Did you find a seahorse on the beach? “Take Him to the Shelter”

Lovers of beach walks will be able to encounter seahorses along the Dutch coast in the coming months. Stormy weather can wash away the sea creatures on the beach. Throwing them back into the water is not an option, but they can be saved.

One of the places where seahorses are cared for is Diergaarde Blijdorp in Rotterdam. “We caught another seahorse on Saturday,” says Mark de Boer, head of cold-blooded fish at Blijdorp, on the NPO Radio 1 program News and Co. The patient can recover in an aquarium with the right temperature.

For the moment, things seem to be going well with the short-snouted seahorse, the most widespread species in the North Sea. “We haven’t seen it eat yet, but it always takes a few days. The animal naturally arrives on the beach hypothermic.”

When seahorses wash up, they are often not dead, but comatose. In winter the sea water temperature is too low for them. Beach visitors can put the animal in a plastic bag or container with a layer of sea water and then take it to Rotterdam.

“Keep it as cold as possible in the water it was found in,” advises De Boer. It is also important that the finder handle the seahorse carefully, as it is fragile.

The rescued seahorse has to recover in Diergaarde Blijdorp:

Unlike many other fish, the seahorse is able to survive by washing up on the beach. “Apparently they are so robust that they can survive in a pool of seawater,” says De Boer. When the animals have recovered, they are released into the sea.

The seahorse is a protected species and is on the endangered animal list. “We all need to protect nature, and this is one species that deserves our protection and care.” In recent years, however, more and more seahorses can be found in the North Sea, because the sea water is slowly warming up.

Besides Blijdorp, stranded marine animals can also end up in the north of the country. Earlier this year, six seahorses were collected in an aquarium at Ecomare, a refuge for seals and birds on Texel.