That was the question primary school teacher Verity Kerr asked after spotting what looked like sea snakes on her daily walk around the Andersons Bay Inlet on Sunday.
"There was something in the middle of the water, I could see the trails, and it was coming towards the shore, but I couldn’t see what it was."
When she returned to the inlet yesterday, Ms Kerr saw the sea creatures once more.
"I could see two of them, so I took the video and thought it was an eel."
A friend of Ms Kerr said its black-and-white stripes looked similar to that of a banded sea krait — a rare and highly venomous Pacific sea snake.
"I got all excited thinking I had found some kind of venomous snake or something exciting," Ms Kerr said.
After contacting the Department of Conservation, Ms Kerr was informed the sea creatures were, in fact, two barracouta.
A Doc spokesperson said one of their marine advisers had also spotted the pair yesterday.
They explained there was an abundance of krill around, which barracouta intensively feed on in preparation for spawning in deeper water from late July to September.
Although much less exciting, Ms Kerr said it was somewhat of a relief it was not a sea snake.
"It is a good thing it was just a barracouta — it’s much better than a sea snake.
"Especially because lots of dogs go swimming there and wakeboarders."
Ms Kerr said it was common to see interesting sea creatures in the inlet, such as stingrays and octopuses.
