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Kenna Eco Diving Seahorse Project
Why study seahorses?
Seahorses are strange and mythical creatures that have many unique characteristics. They are classed as “Data Deficient” in CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) because they are very challenging to study in the wild and there is much that we do not know about their secretive lives.
Seahorses represent habitats that need protection and help to advance marine conservation, serving as excellent flagship species for a wide range of marine conservation issues.
Threatened by overexploitation
Seahorses are exploited world-wide in their millions for use in Chinese medicine, as curios, snacks, and for the aquarium trade. In Hong Kong they sell for $550 per pound, and the illegal trade is so lucrative that smuggled stashes worth many thousands of dollars on the black market are discovered regularly.
The male brooding that is a unique characteristic of seahorses means that the young depend on parental survival for far longer than in most fish. They are mainly monogamous, at least during a season, and widowed animals don’t reproduce until they find a new partner. Their low population density means that lost partners are not quickly replaced. Seahorses are poor swimmers. Low adult mobility and small home ranges restrict recolonization of depleted areas.
Seahorses comprise one genus (Hippocampus) of the family Syngnathidae, which means “fused jaw”. Pipefish and seahorses diverged during the Late Oligocene. Hippos means “horse” and Campus means “sea-monster.”
Seahorses’ unique characteristics include a horse-like head, independently moving eyes, like a chameleon; a brood pouch, called a marsupium, in which the male nourishes the developing young. With their ability to change colour they are masters of camouflage and have filaments that they can grow and reabsorb that help them to blend into the background. Seahorses have no scales, but bony plates under the skin. The prehensile tail is made up of bony plates that can slide across each other to withstand the crushing force of a bird or turtle beak. This amazing design of nature is now being studied for use in body armour and robotics. In fact, the only similarity to other fish is having gills and fins (which oscillate at 35 to 70 beats per second!).
There are 54 recognised species of seahorses within the genus Hippocampus, mostly in tropical seas. In Europe we have only two species: Hippocampus hippocampus and Hippocampus guttulatus. They are classified as “Near Threatened” on the Mediterranean Red List.
Breeding
Breeding is controlled by several factors, the most obvious being the availability of a mate. Some of the females in the Kenna Eco Diving Seahorse Project study area seem to lack a mate and, due to the monogamy of seahorses, are unlikely to find one. Lone females have been seen to travel a hundred square meters, over the course of a week, in search of a mate.
Males have a home range of just a few square meters and mated females have a larger, overlapping territory.
Seahorses perform a daily greeting ritual that reinforces the pair bond.
The number of hours of daylight controls female egg production and male incubation period, with seawater temperature having a reinforcing effect. Seahorse eggs are 5 times bigger and 10 times heavier than other marine fish eggs.
Captive breeding success
Following a decade of research in Spain and Portugal, the European Spiny seahorse is now being bred in captivity with a 90% survival rate. This is a much higher survival rate than in the wild, and aquarium specimens should now all be captive bred.
However, they cannot be released to repopulate the sea until habitat destruction and illegal fishing is prevented. Seahorses are naturally predated upon by Octopus, Scorpionfish, Turtles and Sea birds. But the greatest predator is man!
Seahorse fry spend their first few weeks as part of the plankton, where they are eaten by pelagic species, until the survivors settle into the safety of the seagrass. Less than 1% live to reach adulthood.
Feeding
The horses head shape evolved for pivot feeding to give greater reach and eliminate wake to catch their tiny but very quick copepod prey unawares. Seahorses have a 1 millisecond strike and a 90% catch rate. The independent eyes allow them to focus on prey whilst also keeping an eye out for predators. Food is sucked in through the snout. They have no teeth or stomach, so food has to be easily digestible. Adults eat 70 copepods (Mysis shrimp) per day. Seahorse fry eat thousands during their pelagic stage.
Kenna Eco Diving Seahorse Project
This project is studying the two European species of seahorses that live in the Mediterranean Sea: Hippocampus hippocampus and Hippocampus guttulatus.
Field research is challenging due to several issues. Seahorses are very hard to spot due to their amazing camouflaging abilities. Finding sparse populations is very difficult. In fact, I spent 15 years searching before finding a pair by accident!
