Australia's 'seahorse hotels' aim to save endangered species

Sydney's harbour is home to 350 newly released White's Seahorses in 8 biodegradable metal seahorse hotels.

Nestled beneath the surface of Sydney’s harbour, over 350 newly released White’s Seahorses make themselves at home in their seahorse hotels.

Made from biodegradable metal, the eight new hotels installed will provide much needed homes for the endangered seahorses.

“It was really fantastic,” said marine biologist Mitchell Brennan, the project manager of the Sydney Seahorse Project.

“These are endangered White’s Seahorses that are going out to restock the wild population here.”

The Sydney Seahorse Project is a collaboration between the Sydney Institute of Marine Science, the University of Technology Sydney and the New South Wales (NSW) Department of Primary Industries, which focuses on the conservation of the species.

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White’s Seahorses are endemic to the waters surrounding Australia’s east coast and were classified as endangered on the IUCN Red List in 2017 due to loss of habitat. Population monitoring by Australian scientists reveal that the population in Sydney Harbour nearly halved between 2008 and 2015, while the population on NSW’s north coast fell by around 95%.