Marine Life & Conservation
Help save the world’s seahorses!
Help The Seahorse Trust save the planet’s seahorses!
The Seahorse is an extraordinary little creature, and it is this extraordinariness that is the reason it is now one of the world’s endangered animals.
People want to keep them as pets because they are unusual and exotic-looking; unthinking people want to make a bit of money from them by creating jewellery and taxidermy ornaments; people in some parts of the world still think powdered seahorse is a good treatment for asthma, throat infections, insomnia and abdominal pain. Then there are others who simply harvest seahorses illegally from the wild, in their millions, and sell them by the kilo online as a money-making exercise. This trade in seahorses is driving them to extinction – in 25 – 30 years there may be no seahorses left in the wild.
The curio trade has to be properly policed and offenders brought to account for their crimes – seahorses are protected under Appendix II of CITES and it is an offence to trade in them without the relevant CITES paperwork. Yet, all over the internet, particularly on Facebook and Etsy, seahorses and seahorse products are openly traded. Seahorses die an awful death, baked alive and suffocated in full sun. Is that piece of seahorse jewellery really worth this horror?
The Seahorse Trust is a very small charity totally dedicated to helping save the world’s seahorses. They have years of research and experience with seahorses and have recently started the new Stop the Curio Trade campaign, with particular emphasis at the moment to persuading Facebook and Etsy to remove seahorse sellers from its platform. Some of the sellers on Facebook are selling seahorses in vast numbers. They have succeeded with Ebay, Amazon, Pre-loved, Shpock and Alibaba – these two other giants of the online marketplace need to stop as well and reduce the demand for seahorses.
But they need your help!
Donations – The Seahorse Trust is reliant on donations from seahorse lovers to help fund their work – they advise projects all around the world, including 7 governments, organisations and individuals on all aspects of seahorse education and conservation. They have volunteers in over 30 countries, some scuba diving in the seas to help them record seahorse sightings for the seahorse surveys, others looking out for seahorses for them in seahorse surveys in the sea and for the various illegal trades such as the curio and medicine trades. This year they are hoping to start a project in April/May in Jordan to assist the Jordanian government on seahorse surveys, education and captive breeding of their native seahorses for release back into the wild. This is a tri-country project which includes Jordan, Ireland and The Seahorse Trust.
One of their main projects is the World Seahorse Survey. This was started back in 1994 and it is now the longest-running continuous survey of its kind in the world. The information from this survey is used for the conservation and education about seahorses throughout the world.
You can donate via the Paypal link (or, if you have a Paypal account of your own, you can send a donation directly to their email address – theseahorsetrust@gmail.com). You can also donate the cost of a cup of coffee or two via Ko-fi. The Seahorse Trust donation page has a variety of other ways to donate (including by good old-fashioned cheque!).
Volunteer – If you can volunteer in any way, please do get in touch. Maybe you can do a fundraiser or help with seahorse surveys, for example.
Join The Seahorse Trust – become a valued member of the Seahorse Trust – www.
Adopt a Seahorse – The Seahorse Trust has a number of beautiful seahorses for whom your regular donation of just £4 a month will help towards not just their their protection but other seahorses too – www.
Support them on social media – support them on Facebook by joining the page, sharing their posts and encouraging others to join. This is a fantastic way to share seahorse news and the plight of this species – www.facebook.com/
Facebook Trade – They have an additional page dedicated to stopping the trade in seahorses on Facebook so please do join and share that page too – www.facebook.com/
For more information about The Seahorse Trust please visit their website by clicking here.
After a two-year tour of UK art galleries, community spaces and aquariums, the Shark Trust’s acclaimed Oceanic31 exhibition takes its final bow at the Royal Geographical Society later this month. And the unique collection of artwork, depicting 31 species of oceanic sharks and rays, donated by 31 artists, is now open for bids from art lovers and shark enthusiasts. The online auction, launched today, will close on the 7th December at 8pm (BST). The money raised will support the Shark Trust Oceanics Programme.
