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Hi, I love to experience life and all things adventure. One of my passions is scuba diving and I have taken my love of the underwater world and turned it into a career. I teach both recreational and technical recreational scuba and have had the opportunity to travel the world and dive. I hope to share some of my thoughts, views and experiences with anyone who wants to listen. But I don't intend to stop at diving...watch this space....

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Sea Horses found in the Thames, UK

April 8th, 2008 • Related • Filed Under

This caught my eye this morning.

Sea Horses have been found living and breeding in the Thames estuary, UK.

It was not too many years back when you would have been rushed into hospital with possibly serious poisoning if you feel into the Thames. (Well at least that is what my Grandad used to tell me).

The Times has reported that now a protected sea horse, the short snouted seahorse, has been found thriving in more than one area of the London river system. They are to be found near the mouth of the Thames, at Dagenham and further towards the coast where the tidal flow ensures the waters stay sufficiently brackish for the little creatures to survive.

Others fish species including John Dories and a variety of flat fish are also using the Thames as a sanctuary and breeding ground.

The seahorse is strange in its paternal habits as it is the male that has a pouch which the female places eggs in to be fertilised and hatched.

The seahorse has also been collected by the communities in Asia for centuries as they are believed to be an aphrodisiac and an estimated 30 million sea horses are traded around the world each year.

Seahorses have no teeth and suck plankton into their tiny mouths.

They can also be found off the south coast of the UK.

If you so see any please do report them here as we will forward all reports to the Wildlife Trust.

There Is 1 Response So Far. »

  1. Comment by Jen Bryant on 8 April 2008:

    Hi,
    nice start to the new site and amazing that seahorses are breeing in what I thought was a dirty mucky river system - obviously not.
    I am always amazed at how marine animals manage to take advantage of just about any habitat.

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