Rare poisonous sea snake spotted on California beach

There has been two sightings of poisonous sea snakes at Southern California beaches for the first time in 30 years.

A yellow-bellied sea snake was found on Friday at Silverstrand Beach in Ventura County by a surfer, Robert Forbes.

And Anna Iker also spotted a poisonous sea snake on Thursday on Silver Strand beach in Oxnard while she was watching her kids play in the water, reports CBS Local.

It is thought El Nino has bought the snake far north of its usual habitat around Mexico and Costa Rica.

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Robert Forbes managed to capture video of the snake he spotted and uploaded it to Facebook.

He wrote: "Rescued this sea snake today on the beach here at Silverstrand in Oxnard.

"Prior to this there was only a report of them being seen as far north as Orange County.

"El Niño has definitely brought a lot of strange and unusual aquatic fish and animals up. Caution these snakes are venomous and should be avoided and not handled."

According to the LA Times, Greg Pauly, herpetology curator at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, said in a statement: "The species is entirely aquatic. Seeing a yellow-bellied sea snake wash ashore indicates that the animal is most likely ill or injured."

The yellow-belly is the most widely distributed sea snake and is capable of living and giving birth entirely in the open sea, being found in all coastal waters around the rim of the Pacific Ocean except Alaska south to southern California, and in the coastal waters of the Indian Ocean from the Persian Gulf eastwards.

The SF Gate saus the species has "some of the most poisonous venom in the world," and is descended from Asian cobras and tiger snakes from Australia.

It is the only sea snake to have reached the Hawaiian Islands. The sea snake has also been reported around the shores of New Zealand, a country that would otherwise be free of snakes were it not for the infrequent visits of yellow-bellies and banded sea kraits.