Seahorses Wanted!
In recent times, seahorses have increasingly been found along the German North Sea coast. For this reason, we – the Landesmuseum Natur und Mensch Oldenburg, the Thünen Institute for Sea Fisheries in Bremerhaven, the National Park Administration of the Lower Saxony Wadden Sea, and WWF Germany – are calling for reports of dead seahorses and for these animals to be handed over at a National Park House or a Centre along the coastline. The seahorses, along with the location data, will be incorporated into the scientific collection of the Landesmuseum Natur und Mensch Oldenburg. This way, they will be available for research.
So, anyone who walks along the beach with open eyes can almost casually support science and help improve knowledge about the distribution of seahorses in the North Sea. Every animal is important for the collection, as only with the complete set of findings can larger questions, such as the distribution of the species, be answered. Researchers from the Thünen Institute for Sea Fisheries in Bremerhaven want to investigate the presence of seahorses more closely using the animals that have been handed in. They hope that the reports will provide more data to better assess the potential establishment of seahorses along our coasts.
How you can support the Citizen Science project:
To make seahorse findings usable for scientific research, please take the following action when you find one:
- Take a photo of the seahorse at the discovery location, ideally placing a reference object, such as a coin or ruler, next to the animal.
- Enter the photo, location and date on the website: www.beachexplorer.org.
- Afterwards, hand over the dead seahorse to one of the National Park Houses or Centres. There, the details about the location and date will also be entered onto a form. You can also leave your contact details if you want to be informed about updates.
The report form is available for download here. Locations of the individual National Park Houses that accept finds are available here. Thank you for your help and support!
Genetic Research
Where do the seahorses that wash up on the Lower Saxony North Sea coast come from? This question is being investigated not only by scientists but also by us at the Landesmuseum Natur und Mensch Oldenburg. Thanks to an exciting collaboration with the University of Kiel, we might soon be able to get to the bottom of this question.
In August 2024, Olivia Roth, Professor of Marine Evolutionary Biology at the University of Kiel, paid a visit. Her goal was to collect samples for DNA analysis, which will provide important insights into the genetic diversity and population dynamics of seahorses. These samples come from our collection, which continues to grow through the Citizen Science campaign #FindetHippo (English translation: find hippo). Since the beginning of 2022, 18 freshly dead seahorses have already been added to our collection through the campaign.
The genetic studies are part of a pan-European research project supported by several European institutions. The goal of the project is to better understand the distribution and genetic diversity of seahorse and pipefish species.
We are delighted that our collections can contribute to scientific research, and we look forward to the results of these important studies.
Information about the research project at the University of Kiel
How It All Began
At the beginning of 2022, the Landesmuseum Natur und Mensch Oldenburg, in collaboration with the Thünen Institute for Sea Fisheries in Bremerhaven and the National Park Administration of the Lower Saxony Wadden Sea, launched the first public call to report seahorse finds. The trigger for the joint Citizen Science campaign was two short-snouted seahorses (Hippocampus hippocampus) that had been found on the East Frisian island of Wangerooge in the North Sea. The subsequent query of museum collections in the North Sea region and research in available literature revealed a gap in data and knowledge regarding the distribution of seahorses in the North Sea. The three partners then joined forces for the call. The National Park Administration coordinates and communicates the campaign through its National Park Houses and Centres, which in turn accept the finds. Submitted animals are handed over to the Landesmuseum Natur und Mensch and incorporated into the natural history collection. The Thünen Institute handles the scientific evaluation.
The very first finds from the North Sea islands of Wangerooge and Juist were handed over to the museum in June 2023 by Mathias Heckroth, Managing Director of Mellumrat e.V. and Representative for Wangerooge, and Anke Hofmeister, Coordinator of the National Park Houses at the Lower Saxony National Park Administration. Since then, the number of freshly dead animals in the museum collection has been growing. Involvement of WWF Germany has also paved the way for the campaign and project to be expanded to include the Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg Wadden Sea areas.
We Need More Data!
However, the data situation is still too vague to make more concrete statements, such as whether animals of certain ages or sexes are appearing more often, or whether seahorses are temporarily drifting into the Wadden Sea or have already established populations there. Therefore, it is crucial that finds continue to be reported on the digital platform beachexplorer.org, and that dead seahorses are handed in. Your reports of finds from previous years are also valuable! They may provide clues about the past distribution of seahorses in the North Sea. Feel free to send an email to
museumnaturundmensch.de
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