Rare Sea Filmed off South Coast
By Jenninnifer Cockerell
A rare breed of seahorse has been filmed off the south coast, it was revealed today.
The footage of a short-snouted seahorse was taken by divers during Kent Wildlife Trust's first marine life survey of the year.
They spotted the three-inch long animal at a depth of about 50ft in Shakespeare Bay, just outside Dover Harbour in Kent, last month.
Bryony Chapman, marine officer for Kent Wildlife Trust, said: "We have had very occasional reports of seahorses washed up around the Kent coast, but we believe this is the first sighting and the first film of these elusive creatures in their natural environment in this area, so the team is very excited."
She said that it is not known how many short-snouted seahorses live in British water as they are notoriously difficult to spot.
"They are very well camouflaged so it is very, very rare to see them," she said.
"Normally they are found in warmer waters, but they have been known to live in the Thames and off the coast of the south west (England)."
Short-snouted seahorses, or Hippocampus hippocampus, have recently been classified as a protected species under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, but as there are no records of their numbers it is not known how endangered they actually are.
Press Association: 6th June 2008
