Snake Island: Wild & Deadly (ATOM Study Guide)

Tiger snakes are one of the most venomous animals on the planet. On Carnac Island off the west coast of Australia these killer snakes have hyperadapted in less than a century to be almost twice as heavy and up to 15 per cent longer than their mainland counterparts. This is despite the island being devoid of a permanent water source and only having seasonal food.

These tiger snakes have adapted their behaviour to survive in what is essentially the entirely wrong habitat for them. The snakes on the island have the capacity to grow even larger. But there may be an even more effective killer on the island that has stopped the snakes' accelerated growth in its tracks! Why they are here and how they prosper in this desolate place has remained a mystery... until now. We set out on a dangerous quest to solve this mystery in Snake Island: Wild & Deadly.

Carnac Island is considered to be one of the most dangerous islands in the world to visit. Tiger snakes are considered to be the fourth most venomous snake in the world. Their venom is so toxic, if left untreated, can kill a human in less than thirty minutes. The small, nineteen-hectare limestone outcrop is over-run with a large population of over four hundred highly venomous tiger snakes, plus numerous juveniles. The island is so densely populated with these deadly serpents, it's estimated that there are three of these killer reptiles every twenty-five square metres!

Even though Carnac is comparable to a desert island, the snakes are flourishing. So much so, that despite having exactly the same genes as their mainland counterparts, the Carnac tigers have larger skulls and jaws and they are giants of their kind. They have demonstrated a marked capacity for accelerated growth in response to a seasonal, but relatively large prey source – silver gull chicks.

Incredibly ten percent of the tiger snakes here are blind, having their eyes pecked at and damaged by the silver gull adults as they try to protect their chicks from the deadly predators. Despite their injuries and with some snakes even left totally blind from the aerial attacks, the snakes carry on their carnage and eat the chicks.

These snakes have the ability to grow even bigger, with a far larger food-source available on the island; Australian pied cormorant chicks. The burning question is why have the tiger snakes not shifted their predation strategy to take advantage of this alternative, larger prey source? Could it be that the adult cormorants that are bigger than the gulls and have far larger and sharper beaks, would actually kill the snakes if they attempt to predate on the bigger cormorant chicks and is this why the snakes' growth to an even greater size has been stopped cold in its tracks?

Specialised 4K slow motion cameras capture these ultimate predators as they take their prey and fight against an aerial onslaught from the gulls. For the first time crews film these stealth hunters through the biggest drought on record as the snakes' struggle to survive. Specially made 4K 'static' aerial reconnaissance cameras are deployed to capture new behaviour as we aim to solve the mystery of why these snakes have not grown larger on the abundant prey. Will the killer birds, turn the table on the deadly reptiles on Snake Island: Wild & Deadly?

Curriculum Links:

• Science (Years 1–10)
• Mathematics (Years 7–8)
• Biology (Units 1 and 3)
• Geography (Year 8)

Snake Island: Wild & Deadly may also be linked to the Australian National Curriculum general capabilities of Critical and Creative Thinking (Years 3–10).