be found in the Caribbean Sea. However these occurrences are believed to be the result of human activity, be it ship discharge, intentional release or via the Panama Canal, as it is not considered a part of their native range. This is due to the land bridge between North and South America (Isthmus of Panama), which formed from about 10 million years ago to 3 million years ago[36] (i.e., continental drift), acting as a dispersal barrier and preventing entry into the Caribbean Sea from the Pacific Ocean. The man-made Panama Canal has not made a crossing of the isthmus possible presumably because it is fresh water.” (Hernández-Camacho, J.I. & Álvarez-León, Ricardo & Renjifo-Rey, J.M.. (2006). Pelagic sea snake Pelamis platurus (Linnaeus, 1766) (Reptilia: Serpentes: Hydrophiidae) is found on the Caribbean Coast of Colombia. Mem. Fund. La. Salle Cien. Nat.. 164. 143-152.)

Both quotes are from Wikipedia --> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow-bellied_sea_snake

So it would be an astronomical chance for a sea snake to get through the Panama canal, swimming all the way north to Florida to kill the kids. Especially as the description doesn’t fit the yellow-bellied sea snake at all. Whatever happened, I don’t think it was a sea snake.

ClockwerkBonnet · 02-08-22, 11:48 AM

I was looking up eels on Wikipedia today because of the description McClure gave on the creature's head. Eel heads look a lot like what he described. I don't know if their eyes would though, and when I looked up the electric eel I didn't find much luck finding oval pupils there either.

ReptiWorldWide · 02-15-22, 03:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClockwerkBonnet

I was looking up eels on Wikipedia today because of the description McClure gave on the creature's head. Eel heads look a lot like what he described. I don't know if their eyes would though, and when I looked up the electric eel I didn't find much luck finding oval pupils there either.

Electric eels are freshwater though, so it couldn't have been one of those. I agree with you though that it is doubtful that it could have been a sea snake, due to range, and the behavior sounds... exaggerated...
However, I know very little about eel behavior so IDK if could have been or not.