Project Seahorse For seahorses and marine conservation

Project Seahorse is delighted to announce the launch of our new, improved iSeahorse.org website – our pioneering citizen engagement tool that gathers information about seahorses while building a community of committed contributors who are empowered to take action for seahorses and marine conservation.

Anyone can join. Whether you’re a diver, fisher, scientist, or just on a beach holiday, you can share your seahorse observations with a click of a button. If you’ve seen a seahorse in the wild, join iSeahorse.org and upload your seahorse observations and photos. You can also help us identify species, explore maps, beautiful photos, fun seahorse facts,and take action for seahorse conservation.

Since we launched iSeahorse in October 2013, scientists from Project Seahorse and around the world have used this vital information to better understand seahorse behaviour, species ranges, and the threats they face.  Together, we use this knowledge to mobilize governments, policy makers, and ocean advocates to protect seahorses and the marine ecosystems they call home.

To date, almost 500 contributors have sharedtheir 2400+ seahorse observations, and we now have informationon 30 of the 43recognised seahorse species.  The user-contributed observations on iSeahorse have also greatly expanded our knowledge of the known ranges of several seahorses – 15% of all iSeahorse observations are from outside of a species known geographic range! We are also learning much about the depth ranges and habitat preferences of the species observed, which will contribute to conservation planning efforts in the near future.

seahorse species

1: Pontoh’s pygmy seahorse, Hippocampus pontohi, observed by iSeahorse user sam129, in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia. IUCN Red List status: Least Concern **.
2: Hedgehog seahorse, Hippocampus spinosissimus, observed by iSeahorse user ollieclark17 off the coast of Bali. IUCN Red List status: Vulnerable **.
3: Short-head seahorse, Hippocampus breviceps, observed in Australia by iSeahorse user ken_flan. IUCN Red List status: Least Concern **.

 

We continue to build a strong community and alliance of citizen scientists, conservationists, experts and more, all working towards a common goal – to protect seahorses and expand our scientific knowledge of these mysterious and beautiful animals. There are now ten long-term seahorse population monitoring projects established on six continents (North America, South America, Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia) and we have more than 25 seahorse experts and enthusiasts from 16 countries participating as iSeahorse National Seahorse Experts and program Ambassadors, including Scubashooters.net as our Global iSeahorse Ambassador. iSeahorse empowers users to take action and generate conservation change.  In fact, a newly created 70 ha Marine Protected Area and seahorse sanctuary in Anda, Bohol, Philippines resulted from recently discovered seahorse populations reported through iSeahorse.

To learn more about Project Seahorse, iSeahorse and seahorses, and to get involved, visit iseahorse.org.  We look forward to hearing from you.

 

Seahorses species

Right: Long-snouted seahorse, Hippocampus guttulatus, observed off the coast of Spain by iSeahorse user carmelo_lopez. IUCN Red List status: Data Deficient **.
Left: The Spotted or Common seahorse, Hippocampus kuda, observed by Bruno Van Saen – second place grand prize winner for the Guylian Seahorses of the World Photo Competition in 2016. IUCN Red List status: Vulnerable **.

** IUCN – International Union for Conservation of Nature – Red List of Threatened Species

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