They are shy and easily stressed. Therefore excellent buoyancy control is required to avoid disturbing them. Volunteers with Kenna Eco Diving practice buoyancy exercises before being allowed to visit “Seahorse City”, the nickname given to our study area.
In order to identify and monitor individuals we take macro photos using only ambient light. This is because seahorses are especially sensitive to light. They carry dormant diseases that can take hold if they become stressed. We have to gather data without disturbing them.
During our 2014 research season 28 individuals were catalogued, each with ID photographs and a fitting name. Mr Itchy was christened because of his use of his tail in a strange scratching behaviour*. It was suspected that he was suffering from one of the skin diseases that can cause a rapid death. Fortunately the behaviour ceased after several weeks and he was still around at the end of summer before the group moved off to over-winter deeper in the shelter of the Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadow.
Meet Mr Itchy in this video:
[youtube id=”lqITwF3yYBI” width=”100%” height=”400px”]
By Dave Alexander
Mark Evans… you’ve created a monster.
A monster of a dive show, that is. It’s hard to believe just how fast the GO Diving Show has grown since its inaugural outing back in 2019. Mark and his team have done something the previous UK dive show organisers never did; they’ve listened to the industry and have taken on board what their exhibitors want, and hat’s off to them – they’ve delivered.
Carpet, for example. I know, I know – having a carpet down doesn’t seem like that much of a big deal. But aesthetically, it really elevates the professionalism of the show (and your dogs won’t be barking quite as much as they would have been had you been traipsing around on a concrete floor all day; many of the exhibitors I spoke to were extremely grateful for that). There were black drapes on the walls which hid the sterile-looking breeze blocks the building is made of. These simple additions make a real difference, both to exhibitors and the show’s visitors. It just looks better.
As usual, the Go Diving Show 2025 featured an army of speakers who entertained, educated, and inspired the show’s visitors across several stages. TV presenters and adventurers Steve Backshall and Andy Torbet were among the highlights. Backshall, known for his passion for wildlife and adventure, captivated the audience with his talk, sharing his thrilling experiences and diving expeditions. Torbet, renowned for his adventurous spirit, delivered a compelling presentation titled “Technical Diving on the Telly,” where he explored the challenges of showcasing technical diving on television and the unique perspectives it offers. Monty Halls, known for his conservation work, introduced his “Big Blue Bag” citizen science project, encouraging the audience to contribute to marine conservation. Meanwhile, Dr. Dawn Kernagis spoke about the future of human subsea habitation, giving an insightful look into the advancements in underwater living. In the photo and inspiration sessions, Ellen Cuylaerts shared her incredible adventures from remote locations, emphasizing the importance of dive safety with DAN membership, while Jane Morgan wowed the crowd with her stunning photography of native marine species in “Supermodels of the Sea.” These speakers, among many others, contributed to a diverse and inspiring lineup that offered something for everyone. In addition to the speakers, other entertainment over the weekend included a Mermaid pool, which proved very popular with families, breath-hold workshops, virtual reality diving, an on-land wreck survey, and more.
If you went to the show to book a dive holiday, you had plenty of options. There were dive centres, resorts, and liveaboards from all over the world exhibiting at this year’s show, with dive specialist tour operators offering full packages at some great dive show prices. The Caribbean, in particular, had a strong presence, with the Bahamas, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, British Virgin Islands, Grenada, and Cuba all with stands in close proximity to each other (reminiscent of the Caribbean Village at the old dive shows in Birmingham. Who remembers the steel band that rocked up to do their thing every year?). It was good to see Gibraltar there too, and as ever, Malta and Gozo were there in force.
New kids on the block, DYNAMICNORD, were in attendance to show off their full product line for the very first time. For those who were impressed by the new company’s offerings, all they had to do was walk to the next stand, where the Scuba Dive Store team were selling DYNAMICNORD products. By all accounts, they had a great weekend, so congratulations to both parties.
While on the subject of manufacturers, it was great to see Cressi exhibiting at Go Diving. I can’t remember the last time they exhibited at a UK show! XDEEP were there showing off their customisation system for their wings (which is seriously impressive – check it out), and Sea & Sea were on hand to present their endless line of products (do you guys even sleep?!?), including Huish brands like Oceanic, Hollis, Atomic, Stahlsac, and Zeagle. Otter Drysuits had a great weekend – JJ and his team were rushed off their feet measuring divers up for drysuits, while Peter and the rest of the Miflex team, who were sharing a stand with Otter, were there previewing the latest offering from Miflex, KUBI, and the simply adorable reg bags from Oceanarium. Other manufacturers and distributors at the show included Mares, Fourth Element, AP Diving, Garmin, Hammond Drysuits, Custom Divers, and more. Suunto didn’t have a stand themselves, but their team could be found on the Andark Diving stand to assist divers with any questions about their products. Noticeably absent this year were industry giants Scubapro and Aqua Lung, who hopefully will return to the fold next year.
There was a great showing from the training agencies this year too, with PADI, SSI, BSAC, RAID, NAUI, and SDI/TDI all in attendance. I, like many others in the industry, hope they all had the chance to get together and discuss how they can work together to get more young people into the sport. Because it became quite apparent over the weekend that we are an aging industry, with very few young people coming through to carry the torch. There were so many familiar faces, but their hair had changed… everyone’s going grey! Someone needs to tell the kids that diving is cool, and the general consensus seems to be that it’s the responsibility of the training agencies to at least lead the charge on this. But that’s a conversation for another time.
In terms of crowd numbers, the show seemed packed on the Saturday, and most of the exhibitors I spoke to said they had an excellent day. Sunday was quieter in the morning, and like every other dive show I have ever been to (and over 19 years, that’s a LOT), it kind of died off in the afternoon, which was a shame as the last talk of the day, with an impressive lineup of the show’s speakers all on the stage together – including Steve Backshall and Monty Halls – had one of the smallest audiences of the whole weekend.
All in all though, Mark and the rest of the Go Diving Show team did themselves and the rest of the UK dive industry proud this weekend. The show had a fantastic vibe and judging from social media today, a lot of the show’s visitors had a great time. There’s a lot of love out there for GO Diving Show, and it’s well deserved.
Well done, Mark. We’re all looking forward to what you and the team cook up for us in 2026.
BOOT 2025, the world’s largest water sports trade fair, provided the perfect stage for the launch of the new UWACAM app which meanwhile is rated at an excellent 4.8 out of 5 in the Apple App Store.
Optimized for DIVEVOLK (divevolkdiving.com) Seatouch housings and developed in collaboration with award-winning underwater filmmaker Matthias Lebo (matthiaslebo.com), this app is user-friendly and features large, clear controls, enabling effortless and stunning shots.
It offers professional functions typically found in high-end cameras, supports the LOG format for advanced color corrections, includes built-in LUTs (Color Lookup Tables) to restore underwater colors, and provides a manual mode, user presets, histogram, focus peaking, zebra function, and much more.
As an official product of Bumbayaya GmbH (bumbayaya.ch / uwacam.com), the UWACAM app has been specifically designed for use in DIVEVOLK Seatouch underwater housings. Visitors were able to experience the app live at the DIVEVOLK booth.
UWACAM simplifies underwater photography with an intuitive user interface that is perfectly adapted for underwater operation. The app offers precise control and delivers impressive results for both hobby divers and professionals.
Why UWACAM?
- Specifically developed for DIVEVOLK: Perfect integration into Seatouch housings for effortless underwater operation.
- Simple yet professional: Switch between an Easy Automatic Mode for beginners and a comprehensive Pro Mode.
- All-in-one app: Supports all photo and video formats, including LOG for professional color corrections.
- Pro Features:
- Focus Peaking: Precise focus control.
- Zebra Function: Prevents over- or underexposure.
- Built-in LUTs: Color corrections for realistic underwater shots.
- Manual Controls: Fine-tune exposure, focus, white balance, and more.
- Diver-Specific Features: Automatic color correction based on environment and dive depth, plus an optional magnetic compass overlay.
“We are excited to present UWACAM at BOOT 2025,” says Matthias Lebo, who played a key role in its development. “With UWACAM, we bring the beauty of the underwater world directly into the hands of divers and snorkelers—intuitive, powerful, and adaptable.”
Customer Reviews
Available in the App Store
UWACAM is now available for download in the App Store.
https://apps.apple.com/de/app/uwacam/id6714463099
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