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| Incredible moment a venomous sea snake and deadly stonefish locked jaws in a fight to the death (there were no winners) |
A deadly battle between one of the world’s most venomous fish and a deadly snake was caught on camera.
Australian champion spear fisherman Rick Trippe captured the incredible struggle between the sea snake and a stonefish near Darwin Harbor.
And amazingly Trippe managed to successfully separate the two animals from their deadly embrace with his hands.
"I'm silly but not mad,” he told the BBC.
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| Rick Trippe snapped the photos of the stalemate between two deadly creatures of the sea, which had a firm hold of each other in a stalemate |
“I knew this was dangerous. I knew if I grabbed it I wouldn't get the bitten.”
Trippe said he used his previous experience of handling snakes — having caught and removed many pythons from a chicken coop at his home — to his advantage
“Being an animal lover, I grabbed the snake just behind the head with serious precaution, knowing that sea snakes are highly venomous. I removed the poisonous fish from its mouth and body,” he added.
But his rescue efforts proved pointless as Trippe said the 6-foot long snake instantly swam back toward the dead stonefish as soon they were released back into the water — and devoured his dinner.
It was just the latest in a long line of remarkable encounters by Trippe, who also serves as the Darwin Diving Club president.
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| The spearfisherman found the two metre sea snake with a stonefish in its mouth in Darwin Harbour |
Just two weeks ago, he was part of a rescue team that helped a horse after it fell into the harbor, which is infamously infested by sharks and crocodiles.
Trippe says the operation required a boat, a diver, about “half-a-dozen attempts” and a lot of adrenaline.
