By Beth Clayton
Spiny Seahorse (Hippocampus guttulatus) at Studland Bay, Dorset with courtesy of The Seahorse Trust.
When you flush the toilet, put a wash on, or take a shower, do you think about where that water goes? You might think it gets dealt with by water companies. And you’re right, it does. But do you know what happens when there is too much water in the system? Did you know that raw sewage gets pumped into the sea and rivers leading to marine and aquatic pollution? Do you know how this has an impact on why seahorses are endangered?
As a surfer, I’ve had my eyes opened to the reality of what happens and have recently learnt all about the marine pollution effects on seahorses. When there is too much water in the system because of extensive rainfall, storm overflows are put into use. These overflows exist because, without them, raw sewage would get pumped back up into your home. So instead, it gets pumped straight into the sea or into rivers. They are ideally used in emergencies, however, according to research by the UK Environment Agency (1) in 2023, there were a total of 464,056 sewage discharges into UK rivers, waterways, and seas.
Getting up to speed on this issue is a really awesome step to making positive change. I’ll let you know about other things you can do to help as well, but first, how does this relate to seahorse habitat loss and marine pollution?
Seahorses in the UK
There are two types of seahorses in the UK. The Spiny Seahorse (Hippocampus guttulatus) and the Short-Snouted Seahorse (Hippocampus hippocampus). They have incredible eyesight with the ability to look forward and backwards at the same time. This helps them to catch their prey, which is vital as an adult needs to eat around 30-50 times a day with a seahorse fry (baby seahorse) eating up to 3,000 pieces of food a day (2).
Spiny Seahorse (Hippocampus guttulatus) at Studland Bay, Dorset with courtesy of The Seahorse Trust.
Did you also know that seahorses are the only species on earth where the male falls pregnant? And when he gives birth, it can be to thousands of seahorse fry at a time. Sadly less than one in a thousand will survive long enough (2) to become adults because of predators. They are an absolutely fascinating species and thankfully, these mystical creatures are protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (3) so they cannot be killed for commercial benefit (in the UK). So it was quite ironic when I found out that sewage pollution in oceans is the main cause for concern for these beautiful little sea creatures.
So, why are seahorses endangered?
I had the opportunity to communicate with Neil Garrick-Maidmen, the founder of The Seahorse Trust (2), who enlightened me about the direct impact of sewage on seahorses.
“It [sewage] unbalances the nutrient levels in the sea and allows harmful blanket weed to smother areas like seagrass, which in turn kills it. This then creates a desert-like effect in the sea and species like Spiny Seahorses that normally live in seagrass have nowhere to go and their numbers drop.”
Neil's passion for seahorses is inspiring, as is his fight against climate change. He points out that “the natural world is made up of millions of plants and animals. If you keep removing species from that natural world, eventually it collapses and dies. Seahorses may be small, but they are an integral part of that web of life.”
Seahorse habitat pollution
So this then led me to find out more about seagrass. Not only is seagrass home to many beautiful species, but it also plays an important part in climate change. The Marine Conservation Society is a charity that works to protect marine wildlife and clean up our oceans. Their website states that, “Seagrass meadows are one of the most important natural solutions to the climate crisis. It plays an important role in absorbing and storing carbon, which can help us battle the climate crisis. It can absorb 10% of the carbon buried in ocean sediment every year, but only covers 0.1% of the ocean floor. (4)”
The good news is that now all storm overflows are fitted with monitoring devices (5), so whilst past data won’t give us an indication of the extent of sewage spills, the data for 2024 and beyond will shed light on the situation. In turn, the more we strive for less sewage in our seas and rivers, leading to less seahorse habitat pollution with the restoration of seagrass, the better chance we have to save the beautiful seahorses that call the UK waters their home.
What can you do?
So, what can you do? Now you have learnt about the marine pollution effects on seahorses, here are a few things you can do to make positive change.
Share your new knowledge with your friends. The more people that are aware of what’s going on, the better. We can make positive change, but we can only do it together.
Watch what you flush down the toilet. Knowing that this can end up in the sea or rivers, think before you flush. Only pee, poop, and (toilet) paper.
Switch to using eco-friendly washing powder for your washing machine.
Switch to using eco-friendly soap and shampoos.
Be wary of what is going down the sink when washing up. Remember all waste water from your home is sewage. It all ends up in the same place.
Sign this petition! Urge the UK government to hold water companies accountable for discharging raw sewage into rivers and seas by enforcing stricter regulations, ending CEO bonuses, and introducing criminal charge (please note this link will take you to a different website).
Let’s do what we can to save the seahorses.
Below is a really great link to safe bathing, swimming and surfing in the UK (aka where the overflows aren’t currently pumping sewage). It’s saved me from getting ill a number of times and helps you to understand the scale of the problem we face today (please note this link will take you to a different website): https://www.sas.org.uk/water-quality/sewage-pollution-alerts.
Thank you so much for reading and I hope you can now answer the question, why seahorses are endangered.
Sources
(Please note these are all external links).
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Event Duration Monitoring - Storm Overflows - Annual Returns (2023) https://environment.data.gov.uk/dataset/21e15f12-0df8-4bfc-b763-45226c16a8ac Open Government License v.3.0.
The Seahorse Trust: Sea Horse Facts https://www.theseahorsetrust.org/seahorse-facts/
Marine Species & Wildlife: Protection - Seahorses https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/protected-marine-species/seahorses Open Government License v.3.0.
Marine Conservation Society: Seagrass Restoration https://www.mcsuk.org/ocean-emergency/marine-protected-areas/recovery-projects/seagrass/
Environment Agency: Environment Agency publishes storm overflow spill data for 2023
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/environment-agency-publishes-storm-overflow-spill-data-for-2023 Open Government License v.3.0.
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