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A young British man died after being bitten by a sea snake while working on a fishing trawler off the north coast of Australia.
The 23-year-old was bitten as he set a net around noon on Thursday, when the ship was about 70 nautical miles south of Groote Eylandt, an island in the Gulf of Carpentaria, police said. North territory.
Deaths caused by sea snakes are rare despite their deadly venom.
Craig Garraway, St. John Ambulance Operations Manager, told the Northern Territory News that paramedics had gone to the trawler "but unfortunately, they died when they arrived.
The boat finally docked in the small town of Borroloola, where the man, who would have been a backpacker, was reportedly dead.
Police said that the British embassy had been informed of his death and that a post mortem examination would be carried out.
About 30 of the 70 known species of sea snakes – marine reptiles found in tropical waters – meet in Australia.
Sea snakes are venomous but considered non-aggressive and rarely attack unless they are provoked.
The Marine Education Society of Australasia has stated that most sea snake bites occur on trawlers, although only a small proportion of them are lethal to humans, as it is rare that one most of the venom is injected.
He stated that there were no previously recorded deaths from bites in Australian waters.
