European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 27, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse >1 scuba diver in Australia holds a Large Olive sea Snake just behind the head so the poisonous creature can t bite him. About 50 species of sea snakes exist a All in the Pacific. Science Andi feature dangerous diving Quot pm by . Ferrell National geographic yes said the expedition Leader the Blue banded sea snakes that we were about to go swimming with off Indonesia s Gunung api Island Are some of the world s deadliest. But they have very Small Mouths he laughed so they usually bite people Only on the skin Between their fingers or on their ear lobes. If they did get a grip on one of those tender areas he noted we could have just 10 minutes to review our lives. No antidote was available. The venom of All sea snakes is More poisonous than that of any land Snake scientists say. One drop can kill three men. Death comes slowly by asphyxiation As the skeletal Muscles Are paralysed. Well i be always believed that one should die doing what one enjoys. Travelling on an expedition ship among the islands of Eastern Indonesia qualified. I was one of four snorkelers who resolved to rub shoulders so to speak with the sea snakes in the 30-foot-deep Waters adjacent to the Island. Quot the snakes Are Here a said a staff member As we boarded the Zodiac inflatable boat. Quot i be been watching them come to the heart pounding i jumped in and began twirling taking in a 360-degree View about once every second. A Coral Garden shimmered 20 to 30 feet below in Clear water with 60-foot visibility. Sea snakes the largest 3 to 4 feet Long their Blue bands vivid against their dark Gray skin Early morning Light undulated gracefully among the red Orange and purple Coral. They poked their Heads into cracks and crevasses looking for their meals tiny fish and eels. Some oscillated slowly to the surface took a breath or two swung into reverse for a few Ripples lowered their Heads and and propelled by their Flat tails swam along shafts of sunlight toward the Coral. In any direction seven or eight swam leisurely into View. Their slow rhythms quieted my heart. I took a deep breath and plunged toward them. I watched in horror As a sea Snake approached a scuba diver dallying motionless at a Coral formation 30 feet below. His brightly flowered swim trunks which looked like Coral obviously attracted the Snake As it swam up his leg. Before i could scream an ineffectual warning the scuba diver unknowingly wrapped the Snake in the head with his Flipper. He a going to die i thought. The Snake Shook its head and undulated away. I watched another snorkelers attract the attention of a Snake which slowly approached until the diver blocked its Advance with his swim Fin. The Snake flicked the Fin with its Tongue and turned away. About 50 species of sea snakes exist All in the Pacific Ocean. They have been seen at Depths of 100 to 150 feet and can hold their breath for hours when they re inactive. The snakes at Gunung api surfaced every few minutes. Since the creatures they eat Are Lound everywhere the snakes limited distribution is a mystery says Marine biologist John Mccosker director of san Francisco s Steinhart aquarium. Not until i d Tell the water did i learn some relieving facts about sea snakes. They be bitten very Lew people it turns out. Those who have been bitten mostly Island fishermen either stepped on or grabbed a Snake accidentally. Often says or. H. Alistair Reid a research physician who has treated sea Snake bites in Malaysia victims suffer More from the effects of severe fright than from the bite itself. Although divers have reported attacks sea snakes aggressiveness varies among species. Some snakes attack Only when provoked other have launched unprovoked attacks usually during Breeding season. Some approach divers just out of curiosity. The difference is in How quickly they Advance says one expert. When they approach in fast Jerky motions its a Good idea to swim for your life he advises. Sea snakes Arentt necessarily deadlier than land snakes because they usually deliver Only a minuscule amount of their powerful Poison when they bite Mccosker says. A they sneak up on their prey subdue it with a slight dose of venom and consume it when it becomes groggy Many people who have been bitten survived because so Little venom entered their bodies. I m not disappointed that i missed the Opportunity to put any of this information to a test. Emboldened by the decidedly a aggressive response of the Snake that had been hit in the head i ventured nearer to some others and saw their tiny tongues protrude from their Mouths. That s As close As i got. My goal which must Asci t another visit is to get close enough to hear sea snap gasp for air. . Ferrell is a free Lance writer who lives in Davis Calif Page 14 a the stars and stripes Pat secrets from the Ocean substances from the watery Depths May have Healing Powers by Donald Sims i n National so graphic tottering on the Edge of a Dock in Woods Hole mass., biochemist Douglas Prasher dips a a net into Vineyard sound and scoops up an oozing mass of jellyfish. He gingerly nudges the Blob which is slightly smelly and looks like several spoonfuls