White’s seahorse (Hippocampus whitei) has experienced dramatic declines across its range as a result of major flooding events along the east Australian coast. The main location for this Endangered seahorse, the Port Stephens estuary, saw population declines over 95% in the past three years mainly as a result of 2021 and 2022 floods. These flood events caused the marine habitats that the seahorses live on, such as sponges, soft corals and seagrasses to decline, leading to a subsequent decline in local seahorse populations.
To help seahorse populations recover, artificial habitats known as “seahorse hotels” have been deployed into the Port Stephens estuary in areas where natural habitats have been lost. Seahorse hotels are constructed of mild reinforced steel formed into a cube shape measuring 1 m x 1 m x 70 cm high. These structures are placed on barren sand where marine growth starts accumulating on the frame, turning into habitat that the seahorses can move onto. Research has shown that seahorse hotels attract seahorses within 3 months and individual seahorses have been seen living on the hotels for over two years.
This program will install a minimum of 60 seahorse hotels into the Port Stephens estuary to replace habitat lost from flood events and provide resilience for future flood events.
Newly installed seahorse hotel
Two year old seahorse hotel colonised by marine growth acting as suitable habitat for White's Seahorse.
Cauliflower Soft Coral habitat for White's Seahorse
