"It's so pretty": Nearly Died After Picking Up Deadly Creature, Realized Too Late

Revealed to Be a Deadly Venomous Cone Snail
Stung by Picking Up or Stepping on It at the Beach

An American influencer who collects pretty seashells nearly found herself in serious danger because of a creature she accidentally discovered on a beach in Okinawa, Japan. The story has become a hot topic online.

According to the Daily Mail on July 3 (local time), influencer Becky Rolls recently posted a video on TikTok showing herself walking along a beach in Okinawa, picking up an object she thought was a seashell, showing it to the camera, and then returning it to the sea. In the video, Rolls picks up the object and says, "It's so pretty," before putting it back in the water. The reason she returned it was because the creature, which she thought was just a shell, turned out to be alive.

A cone snail picked up by Becky Rolls on a beach in Okinawa, Japan. TikTok capture of Becky Rolls.

After posting the video, Rolls later learned that the creature was not an ordinary shell, but a highly venomous and dangerous animal. What she picked up was a cone snail, known as one of the "most deadly creatures in the world." Rolls only discovered the true identity of the animal after searching online.

The Daily Mail reported that there are about 700 species of cone snails, which are found in the South China Sea, the Pacific Ocean, and the waters around Australia. All cone snails possess potent venom, which can paralyze or even kill a human. This marine snail uses a harpoon-shaped tooth to fire venomous darts, and theoretically, the venom of a single snail is strong enough to kill 700 people. Most people are stung by cone snails when they pick them up on the beach or step on them. Cone snails are also called "Cigarette Snails" because it is said that after being stung, a person has only about enough time to smoke a cigarette before dying.

In a follow-up video, Rolls said, "What I picked up was a marble cone snail, one of the most deadly creatures on Earth," and added, "I was playing with the most venomous animal in the sea." She continued, "I hope my story can serve as a warning that 'pretty (shell) shells' are not always harmless." The video has been viewed more than 30 million times.