Seahorse conservation project is a ‘wild’ success
A conservation project to save Australia’s only endangered species of seahorse is being hailed as a ‘wild’ success. Captive-raised animals were found to be breeding after being released back to their natural habitat in Sydney Harbour. Photo by David Harasti.
The discovery of captive-raised White’s Seahorses successfully breeding after being released back to their natural habitat in Sydney Harbour has provided evidence that a conservation project is helping to save the endangered species.
The captive-raised seahorses were released into their new home in Sydney Harbour in April 2020 and recent site surveys in December discovered that several animals are now pregnant.
This breeding success in the wild of the captive-bred seahorses has come about through a collaborative effort between the NSW Department of Primary Industries, SEALIFE Aquarium and the University of Technology Sydney.
Apart from the captive breeding program, the project included installation of artificial habitats, nicknamed “seahorse hotels”. The hotels were installed at the Clifton Gardens site in early 2020 to provide vital habitat for the dwindling wild population of seahorses.
SEALIFE Aquarium is raising hundreds more babies born during this month from mating pairs of seahorses carefully collected from the wild.
These babies will be kept at the aquarium until they are approximately six months old when they will be released back into Sydney Harbour around April next year.
Seahorses are one of only a few marine species that are known to pair for life. They are also the only known species where it is the male that gives birth to the young. The male incubates fertilised eggs in a brood pouch then releases about 100 babies at a time.
Based on the success of the project to date, plans are now underway to continue the captive breeding program and install more seahorse hotels to expand the area of available habitat.
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