Dramatic footage has captured the moment a fisherman was rescued in a remote part of the Australian coast after being bitten by a sea snake.
The man was on a fishing boat in the José Bonaparte Gulf, about 360 kilometres southwest of Darwin, when he needed urgent medical attention at 9.15am on Monday.
Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) officials were notified of the incident.
The agency arranged for a LifeFlight rescue helicopter to be dispatched from Truscott Air Force Base in Washington before the aircraft arrived at the scene at around 11.45am.
Rescuers worked quickly to remove the man, aged in his 30s, from the ship before transporting him to the air base.
An AMSA spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that Royal Flying Doctor Service crews transported the man to Broome Hospital.
“AMSA’s Cairns-based Challenger was also on site to provide support,” the spokesman said.
The man is currently in stable condition in hospital.
Rescuers (pictured) were notified that the man needed medical attention after being bitten by the sea snake while on board a fishing boat on Monday.
It is not known how the man found the creature, although snakes can be inadvertently caught in the large nets used by fishing boats.
Sea snakes are native to Australian waters, but the creatures have spread to parts of the Asia Pacific and the Persian Gulf.
Australia is home to around 70 species of sea snakes.
The creatures are not aggressive and do not usually bite, but they are poisonous.
A 23-year-old British man died after being bitten by a sea snake while working on a fishing boat in 2018 in the Northern Territory.
Despite the incident, deaths caused by the reptiles are rare.
Anyone bitten by the creature should be helped using pressure immobilization and seek medical attention immediately.
Rescue crews worked quickly to remove the man, aged in his 30s, from the boat (pictured) before he was flown to an air base in WA and then transported to Broome Hospital.
