Sydney Harbour’s endangered seahorse population has been boosted after 100 captivity-raised baby White’s seahorses were released in a North Shore tidal pool.
Clontarf will be home to the seahorses, which were raised and released by SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium.
SEA LIFE regional curator Laura Simmons says it’s an important step in helping the seahorse, whose numbers have been declining.
“Their numbers have decreased and declined quite a bit over the past 20 years,” Ms Simmons told ABC Radio Sydney.
“They’re only found in Australia — nowhere else in the world.”
Swimmers at the tidal pool may be able to see the seahorses clinging to the swimming net, which has become part of the seahorse “hotel”.
Upgrades to the pool were finished in May this year and six months later became part of the conservation project.
Northern Beaches Council encourages swimmers to admire the seahorses when at Clontarf but not to touch, catch or harm them.
‘Success rate there’
The release is the latest conservation project to lift the number of White’s seahorses in their native habitat between Sydney and Port Stephens on the State’s Mid North Coast.
SEA LIFE released 300 White’s seahorses at Port Stephens in May this year, taking the total number of White’s seahorses released this year by the aquarium to 400.
Ms Simmons says the Clontarf release is the sixth since the pilot program began in 2019, including at Chowder Bay in Sydney Harbour, Botany Bay and Little Manly Beach.
The project has seen pregnant male seahorses at the sites since their release, indicating some success, Ms Simmons said.
“We know there has been a survivability and a success rate there,” Ms Simmons said.
In July, 380 seahorses bred in captivity at the Sydney Institute of Marine Science (SIMS) were released at Chowder Bay, further south in Sydney Harbour.
