Some of the benefits of being on a lockdown for our planet have been clearer skies and clearer waters. Mother Earth has had a little time to heal herself.
One of these benefits have been to a small population of endangered spiny seahorses (hippocampus guttulatus) which has made an appearance in Dorset, United Kingdom after no sightings for 2 years. Divers spotted 16 of these little guys including a pregnant male and juvenile, this is the largest sighting of this species since 2008.
The Seahorse Trust, a charity organization that fights for the protection of seahorses and their environments believes that this has to do with less boat traffic in the area due to lockdowns.
The organization’s founder Neil Garrick-Maidment that the less traffic and noise from the boats and their anchors have allowed the bay’s natural habitat to reestablish itself.
"We have seen so many seahorses because the food chain has recovered, giving seahorses plenty of food to eat, and crucially, somewhere to hide,” he explains.
Image of spiny seahorse hippocampus guttulatus
The Wildlife and Countryside Act
The spiny seahorse was granted protected status under the UK’s Wildlife and Countryside Act back in 2008. The Seahorse Trust also fought for years to finally have Studland Bay designated as a Marine Conservation Zone in 2019. Now, the question is how to go forward from here. (1)
Now that they have seen a return of the endangered seahorse species, the last thing the Trust wants is to have it disappear again as lockdown restrictions ease. That being said, they also don’t want to put a complete ban on boating and diving. Instead they suggest a change to environmentally friendly moorings and other measures to be put in place to protect the seagrass and its inhabitants. For that, they will need the Marine Management Organization to enforce the Wildlife and Countryside Act in the Bay.
“The seahorses need protection to stop them being disturbed again as COVID-19 restrictions are lifted, and to stop them vanishing from this legally protected site…We have a unique opportunity to help nature and to restore the balance of our planet.” Says Garrick-Maidment.
How do we know the effects of not being able to scuba dive in Sodwana Bay? The answer is that we don't but if the Dorset population has recovered then maybe our population of Thorny Seahorses (hippocampus Histrix) has also recovered and we will find them again whilst scuba diving here! Lets not forget our newly discovered species of pygmy seahorse that has not been seen for a while either. We cannot wait to get into the water again and dive dive dive.
