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GULF NEWS (Dubai, UAE) 03 March 07 Beachgoers urged not to meddle with sea snakes (Emmanuelle Landais)
Dubai: Sea snakes rarely wash up on shore and will probably be dead by the time anyone finds them, but residents are urged not to pick them up or throw them back into the sea.
According to a zoologist sea snakes are the most venomous snakes, more so than land snakes, but they rarely bite humans.
Dr Reza Khan, director of Dubai Zoo, said it is not very common but some sea snakes have been found washed up on the shore.
"We don't really know the reason why and in my experience of the last few years this has happened a few times.
"Sea snakes do not have the mechanism to move over land as they don't have the required belly scales land snakes use to move," said Khan.
"Sea snakes are 100 per cent marine. Only a couple of species actually come on land to lay eggs, but those species are not found here. Sea snakes on land will not bite because they cannot raise their heads to do so once they are washed up," he added.
"The moment sea snakes are on land they will be 99 per cent dead. They are free swimmers, so why come on land? It is best to leave them and not touch them.
"There's no point in throwing them back in the sea because they're probably dead," said Khan
Recently an Arabian Gulf Sea Snake - Hydrophis lapemoides, was found on an Umm Suqueim beach. Its striking black and yellow body drew a small crowd.
"A boy thought he had been bitten by something and his friends came back with a sea snake thinking it had caused the sting. It was on the rocks of the breakwater near the sea next to the Burj Al Arab," said a beach-goer at the time.
"People are not bitten usually because sea snakes have small mouths, like eels. Sea snakes are the most venomous snakes so a bite is lethal. Japan is the only country in this region with anti-venom," said Khan.
Beachgoers urged not to meddle with sea snakes

>>"People are not bitten usually because sea snakes have small mouths, like eels. Sea snakes are the most venomous snakes so a bite is lethal. Japan is the only country in this region with anti-venom," said Khan.

They were doing OK, right up to the end there. Then at least 3 major mistakes in 4 sentences.
1) Sea snakes may have small mouths, but I'm sure they would have no trouble biting a human.
2) Eels have HUGE mouths and some can really do a lot of damage.
3) Japan is hardly "in this region". (It's like 5000 miles from the UAE.)

Even the fourth sentence about sea snakes being the most venomous is questionable.

Maybe he was getting tired near the end there...
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What goes up must come down...unless it exceeds escape velocity.