of Clear jello. Quot the uniqueness of this organism is very important to me Quot Prasher said. Quot the Ocean provides completely different kinds of animals to work Back in his lab at Woods Hole oceanographic institution Prasher cuts off the outer ring of tentacles and places the jellyfish in a Large Freezer. Stored at minus 158 fahrenheit the Small doughnut shaped chunk of organic ice will wait to be defrosted ground into Mush and launched in the War against human suffering. The Ocean is yielding an increasing number of previously unknown chemical compounds manufactured by animals such As jellyfish. Scientists Hope that one Day these substances May cure cancer lung diseases including asthma and emphysema and inflammatory ailments such As arthritis and psoriasis. Some even hold out Hope that an aids immunization will emerge from the sea. Quot about half of All drugs known today Are derived from plants or animals including Quine quinidine digitalis cortisone a even aspirin which comes from tree bark a said pharmacologist Robert Jacobs of the University of California at Santa Barbara. Quot but Over the past 200 years we be not been Able to study Marine organisms systematically the Way we be studied terrestrial organisms. Now we have the technology to a the blood of Horseshoe crabs has Long been used in testing for the presence of disease in human cells. A number of drugs based on compounds found in Marine animals aready Are available in pharmacies including the anti cancer agent by Tarabino and the anti viral agent Vid Arabine. Both were derived from sponges. Acyclovir created from compounds found in Caribbean sea creatures has been used since 1982 to treat genital herpes and encephalitis. Testing of a promising anti cancer drug called i Dennin b in cancer patients at about 20 clinics is now nearly Complete. Developed from tunicates a commonly called sea squirts a i Dennin b also has proved useful against herpes Equine encephalitis and yellow fever by suppressing the body s immune system it could help counter Organ rejection after transplants. The tunicate derived compound Ecktein Ascidian whose toxicity in animals is now under study is also being considered As a cancer treatment. National geographic a Young Florida vacationer cautiously observes the mating rituals of two Horseshoe crabs. The blood of invertebrates has Long been used to test for disease in human tissue. 1 a National geographic delicate sea Nettles such As the dactyl Ometra May hold keys to curing numerous diseases. Quot we have Here two classes of compounds that look very promising As anti tumor agents Quot says Kenneth l. Rinehart a chemist at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign who has been working with tunicates since 1978. Quot what a exciting is that they re quite different from any others currently in use both in the Way they work and the chemical entities they headed for the Market is Mano Alide a compound found in a rare sponge discovered in the South Pacific by d. John Faulkner of the Scripps institution of oceanography. Mano Alide blocks release of enzymes that cause pain and inflammation and thus May be used to treat arthritis an muscular dystrophy. A group of compounds called developed from the sea whip a a Type of soft Coral a has proved successful in animal experiments and is being readied for human testing. Discovered by Robert Jacobs and by William Fenical of the University of California at san Diego the compounds Are More powerful painkillers than morphine but appear to be non toxic and non addictive. They also show Promise against various kinds of Organ inflammation including that suffered by cancer patients undergoing radiation treatment. Scientists reason that Many sea creatures especially soft bodied animals such As tunicates and sponges a contain chemical structures not found on land because of the Way they evolved defences against predators unable to move about and lacking hard shells or weapons such As claws or Teeth these animals evolved chemical compounds that repel or kill predatory fish. These same compounds Are being found to have useful pharmaceutical properties such As killing cancer cells in test tubes. The use of recombinant Dan and organic chemistry technology allows scientists to re create and refine the structures they find in Marine animals without depleting the animal populations themselves. A we be actually mapped the Structure of several thousand molecules Quot Jacobs said Quot and a very significant number of them represent new chemistry structures that have never been seen after Only about two decades of development the relatively new Field of Marine Bio organic chemistry and pharmacology has been growing quickly in recent years. Japan has launched major efforts to develop Marine resources Lor Medicine As Well As food. In the United states the National cancer Institute the National science foundation and the National sea Grant College program have been awarding study Grants. All major u s. Pharmaceutical companies have initiated projects aimed at testing promising compounds and bringing successful ones to the Market Donald Smith la a National geographic staff writer a 27, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 15
