Hundreds of endangered seahorses released into the wild off NSW coast

May 10, 2023 8:13 AM

Hundreds of endangered seahorses released into the wild off New South Wales coast. White's seahorse used to be a common sight in the waters off Sydney and Newcastle, but numbers have declined dramatically over the past 20 years. Scientists hope that might be starting to change.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries (8 comments total)

...After the fathers give birth – a feature unique to seahorses and sea dragons in the animal world – the babies are raised to a suitable size and released into the same waters their parents came from.

On board a DPI boat off Nelson Bay, divers lowered the babies, sealed in seawater bags, to the sea floor, where they released them into "hotels" — metal structures designed to provide habitat to the juveniles as they mature.

An only in Oz story if I ever saw one.
posted by y2karl at 8:22 AM on May 10, 2023

I am trying to pay attention to happy news, and this definitely fits the bill! Thanks for posting!
posted by agatha_magatha at 8:33 AM on May 10, 2023 [1 favorite]

Wiiiiild horses (sea)!
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 9:00 AM on May 10, 2023

I'm hoping for a stampede!!
posted by BlueHorse at 11:04 AM on May 10, 2023 [1 favorite]

We’re rooting for you, kiddos!
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 12:15 PM on May 10, 2023

An article linked from the linked article details reasons for the decline and how the hotels help.

"But in just a three-year period the population declined by 90 per cent. One site where I used to get 400 animals, I saw 10 there. On another site the population of 200 went down to about 20.

...

several large East Coast Low storms shifted large volumes of sand in the port which smothered the seahorse habitat of soft corals and sponges.

...

"I used to see old discarded crab traps underwater covered in sponges and algae and just by chance I'd see seahorses living on them," he said.

"So we decided to introduce our own artificial habitats and I've called them seahorse hotels.

posted by Mitheral at 1:20 PM on May 10, 2023

Oh, they are adorable! I don't know why seahorses seem so...whimsical? absurd? But they are quite magical.
posted by davidmsc at 1:28 PM on May 10, 2023

Well since my baby left me / I've found a new place to dwell / it's down in the sea off Stockton Beach / a seahorse hotel
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 5:19 PM on May 10, 2023 [5 favorites]