18-06-2025
Traveler shares stark warning after she 'nearly DIES' from picking up sea shell on luxury beach
A woman has shared the terrifying moment she picked up a sea shell at the beach - only to realize later it was a deadly creature.
Becky Lee, an American woman living in Japan, was exploring a beach in Okinawa when she noticed a beautiful shell, picking it up to inspect it.
What she didn't know though, is that the brown and cream colored shell was home to the highly venomous cone snail.
In the clip, Becky picks up the shell from the water, turning the pointed marbled object over in her hand and inspecting it before placing it back on the sand.
In a follow up video posted to TikTok, Becky explained that style of shells is one of her favorite to collect 'because the pattern is so stunning.'
'So I pick up the shell, and that's when I notice it's alive,' Becky recounted.
In the video, she then pointed out some 'black and white' tubing noticeable on the inside of the shell, which is the snail's siphon.
'This is also the end of the snail that shoots out to sting and inject its victims with venom that can lead to full paralysis or even fatality,' she continued.
Luckily, Becky wasn't attacked by the snail and placed it back in the water - something she's very grateful for now.
'When a cone snail stings you, it can feel like a fire burning at the site, or it can feel like nothing. I spent the next 72 hours in pure paranoia, not knowing if I was stung,' she admitted.
According to Aquarium of Pacific, cone snails are among the most venomous creatures on earth. Among the most toxic are the textile cone snail, geographic cone snail, and tulip snails.
However, the site noted there is a higher risk of death if the geographic and textile snails are involved.
There are about 600 species of cone snails, all of which are poisonous. They live in shallow reefs partially buried under sandy sediment, rocks or coral in temperate to tropical oceans, ranging in size from a penny to the size of eight inches.
They are found in Indian and Pacific Oceans, southern Australia, Great Barrier Reef, Hawaii, Baja California, and California.
They sting their victims by extending a long flexible tube called a proboscis, before firing a venomous, harpoonlike tooth. Their venom contains chemicals called conotoxins – highly potent neurotoxic peptides, which cause paralysis by blocking parts of the nervous system
According to the National Library of Medicine, a cone snail sting can cause mild to moderate pain, and the area may develop other signs of an acute inflammatory reaction such as redness and swelling.
Humans are usually stung when a cone snail is picked up from the water or stepped on at the beach.
'Conus toxins affect the nervous system and are capable of causing paralysis, which may lead to respiratory failure and death,' the site noted, adding there is no antivenom available.
It is recommended that people avoid picking up cone-shaped shells - even if they think it's empty.
According to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, less than 100 people have died after being stung.
In 2022, scientists from the University of Glasgow have revealed plans to harness their venom to develop new painkillers that are more effective and less addictive than current options.
Dr Andrew Jamieson, who is leading the project, said: 'The cone snail might seem like an unlikely prospect for breakthroughs in drug discovery, but the conotoxins it produces have a lot of intriguing properties which have already shown promise in medicine.'
While the snail's venom can prove fatal for anyone standing in the cone snail's way, researchers believe that modified versions of their peptides could be used to safely block pain receptors in humans.
