Seahorse Exhibition at the Monterey Bay Aquarium
Best Things to Do For Families on California's Pacific Coast Highway
Aug 15, 2009
The Secret Lives of Seahorses is the newest exhibition at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, one of the top family attractions on California's Pacific Coast. It features more than 15 species of these elusive creatures of the deep, from snake-like pipefishes to potbellied seahorses to leafy sea dragons.
The seahorse exhibit opened in spring 2009 to coincide with the aquarium's silver anniversary year. It will run for 3-5 years, and represents one of the largest collections of these delicate marine animals in the country.
Seahorses at Monterey Bay Aquarium
With their equine heads, long snouts, bony plates and spiky curved spines, seahorses have a strange, almost magical appearance. They swim upright, and wrap their prehensile tails around grasses, corals and other stationery objects. Like a chameleon, they can change colors to blend in with their surroundings. No wonder they have long featured in art and mythology.
The seahorse exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium is a rare chance to see these fascinating fishes up close. The multimedia galleries look at the seahorse's environment, its superb methods of camouflage, its predators and kin such as the straw-like shrimpfish.
The highlight of the exhibition is simply watching these mesmerizing creatures as they dance and drift through the water. Most enchanting of all are the sea dragons, trailing their leafy limbs in a theatrical display, a seeming cross between plant and animal.
The Secret Lives of Seahorses
Seahorses have an important characteristic that makes them unique in the animal kingdom. The males, not the females, become pregnant. They carry their young in brood pouches before giving birth.
In the "Getting Together" gallery, the exhibition examines the intricate courtship rituals of seahorses, which are portrayed in an animated film. During breeding season, a male and female will greet each other and show their interest in pairing by turning bright colors, coiling their tails together and swimming side by side. They perform a pre-dawn dance by whirling around a piece of sea grass or coral, holding on with their tails. This colorful courtship can last several days.
Seahorses usually mate for life. The female deposits her eggs into the male's brood pouch, where they are fertilized. When the young are born, they are tiny but self-sufficient and must survive on their own.
Ocean Conservation at Monterey Bay Aquarium
While most of the aquarium's other exhibits focus on the sea life in Monterey Bay, the seahorse exhibition contains specimens from across the Pacific. It is a fine example of the aquarium's mission to inspire ocean conservation.
Seahorses live in coral reefs, mangrove forests and beds of seagrass. These are some of the world's most endangered marine habitats. All of the animals in The Secret Lives of Seahorses have been bred onsite or obtained from sources which promote marine conservation.
Nearly a third of the 34 known species of seahorse are on the threatened list. The death of coral reefs, loss of ocean habitats, accidental killing of seahorses by fishing nets and other harmful fishing methods, and the excessive use of seahorses in Oriental medicine and by curio traders all contribute to their demise.
Conservation stations are set up within the seahorse exhibition to show visitors how they can help save these beautiful and fragile animals.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium
The Monterey Bay Aquarium is located in Monterey, California, at the end of the town's historic Cannery Row. It is a top attraction on the Pacific Coast Highway.
Read about California Sea Life at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium is open daily, except Christmas Day. For current opening hours, admission prices and directions, visit the aquarium website.
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