Sea Notes

Saving Seahorses, Conserving Corals

Good news today for ocean wildlife, here at home in the United States and overseas in Cambodia.

In the U.S., Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced a new pilot program -- backed up with money -- to protect coral reefs in Puerto Rico from the impacts of sediment and nutrient runoff. Similar pilot projects are planned to protect reefs in Florida, Hawaii, the U.S. Virgin Islands and in Pacific Islands under U.S. jurisdiction.

The announcement came at a meeting of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

A world away, Marine Conservation Cambodia is celebrating success in establishing the largest community managed marine area in the country to help restore habitat essential for Cambodia's rich marine life -- including seahorses.

As is true everywhere, community involvement is essential. So too is government action, and part of the success story is action by the Cambodian government to prohibit fishing for or trading of seahorses.

You don't have to go to Cambodia to help seahorses. If you're a California resident, go to our Take Action page and urge Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to support creation of marine protected areas in southern California that will protect essential habitat for many species, including Pacific seahorses.

Pegasus?

First it was a falling (sea) star landing on the head of one of our employees. Now a flying seahorse.

Report out of Weymouth, Dorset, England tells of a long-snouted seahorse discovered lying on the lawn. Seems likely it was dropped by a passing gull. Karen Warr, pictured, picked it up in a slice of fish, popped it in a bowl of tepid water and rushed the living seahorse to a nearby Sea Life Centre, where it's apparently making a recovery. They've named it Pegasus.

Our sea star fell just a few yards inland. This seahorse made it three miles from the sea.

What's with these gulls? On the other hand, better not to complain given what they USUALLY drop on us from the sky!

Seahorse Sleuths

What threats face seahorses in the wild? How are scientists and conservation organizations teaming up to learn which species are being caught for use in traditional medicine -- and finding ways to establish sustainable seahorse fisheries so these intriguing animals will be with us for a long time?

You can learn this and more in "Seahorse Sleuths," created by KQED public broadcasting's QUEST science program. There are also great links to our new special exhibition, The Secret Lives of Seahorses, the conservation organization Project Seahorse, and much more -- including a web-only feature on our work raising seahorses for the exhibit. (You'll have to go here, though, to become a Facebook friend of Herbie Hippocampus, the Pacific seahorse.) And there are other good places to engage in protecting seahorses.

QUEST on KQED Public Media.

Stand Up, Seahorse!

If you've wondered why seahorses look the way they do -- with an upright posture they share with humans but few other animals -- wonder no longer.

Researchers in Australia say it all happened 20 to 25 million years ago, when habitat lush with sea grass beds developed in waters between Australia and Indonesia -- habitat perfect for vertical fishes to grasp with curling tails.

 Dr. Peter Teske, a postdoctoral fellow at the Macquarie University Molecular Ecology Lab in Sydney, told Discovery News that going upright would have been ideal for a weak-swimming animal living in this new environment. It also would have help seahorses camouflage themselves from predators -- and from potential prey.

He and co-author Luciano Beheregaray were able to pinpoint the timing by building a family tree for members of the Hippocampus genus (true seahorses) and the related genus Idiotropiscis, which includes the southern little pipehorse that is very similar in appearance.

They published their findings in the journal Royal Society Biology Letters.

The two lines diverged about 20 to 25 million years ago, the researchers concluded, isolating ancestral seahorses in a shallow, warm seas and a grassy sea bed -- new habitat to which they adapted well.

As you can tell from a visit to The Secret Lives of Seahorses, these fishes still prefer sheltered habitats like sea grass beds, mangroves and coral reefs.

Jennifer Viegas, who wrote the Discovery News article, includes some of her favorite seahorse photos in her "Born Animal" blog, as well as a piano solo called Seahorse by composer/pianist Margie Adam.

Secret Seahorse Smuggling

In our newest special exhibition, The Secret Lives of Seahorses, our visitors learn that a significant threat to seahorses is the curio trade. Live seahorses are caught and killed to be used as decorative objects for our homes. Dried seahorses are also used in traditional medicines.

This week, during a routine inspection at a U.S. seaport, a box marked "Candy" turned out not to be so sweet. It was in fact a large and illegal shipment of seahorses. You can read more about this story here.

We hope you will enjoy the stunning images on our website, and come see the live animals on display in our new exhibit -- and help us spread the word about why we need to keep seahorses in the sea.

You can also get regular updates from Herbie Hippocampus, a Pacific seahorse at the aquarium by becoming his friend on Facebook. Herbie has the inside scoop on life in the exhibit, as well as keeping track on what's new in conservation of the oceans. Perhaps once he gets pregnant he'll have less time on his hands....er... fins!

Seahorses!

Several seahorse items to share today. First, we're getting excited about the April 6 opening of "The Secret Lives of Seahorses" at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The exhibit's really taking shape and guaranteed it's going to be fun to visit.

As part of the pre-opening activity, we launched a contest today in which a lucky winner and nine friends will enjoy a "Seahorse Soiree" in the exhibit. Details and a preview of "The Secret Lives of Seahorses" are available on our website. The contest ends April 30.

You can get deeper insights into lives of seahorses as a Facebook friend of Herbie Hippocampus, who's helping us share stories of seahorses -- from the inside.

The exhibit will feature amazing animals, including leafy sea dragons, dragon pipefish, ribbon pipehorses and potbelly seahorses, to name just a few.

It's also a place to learn what each of us can do to protect seahorses in the wild -- from choosing sustainable seafood (because seahorse habitat can be destroyed by thoughtless aquaculture developments and indiscriminate fishing practices) to supporting creation of marine protected areas that safeguard the coral reefs, mangrove forests and eelgrass beds where seahorses and their kin make their homes. California's only native seahorse, the Pacific seahorse, could benefit from this kind of protection.

We've also posted a new seahorse video on YouTube; check it out: