Dr. Aaron Savio Lobo, head of the marine program at the Wildlife Conservation Society - India, organised a symposium titled “Advances in Global Research and Conservation of Sea Snakes” at the 10th World Congress of Herpetology, held from August 5-9. The symposium was co-organised by Dr. Vinay Udyawer of Sharks Pacific, Cook Islands, and Dr. Kate Sanders, Associate Professor at the University of Adelaide, both recognized as global authorities on sea snakes.
Aaron serves as the co-chair of the IUCN SSC Sea Snake Specialist Group, a position he shares with Dr. Vinay Udyawer.
The two-day symposium was a lively hybrid of talks by global sea snake experts (on Day 1), followed by a priority-setting workshop on Day 2 based on the phases of the IUCN SSC Species Conservation Cycle of Assess – Plan – Act- Network & Communicate.
Sea snakes are highly venomous, air-breathing marine reptiles, with about 70 known species predominantly found in the warm tropical waters of the Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific Ocean, and a few species in Oceania. Similar to other marine megafauna, such as sea turtles and marine mammals, sea snakes face significant threats from various human activities. Unchecked coastal development and pollution contribute to their declining populations, but the most pressing danger is fisheries bycatch, which poses a particularly severe threat in South and Southeast Asia.