Senator The Hon Murray Watt, Minister for the Environment and Water
The Hon Tara Moriarty MP, NSW Minister for Agriculture and Regional NSW
More than 1200 captive bred White's seahorse babies have been released into their new home at Port Stephens.
The baby seahorses were released into underwater 'seahorse hotels', an artificial habitat made to provide shelter and safety, as well as into natural seagrass and endangered soft coral environments close by.
Sadly, White's seahorses have suffered massive population declines over the last three years due to major flooding events along Australia's east coast.
The seahorse hotels are designed by scientists and made from metal that slowly rusts away in seawater. They were built and decorated with biodegradable materials to increase habitat structure by more than 400 local school children who have joined the recovery efforts and are learning about threats to the species.
These 'hotels' become covered in sponges, corals and algae that take over as the metal frames rust away. They are used by White's seahorses much like encrusted discarded fish traps and other marine debris.
This was the largest ever release of White's seahorses into Port Stephens since the program began and the largest release of seahorses ever undertaken in the world. More releases will happen later this year in Botany Bay with traditional custodians, the Gamay Rangers.
Large-scale captive breeding of White's seahorses is being funded by the Australian Government's Saving Native Species program and led by the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.
