This marine creature, named 'Seahorse' because it resembles a horse, is known for its male pregnancy and childbirth. In fact, the male does not give birth directly. The female lays eggs in the brood pouch attached to the male's belly, and the male seahorse incubates and hatches the eggs. Although the male does not actually lay the eggs, the hatching of the eggs in the male's brood pouch looks like a childbirth. Do you know that the seahorse, full of mystery from its appearance to its breeding method, is an endangered species?

There are a total of 46 species of seahorses in the world. Of these, about 30 species are designated as endangered. The white seahorse, a representative endangered seahorse, is designated as 'Endangered' (EN) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and the pot-bellied seahorse is designated as 'Vulnerable' (VU). According to research, more than 37 million seahorses disappear every year. What is the reason why so many species of seahorses have become endangered?

Seahorses mainly inhabit tropical and temperate seas. Seahorses often live near coral reefs. As coral reefs have died due to climate change and ocean pollution, seahorses have also been affected. In addition, damage to seaweed due to ocean pollution has also had a negative impact on seahorses. As seaweed is the food of seahorses, if seaweed is destroyed by ocean pollution, seahorses are inevitably in danger.

Moreover, seahorses are often kept as ornamental animals because of their unique appearance. However, seahorses are vulnerable to stress, making them very difficult for ordinary people to keep at home. Of course, seahorses born in a captive environment from the beginning quickly adapt to the captive tank and live well. However, if seahorses caught in the wild are kept in a home tank, the seahorse is at a higher risk of death.

Seahorses are known as a creature that is good for various diseases in traditional oriental medicine. That's why seahorses are used as medicine in China. Not only in China, but also in other Asian countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines, seahorses are used as medicine. As a result of indiscriminate fishing for seahorses, the seahorse population has declined, and it has ultimately become an endangered species.

Fortunately, seahorses are currently designated as prohibited items for international trade, so it is expected that the number of overfished seahorses has decreased compared to the past.

In addition, various efforts are being made to protect the endangered seahorses. They are designating seahorse habitats as special protected areas, or attempting artificial insemination. However, newborn seahorses are very sensitive to the surrounding environment and have an extremely low survival rate. Newborn seahorses are easily swept away by currents or exposed to predators, so only about 0.5% of the born seahorses grow into adults. Due to this low survival rate of seahorses, artificial insemination efforts are even more necessary.

Save Our Seahorses is conducting various conservation activities, such as fundraising for seahorses, protecting seahorse habitats, and regulating the practice of catching male seahorses carrying eggs. They also play a role in informing people about the endangered status of seahorses. In 2015, they produced and released a documentary called 'Seahorse Man' on Netflix. If you are interested, you might want to watch it.

The seahorse, as mysterious as it is, is endangered due to human interest. Now is the time for us to work to preserve that mystery.