Wiggle and glide: fine-scale telemetry reveals unique diving strategies in benthic-foraging sea snakes

The efficient acquisition of two critical but spatially separated resources -food and oxygen- governs the daily movements and diving patterns of air-breathing aquatic animals. Unlike pinnipeds, turtles and seabirds, fully marine ('true') sea snakes spend their entire lifecycle at sea and have evolved specialised movement behaviours. However, fine-scale data on the diving behaviour of free-ranging sea snakes remain scarce, limiting our understanding of their ecology and vulnerability to anthropogenic threats.

We used acoustic telemetry to track five individuals of two benthic-foraging sea snake species (Hydrophis stokesii, H. major) in Exmouth Gulf, Western Australia, and Baie des Citrons, New Caledonia. Each snake was continuously tracked using a directional hydrophone for up to 18 h, generating high-resolution, three-dimensional dive paths. After filtering, we analysed 106 dives from 46 h of tracking.

Sea snakes primarily conducted U- and S-shaped dives and spent on average 97.2% of their time submerged. Most U-shaped dives were characterised by limited vertical and horizontal movement. S-shaped dives were more complex, with variable time on the seafloor and occasionally interrupted gradual ascents. Dive duration was positively correlated with post-dive surface interval, while depth and duration of the gradual ascent phase were influenced by environmental depth. We also identified distinctive, repetitive undulations ('wiggles') in the depth profiles of several dives completed by all three tracked H. stokesii.

These high-resolution data provide the first insights into the fine-scale diving patterns of benthic-foraging sea snakes. Like surface-foraging species, they appear to regulate air intake based on environmental depth and may be neutrally buoyant in the gradual ascent phase of S-shaped dives. We hypothesise that this phase facilitates efficient horizontal travel, despite potential increases in predation risk. The 'wiggles' observed in H. stokesii may have a functional role in buoyancy control, energy conservation, or foraging. Our study contributes to a deeper understanding of sea snake diving strategies, with implications for their ecology, physiology, and conservation.