The waters of Darwin Harbor, in Australia, were the setting for a pitched battle between a poisonous stonefish, among the deadliest of fish in the ocean, and a sea snake, itself venomous.
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But when he put the animals back into the water, the snake launched another attack on the fish, which was killed.
A sea snake and a poisonous fish engaged in an intense battle off the Australian coast. The pair were locked in a death match when Trippe found them, while he was diving on a World War II wreck in Darwin Harbour.
“In decades of spearfishing on the harbour, I’ve probably only seen four or five sea snakes, and I’ve never seen one doing anything like this”.
“The fish had a great hold on the sea snake and both looked very sad”.
Mr Tippe – a seasoned seaman – was confident he could safely intervene.
It is believed the animals he captured on camera were the elegant sea snake and a stonefish. “Its head was biting a stone fish close to its tail area, and the fish had a huge bite into the snake”.
“The snake had the stonefish locked in its mouth”, Mr Trippe said.
The episode was the latest of a series of incredible spectacles Mr Trippe has encountered.
Although tiger sharks are considered unsafe for humans, Mr Trippe says it was “like a puppy dog” with absolutely no sign of aggression.
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Two weeks ago, he rescued a panicked racehorse which had swum into the middle of Fannie Bay.
