Is it a shark? Sea grass? Maybe a scarf? No, it’s a python around a surfer’s neck.
However, the Australian authorities were not laughing at all after footage of a surfer on Australia’s Gold Coast – with a python around his neck – was distributed on social media.
The surfer was fined AUS$2 322 (about R28 500) because he did not have a permit to carry the snake around in public.
“Taking this animal out in public requires a separate permit,” Queensland’s Department of Environment and Science said on Monday.
“Snakes are naturally cold-blooded animals and while they can swim, reptiles generally avoid water. The python would experience the water as extremely cold.
“The only snakes that belong in the sea are sea snakes.”
