Surfing Snake Invasion Feared with New Canal

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Sea snakes could slither into bull sharks' turf in Lake Nicaragua, if a canal project recently approved by the Nicaraguan government succeeds in digging a watery connection between the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea via the lake. Along with sea snakes from the Pacific, changes in water saltiness and temperature could disrupt ecosystems and economies both in the lake and on the coasts.

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Lake Nicaragua hosts an unusual ecosystem. Bull sharks leap salmon-style over rapids in the San Juan River to enter the lake. The lake-loving sharks swim alongside endemic fish species and non-native tilapia fish farms.

Those sharks would probably not suffer from the construction of a canal, according to Frank Schwartz, a marine zoologist at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill who has more than 50 years experience studying sharks.

The bull sharks may not suffer, but sea snakes entering the lake could be a more serious threat, noted Schwartz. The snake could enter the lake in ocean water brought in through locks and dams built to bridge the elevation differences across the Nicaraguan countryside.

The Caribbean lacks sea snakes, but Pacific serpents could conceivably make it across Nicaragua through a new canal. Groupers and other large Caribbean fish may then suffer after trying to make a snack of the snakes.