SOS Save Our Seahorses

Seahorses are widely loved and instantly recognizable. Dr David Harasti became fascinated by, and did his PhD on the biology, ecology and conservation of seahorses (you can e-adopt a White's Seahorse here).

Seahorse males give birth to hundreds of babies at a time. They are very slow swimmers and whilst they breed quickly in the right circumstances fishing, pollution and habitat degradation and destruction has seen some species become endangered. So let’s work to Save Our Seahorses during this UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 

Dr Harasti continues working on the marine environment, encouraging children to participate in knowing about and caring about seahorses. Once they care about seahorses he knows they will be excellent seahorse advocates to their parents. He has also been instrumental in establishing a chain of seahorse “hotels”  that form a substitute coral reef-like environment to protect them and enable them to prosper in.

SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium curator Laura Simmons  says “We tripled the number of seahorse hotels in Sydney Harbour. Successful seahorse hotel deployment is critical as the Posidonia seagrass and the cauliflower soft coral that seahorses call home are also endangered. The seahorse hotels provide the perfect haven for these seahorses and their native habitats to flourish”.

Listen to David discuss his work here, read a pdf article here and look at his wonderful gallery of seahorse and related photography as well as a discussion with Ocean Youth Melbourne Alumna Tarun Chid here.

In Hawaii Ocean Rider does research and development to extend the longevity of the species for the hobbyist and commercial aquariums and to protect seahorse species in the wild.

Iseahorse aims to harness the power of community scientists — anyone, anywhere in the world who sees a seahorse in the wild — to improve our understanding of these animals and protect them from overfishing and other threats.