# Pacific Snake Eel Sighting, IN WASHINGTON! **URL:** \ **Category:** Nature Talk\ **Created:** [March 16, 2019, 4:09am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/pacific-snake-eel-sighting-in-washington/1029 "2019-03-16T04:09:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![phelsumas4life](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/phelsumas4life/32/774_2.png) [@phelsumas4life](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/phelsumas4life)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2019, 4:09am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/pacific-snake-eel-sighting-in-washington/1029/1 "2019-03-16T04:09:13Z")
A very exciting discovery! [https://www.chinookobserver.com/news/local/pacific-snake-eel-rescued-hundreds-of-miles-north-of-home/article\_fe5869be-4767-11e9-9a11-5fa1c06ad1c3.html](https://www.chinookobserver.com/news/local/pacific-snake-eel-rescued-hundreds-of-miles-north-of-home/article_fe5869be-4767-11e9-9a11-5fa1c06ad1c3.html) TLDR: A species of snake eel typically found in Peru with a maximum northern range limit of Northern California, has been found alive in Washington. This species has only been seen this far north twice prior, however both were already deceased. ---
**Author:** ![jdmore](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/jdmore/32/1116_2.png) [@jdmore](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/jdmore)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2019, 5:17am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/pacific-snake-eel-sighting-in-washington/1029/2 "2019-03-16T05:17:49Z")
Cool-e-o!! Thanks for posting this, and welcome to the forums! Maybe a little ominous to, if indicative of broader trends… ---
**Author:** ![mira\_l\_b](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/mira_l_b/32/44_2.png) [@mira\_l\_b](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/mira_l_b)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2019, 12:58pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/pacific-snake-eel-sighting-in-washington/1029/3 "2019-03-16T12:58:10Z")
what an amazing creature and find! agree w/ @jdmore that it’s maybe a little ominous too :( Thanks for sharing @phelsumas4life, welcome to the new forum! ---
**Author:** ![phelsumas4life](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/phelsumas4life/32/774_2.png) [@phelsumas4life](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/phelsumas4life)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2019, 5:23pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/pacific-snake-eel-sighting-in-washington/1029/4 "2019-03-16T17:23:46Z")
Yea my first thoughts were if this behavior was indicative of climate based temperature changes within the waters off our coast. I would hope not, but let’s face it the reality is that something in the environment changed and enabled our snake-eel friend to survive that far north. ---
**Author:** ![optilete](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/optilete/32/1908_2.png) [@optilete](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/optilete)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2019, 6:21pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/pacific-snake-eel-sighting-in-washington/1029/5 "2019-03-16T18:21:13Z")
If you are not allowed to see it [451: Unavailable due to legal reasons -General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)] try this [https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=nl&sl=en&tl=nl&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.chinookobserver.com%2Fnews%2Flocal%2Fpacific-snake-eel-rescued-hundreds-of-miles-north-of-home%2Farticle\_fe5869be-4767-11e9-9a11-5fa1c06ad1c3.html](https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=nl&sl=en&tl=nl&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.chinookobserver.com%2Fnews%2Flocal%2Fpacific-snake-eel-rescued-hundreds-of-miles-north-of-home%2Farticle_fe5869be-4767-11e9-9a11-5fa1c06ad1c3.html) ---
**Author:** ![mikepatterson](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/mikepatterson/32/1310_2.png) [@mikepatterson](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/mikepatterson)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2019, 11:02pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/pacific-snake-eel-sighting-in-washington/1029/6 "2019-03-16T23:02:17Z")
The guy who rescued it is my neighbor and his assistant is a member of iNat. I should pester them for a report… ---
**Author:** ![twainwright](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/twainwright/32/304_2.png) [@twainwright](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/twainwright)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2019, 11:55pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/pacific-snake-eel-sighting-in-washington/1029/7 "2019-03-16T23:55:51Z")
> [@phelsumas4life](#): > > Yea my first thoughts were if this behavior was indicative of climate based temperature changes within the waters off our coast. I would hope not, but let’s face it the reality is that something in the environment changed and enabled our snake-eel friend to survive that far north. Appearances of warm-water marine species off the US and Canadian west coast are common during El Niño years (and other warm water events), and probably reflect short-term warming of coastal waters (for example, see [this article](https://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2015/1116/El-Nino-brings-rare-fish-to-US-West-Coast)) that brings rare fish, invertebrates, and birds northward, but they don’t stay/survive for long. Long-term range-shifts are happening with climate change, but these so far are over shorter distances (for example, [this article](https://science.ubc.ca/news/climate-change-has-fish-migrating-faster-regulations-can-keep)). Of course, climate change is complex and is changing the frequency and magnitude of the short-term fluctuations, but it’s hard to attribute rare events like the Snake Eel sightings directly to global change. ---
**Author:** ![bouteloua](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/bouteloua/32/1180_2.png) [@bouteloua](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/bouteloua)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2022, 11:39pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/pacific-snake-eel-sighting-in-washington/1029/8 "2022-02-01T23:39:47Z")
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