A University of Florida biologist has discovered that sea snakes do not actually drink ocean water.

According to Live Wire American News, Professor Harvey Lillywhite discovered that sea snakes dehydrate for months while waiting for the next rainfall, when they drink their fill of fresh water.

Professor Lillywhite's research was recently published in "Proceedings of the Royal Society B," a biological research journal of the Royal Society. He said his discovery is contrary to the commonly held belief that marine vertebrates evolved to drink salt water.

"These snakes refuse to drink salt water, even when dehydrated. They need fresh water to survive," Lillywhite stated.

Lillywhite and a team of researchers from the U.S., Australia and France conducted field studies and experiments with yellow-bellied sea snakes in Guanacaste, Costa Rica over a period of three years. They learned that the reptiles can live for up to seven months without drinking water during the country's dry season.

The snakes dehydrate slowly, and can lose 25 percent of their body mass during the process. When fresh water is available, they drink almost the same amount of mass in water.

Rain is lighter than sea water, and creates a "lens" over the ocean's surface. Snakes can sense when it is about to rain, and they swim toward the surface.

"We think they almost certainly know that it rains because their behavior changes during the approach of a tropical storm as the atmospheric pressure changes," Lillywhite said.

He added that decreased rainfall could be the cause of diminishing sea snake populations in places like Northern Australia, where there is a debilitating drought. Sea snakes in that region have been decreasing for a decade, and two of the local species are believed to be extinct.

He also said that global warming worsens drought conditions, which causes problems for sea snakes and other marine vertebrates that rely on rain for their fresh water supply.

"Understanding the water requirements and drinking behaviors of marine vertebrates could help with conservation efforts. In areas of intensifying drought, they will need to move or die out," Lillywhite said.