People can now bid on 27 of the artworks by visiting this website:
https://superstars-auctions.com/sharktrustauction
It is a chance to own a beautiful piece of original art and to support the Shark Trust. The timing of the auction also means that these would make a very special Christmas gift for any shark-lover.
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- Bigeye Thresher Shark by Janina Rossiter
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- Carcharodon carcharias by Jimmy Higgs
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- Croc VR 2030 by Tom Mead
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- Oceanic Whitetip by ATM
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- Silky Street by ScapaJoe
The diversity of pieces mirrors that of the sharks and rays they represent. You can bid on paintings, digital creations, sculptures, mixed media and more. You can pick your favourite artist or species of shark. Or you can select the perfect artwork to make a statement in your home or office. Whichever you choose, you will be supporting the work to protect these amazing animals.
One of the pieces of art has been selected to be auctioned live by Steve Backshall at the For the Love of Sharks event at the Royal Geographical Society in London on the 29th November. In addition to this, two further pieces will be raffled at this event, giving people a chance to win an incredible piece of shark art. For the Love of Sharks is the Shark Trust’s flagship evening. A night to celebrate sharks. Steve Backshall is the headline speaker at this event that will see other prominent shark advocates join him on stage.
Tickets for the event can be snapped up here:
https://thesharktrust.org.uk/Event/flos24
Those that would like to see the Oceanic 31 exhibition have one final chance. It is being displayed at the Pavilion at the Royal Geographic Society from 26th November until the 7th December. Entry is free.
Find out more here:
https://www.rgs.org/events/upcoming-events/oceanic-31
Paul Cox, Shark Trust CEO, Said “This exhibition has given us the opportunity to reach out to a new audience. And inspire more people with the wonderful sharks and rays on which our Big Shark Pledge campaign is based. We are immensely grateful to the 31 artists who have worked so hard to create these works.”
Bid for your favourite Oceanic 31 artwork here:
https://superstars-auctions.com/sharktrustauction
Banner Image: Smooth Hammerhead by Alicia Hayden
Until 28 November, prizes worth a massive £10,000 – including experiences, products and tuition – feature in a line-up of items that can be won for £5 in an online prize draw to celebrate Bite-Back Shark & Marine Conservation’s 20th anniversary and help generate crucial funds for the future.
Top of the list of prizes is the chance to spend time with adventurer and wildlife expert Steve Backshall, a workout session with Nat Geo star Aldo Kane, a kayaking trip alongside white-water expert and diver Sal Montgomery and a Zoom call with ‘shark whisperer’ Cristina Zenato.
On top of that, some of the most admired companies in the diving and scuba industry have been quick to support the charity with fabulous prizes that make the £5 ticket price worth more than just a flutter.
Master Liveaboards, BSAC, Midlands Diving Chamber, Go Freediving and Blue Shark Snorkel have all generously donated experience prizes, while celebrated photographer Alex Mustard has donated a print and artists Scott Gleed and Olivier Leger have donated a sculpture and illustration to help boost the fundraising pot.
Fourth Element has donated Ocean Positive gear and LA watch company Nodus has gifted the charity a stunning dive watch. For land lovers, the charity has included a five star London hotel stay at Bankside Hotel plus a family visit to Longleat Safari Park in the roster of prizes.
Campaign director for Bite-Back, Graham Buckingham, said: “We’ve been overwhelmed with support from companies and individuals that we truly admire and who have supported us on our 20 year journey and we’re truly grateful to them all. While we feel incredibly proud of our achievements over the past two decades – and we are super excited about the next chapter – this prize draw isn’t a vanity project. It represents a real lifeline to our work and important advancements in the global protection of sharks. So we hope divers, dive clubs and even bargain hunters grab some tickets to make this a massive success.”
The charity hopes that the prize draw will generate crucial funds to launch a brand new, ground-breaking, campaign to enrol the public and increase support for the protection of sharks around the world.
To enter the competition visit www.bite-back.com/prizedraw. The prize winners will be announced on 1 December 2024.
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