iSeahorse – Saving Seahorses Together – Scuba Diving Reviews & Blog

Why Seahorses?

Dive almost anywhere along a coast from the southern most point of Australia to the northern most point of Ireland and you could have a chance of spotting a seahorse. These incredibly unique fish are found almost all over the world, yet many divers have never even seen one.

Godelieve Claes_GuyLian Seahorses

This mostly comes down to the fact that seahorses are masters of camouflage with the chameleon like ability to change colour. Of course finding a seahorse is definitely worth the effort as they are very unique and fascinating creatures. With a snout like a horse, skin instead of scales, and a curly tail they use to grab on to things, it’s hard to believe they’re fish at all.

Alexander Mustard_Guylian Seahorses

Seahorses hold the Guinness world record for slowest fish in the ocean. Some species can be less than 2cm long but other can get up to over a foot in length. Probably the most well know fact about seahorses is that it is the male seahorse that gets pregnant and gives birth, not the female. Male seahorses have a pouch on their bodies where the female deposits her eggs and the baby seahorses then grow. Many species will even mate for life, often linking tails to avoid getting separated.

Conservation Concern

Unfortunately as amazing as these little guys are, they are also at risk. Every year 15 to 20 million seahorses are traded dead or alive around the world. In order to help protect seahorses we need more information on them, but because they are so difficult to find it’s difficult to research them in the wild.

S. Foster_Project Seahorse

Divers can help!

This is where iSeahorse comes in, iSeahorse is website and iPhone app where anyone, anywhere, can contribute to seahorse research. Divers can make a huge difference in saving seahorses simply by reporting their seahorse sightings.

Nicholas Samaras_ GuyLian Seahorses

To participate, when you see a seahorse, take a photo if you can, and then post where and when you saw the seahorse along with any pictures or other details. There are ID guides available to help you identify which species you saw, and experts actively review the postings to confirm or correct IDs.

All of the data collected through iSeahorse will be used to further seahorse conservation work and help create important management plans for the appropriate authorities. So sign up today, become a citizen scientist and help us save seahorses.