posted by Som Offor.
Trippe says the sea snake was approximately 2 meters (6.5 feet) long.
Rick Trippe
Diver Rick Trippe holds up a sea snake and a stonefish that he found fighting in Darwin Harbor.
Rick Trippe
This article, Diver breaks up mortal combat between deadly sea snake, stonefish, originally appeared on CNET.com.
Rick Trippe
If
an average person happened upon the world's most poisonous snake and
the world's most poisonous fish engaged in battle, stepping between them
would probably be the last idea to come to mind. Leaving the area and
trying to find a change of underpants would be more likely.
But
for experienced diver and fisherman Rick Trippe of Darwin, Australia,
breaking up such a deadly struggle of nature didn't even require a
second thought.
The
Australian realtor with a passion for being on the water found a sea
snake and stonefish fighting each other during a Thursday trip in Darwin
Harbor. He separated them with his own two hands and set them both
free. The photos he posted of the encounter on his Facebook page quickly went viral, netting him emails from around the globe that probably contain phrases like "Are you insane?!?"
Trippe
told CNET's Crave blog that he and a friend had just "up-anchored from
an old World War II wreck and were feeling pretty chuffed" about the
fish they caught when he first noticed the sea snake.
"We
were going to our next wreck when we saw something in the middle of the
harbor but couldn't make out what it says," Trippe said. "So with
curiosity, we motored over to find a massive sea snake. It was close to 2
meters (6.5 feet) long and thick. As we approached the sea snake, we
saw that it had a stonefish in its mouth."
Sea
snakes and stonefish are classified as the most venomous members of
their respective species. Sea snakes are actually docile -- they "don't
want to touch humans" and don't always inject venom when they bite,
Trippe says -- but he adds that their venom is "five times deadlier than
a cobra's."
Rick Trippe
Stonefish,
also known as scorpion fish, inject their venom through the row of
spines along their back. The stonefish's venom can cause intense pain
that may take up to two days to recover from and can be fatal if
injected into a person's chest or abdomen.
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