Predict and describe the effect of environmental changes on seahorses
Global Warming:
Sadly, a host of factors, from climate change to water pollution, are causing population declines. Seahorses are threatened by more than just fishing. They commonly live in sea grass beds, mangroves, and coral reefs in coastal shallow waters, which are all highly sensitive to pollution, climate change and other human impacts. For example, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 destroyed sea grass beds, driving down populations of an already-threatened pygmy seahorse species that inhabits the area. Seahorses are especially vulnerable to disturbances, as they are slow swimmers. They are sparsely populated throughout the oceans, and are monogamous (which means remaining faithful to their mate.) All of these factors mean that if one of a pair disappears, its mate is very slow to find a new partner.
Fishing:
In January 2010, 25,000 seahorses were seized from a warehouse in Peru, which belonged to a Chinese citizen who had planned to export them to Japan via Hong Kong. Only a month later in Panama, 20,000 seahorses were discovered hidden inside the stomach of a fish from Peru.
Water pollution:
Water pollution in the ocean almost always starts off with human activities on land that wash into rivers and are carried to the ocean. Some chemical pollutants directly affect ocean animals, including pesticides, oil and gas. Other pollutants include nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, sewage and animal waste run-off, that can cause algae blooms. Algae blooms take over patches of the ocean and then create oxygen-free, dead zones as they die off and rot. Finally, eroded sediment can be washed into the ocean, covering coral reefs and sea grass beds.
As the coral reefs and sea grass beds are ruined, the tiny fish and plankton the seahorse depend upon for food are also destroyed. Their shallow, near-shore habitats are also highly affected by human pollution from waste dumping, tourists and construction run-off.
Global Warming:
Sadly, a host of factors, from climate change to water pollution, are causing population declines. Seahorses are threatened by more than just fishing. They commonly live in sea grass beds, mangroves, and coral reefs in coastal shallow waters, which are all highly sensitive to pollution, climate change and other human impacts. For example, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 destroyed sea grass beds, driving down populations of an already-threatened pygmy seahorse species that inhabits the area. Seahorses are especially vulnerable to disturbances, as they are slow swimmers. They are sparsely populated throughout the oceans, and are monogamous (which means remaining faithful to their mate.) All of these factors mean that if one of a pair disappears, its mate is very slow to find a new partner.
Fishing:
In January 2010, 25,000 seahorses were seized from a warehouse in Peru, which belonged to a Chinese citizen who had planned to export them to Japan via Hong Kong. Only a month later in Panama, 20,000 seahorses were discovered hidden inside the stomach of a fish from Peru.
Water pollution:
Water pollution in the ocean almost always starts off with human activities on land that wash into rivers and are carried to the ocean. Some chemical pollutants directly affect ocean animals, including pesticides, oil and gas. Other pollutants include nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, sewage and animal waste run-off, that can cause algae blooms. Algae blooms take over patches of the ocean and then create oxygen-free, dead zones as they die off and rot. Finally, eroded sediment can be washed into the ocean, covering coral reefs and sea grass beds.
As the coral reefs and sea grass beds are ruined, the tiny fish and plankton the seahorse depend upon for food are also destroyed. Their shallow, near-shore habitats are also highly affected by human pollution from waste dumping, tourists and construction run-off.