A highly venomous sea snake was found washed up on Ōhope Beach on Monday.

DoC ranger and project lead biodiversity Pearson Tukua said the team identified the live yellow-bellied snake and removed it from the beach, but it later died.

He said such snakes popped up occasionally along the coast with a couple of recorded sightings in Tauranga within the past 10 years, but they were not common.

Marine senior science advisor Karen Middlemiss told the Bay of Plenty Times such sea snakes were known to occasionally drift into New Zealand waters during weather events.

Although highly venomous, they only posed a risk if provoked.

Middlemiss said yellow-bellied sea snakes spent their entire lives at sea, so finding one on the beach usually meant it was unwell.

She said those that washed ashore were often suspected to have suffered from hypothermia due to colder sea temperatures.