If you're an air-breathing sea snake , life in the tropical waters of the ocean is fraught with challenges. For instance, sea snakes regularly shed their skin like any other snake — but the process demands friction, and in the open sea, it can be hard to find a rock or reef to rub up against.

Yet the 50-plus sea snake species alive today use all kinds of amazing tricks to get by.

Sea Kraits vs. True Sea Snakes

A snake at sea isn't automatically a "sea snake." Lots of unrelated species frolic in our oceans from time to time. Reticulated pythons , for example, will swim between islands along the coasts and coral reefs of southeastern Asia — crossing distances that could wear out an Olympic gold medalist.

That doesn't, however, make them sea snakes.

When naturalists talk about "sea

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