4:00AM Tuesday Jan 06, 2009

A poisonous sea creature with toxin potent enough to kill someone in 20 minutes has been spotted in the waters off Northland.

Cone shell – posted with permission from Alan Morrison.

Dive instructor Alan Morrison photographed the carnivorous cone shell while diving at Deep Water Cove in the Bay of Islands.

The marine snails have previously been seen in the Parengarenga and Whangaroa Harbours.

The cone shells’ potentially lethal venom can be delivered through gloves or a wetsuit, even when handled carefully.

“I was about 300m from the frigate Canterbury when I saw the 6cm-long cone shell. It was about 10m down the bank of an island and stuck to the side of a rock.”

Read the full article in The New Zealand Herald.

Filed under: Ali Perkins, Diving New Zealand, News/Current Affairs