Despite this special care, however, the snake died three days later. It's too bad. Having a yellow-bellied sea snake on display in a Hawaii aquarium would be a good way for us to learn about, and marvel at, these remarkable marine animals. Sea snakes are distant relatives of cobras that have adapted to life in the ocean. These air-breathing marine reptiles can stay submerged for about two hours and can dive to about 300 feet.
Sea snakes eat fish, catching prey with a sideways strike of the head.
These predators quickly paralyze their prey by injecting a powerful venom through needlelike fangs. The snakes swallow their immobilized meal whole. At least 52 species of sea snakes, all venomous, are found in the warm waters of the Pacific and Indian oceans. Of these, the yellow-bellied sea snake is the world's most abundant and widespread, spanning the entire tropical and subtropical Pacific Ocean. Offshore, yellow-bellied sea snakes often float in the marine debris of current lines, preying on the small fish that hide there.