Castaway sea snake faces wriggly release wrangle

The yellow-bellied sea snake was nursed back to health by Kelly Tarlton's staff, including Andrew Baker (left), and Dan Godoy.

A highly-venomous sea snake washed up on an Auckland beach is ready to be returned to the wild - but experts are at a loss as to where they should release it.

"It's under hot debate, I mean would you want it released at a beach near you?" said Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World operations manager Andrew Baker.

Usually found in tropical waters, sea snakes are occasionally washed up around New Zealand but suffer in colder water. They are often sick or dead by the time they get here.

This one - of the yellow-bellied variety - was found at Muriwai Beach on the west coast last year.

Staff at Kelly Tarlton's have lavished care on the animal, including feeding it ground-up fish through a straw, and it is the first to have survived long enough to be set free.

Locations touted so far include beyond Great Barrier Island or the Poor Knights Islands Marine Reserve, north of Whangarei.

"The reserve is reasonably close for us, but the issue is that it's a marine reserve," Mr Baker said.

Department of Conservation spokeswoman Fiona Oliphant said that, under the Marine Reserves Act, it was an offence to release any living thing into a marine reserve although a permit for release could be applied for.

The DoC would require assurance the snake would have "no adverse effects" on the marine habitat.

It is not just the release site that is causing headaches.

A permit is needed to release it anywhere near the New Zealand coast, signed off by the Ministry of Fisheries, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and possibly the Department of Conservation.

Mr Baker said the red tape was likely to take so long, the snake - related to the cobra - might have missed its chance until next summer.

"We can't let it go in colder water so now it's this time of year, it may be too late."

Sea snakes

The yellow-bellied sea snake is related to the cobra.

Its bite can cause severe pain, respiratory paralysis or cardiac arrest and death - but the majority of bite victims survive.

The snakes are common and found off the coasts of Africa, Asia, Mexico, Central America, South America, Australia and Hawaii.

Around 35 sea snakes have been seen along New Zealand's shores since 1930.