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Krait cave

The island of Nuie in the South Pacific is home to a sea krait found nowhere else in the world. Normally perfectly at home in the sea, these snakes have problems when it comes to breeding. Any eggs they produce must be laid on dry land, or the developing young would drown. Emerging on to land would put the females and their eggs at too great a risk from predators, so they have an extraordinary solution. They dive deep under the island where they have found the entrance to an underwater tunnel. At the far end is a cave with an air pocket. This is the dry land the females need - a sealed space where no predators can reach. Down here, both the females and their eggs are protected and can develop unharmed. When they've laid the eggs, the females return to the open sea. Six months later, the eggs begin to hatch and the baby snakes take their first breath. They will have to find their own way out down the tunnel and to the open sea.

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