Photo: Tonga Parliament
An animal found outside the Tongan parliament this morning has now been identified as a harmless sea snake.
The one metre long sea snake was discovered and killed by a security guard and taken to the authorities amidst fears it was an invasive land snake.
However Principal Fisheries Officer Tu'ikolongahau Halafihi says those concerns are now gone.
"I think it's not a worry because as far as I know this kind of sea snake can come to land, especially small islands. We don't see that much here on the mainland but we can see them on small islands, when we go out to small islands we can see them on land."
Principal Fisheries Officer Tu'ikolongahau Halafihi