Sea horse
MAKER : Andrew McCulloch
FOUNDRY : ORE AND INGOT
PATINA : Abigail Burt
SPECIES INFORMATION
The Sea Horse
Classified as a fish, this little horse (Hippocampus) is found worldwide.
It is unusual, because unlike most pairings in the animal world, the male seahorse carries and gives birth to the young. Also, like the chameleon, its eyes can move independently of each other.
Reports in 1916 and 1943 deal with the possibility of the only freshwater seahorse on Earth existing or having existed in Lake Titicaca in South America. The introduction of trout might have led to their demise, since no one has seen them since. While Man does what he pleases, many wildlife species over the years are disappearing without a trace.
Apart from the endangerment to their environments due to global warming and pollution, and the pet trae, the seahorse is endangered because it is harvested for ancient medicine remedies where they are dried and ground up. Because they are ground up, the world does not see the volume of animals being collected. Since there are no size restrictions, and they are counted by the gross weight total rather than individual bodies, adults and babies are collected alike. The Sea can not sustain this indiscriminate harvesting and Mankind seems unwilling to be without their ‘creature’ comforts for medicine.
Raising awareness and preserving what we have left is a start, but if we, Humankind can not curb ourselves the only seahorses left might be the ones in Aquariums. A sadness that should not be this beautiful creatures fate.
The Seahorse Trust, https://www.theseahorsetrust.org/ is doing what it can to educate, conserve and stop the curio trade; with partner alliances all over the world. But in a rapidly shrinking world where wildlife has so many calls for preservation, it is only a small, noble effort for survival.
