Anja Murray: Ireland’s seahorses and the seagrass meadows they call home

A rarely-sighted seahorse washed up on Ballynamona Strand recently is a small reminder of the richness of our coastal waters and the urgent need to protect habitats while there’s still something to protect

A short-snouted seahorse (Hippocampus hippocampus) in the thickets of sea grass in the Black Sea in Odessa Bay. There have been only seven records of the short-snouted seahorse here, the earliest from 1837 and the latest dates to 1956. Picture: iStock

Seahorses are intriguing, familiar to most of us through television documentaries and captive breeding programmes. We know that they live in the seas around Ireland, though sightings are rare. Their name in Irish is Each Uisce, meaning “water spirit.” There have been only 7 records of the short-snouted seahorse here, the earliest from 1837 and the latest dates to 1956. Another species which might reasonably be expected to live in Irish marine waters, the long-snouted seahorse, has been sighted before but there are no official records of its presence here, until a few months ago.

In February, someone taking a stroll along Ballynamona Strand in Cork spotted something unusual washed up on the shore. Rita Mahon was enjoying a stroll along the beach, enjoying the break in the weather after weeks of winter storms. She spotted a small, skeletal thing washed up against the sand dunes as they returned to the car park, and decided to look more closely.