VIDEO: Giant Burmese Python Captured Swimming In Biscayne Bay
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Another one of South Florida's most aggressive invasive species is making headlines after being discovered swimming in Biscayne Bay.
It was an 11-foot-long, 31-pound Burmese python spotted swimming in the Bay on Tuesday more than a mile from the mainland.
Video posted on Biscayne National Park's social media pages show the snake just floating on top of the water before being netted by biologists.
WATCH: LARGE BURMESE PYTHON CAPTURED SWIMMING IN BISCAYNE BAY
According to Biscayne National Park biologists, these snakes are relatively uncommon in Biscayne Bay, but they have been found in the ocean before.
There is a 2015 study by the U.S. Geological Society, which found Burmese pythons live in both freshwater marshes and mangroves around Cape Sable in Everglades National Park.
Once the swimming snake was brought to shore, it was measured and weighed.
The Facebook posting reminds people to keep the park beautiful "by reporting sightings of pythons and other invasive critters to park staff."
Burmese pythons are an invasive species in and around the Everglades. More than 3,000 pythons have been removed from the Everglades since 2017, not counting the reptiles removed by the public in python hunts, according to wildlife officials. However, those efforts have not been enough.
Scientists say they have eliminated 99-percent of the native mammals in the Everglades, decimating food sources for native predators such as panthers and alligators. Native populations of bobcats, opossums, raccoons, foxes and rabbits have been devastated.
Because of their large size, adult Burmese pythons have few predators, with alligators and humans being the exceptions.
