Despite finding many adults, plenty of pregnant males (female seahorses transfer their eggs to the male, who fertilizes them in his pouch) and juveniles, the trust had previously failed to find any babies.

Baby seahorses are left entirely on their own after being born, and rarely survive long enough to become an adult. Due to their premature independence and underwater predators, less than one in a thousand will survive into adulthood. Not good odds, even though about 100-200 eggs are hatched at a time.

But the trust finally found a fry in the waters at Studland in Dorest. Despite poor weather and only 3 feet of visibility, scientists spotted a tiny seahorse clinging on to a piece of seagrass. They managed to measure the 1.6 inch creature, and snap the photograph above, before the baby returned to the sea bed.

In the first few weeks of a seahorse’s life, it will live predominantly in the plankton layer of the ocean, gobbling up an astounding 3,000 pieces of plankton every 24 hours.

But unfortunately, seahorses are under threat around the world as they’re popular as pets, souvenirs and in Chinese medicine. An excess of 20 million of the critters are taken from the sea each year and used in Asia to treat ailments like asthma, impotence, thyroid disorders, broken bones and heart disease.

In the UK, however, it is illegal to kill, take or disturb seahorses in British waters.

Image: The Seahorse Trust

See Also:

• The Loris Lives! First Pictures of Primate Thought To Be Extinct
• 10 Strange Species Discovered Last Year
• 6 Super Close-Ups of Crazy Bug Eyes
• Procrastination Pit: 8 Cutest and Weirdest Live Animal Cams

Authors: Mark Brown, Wired UK

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