Sea Horses

Dangers to seahorses
These intriguing fish are threatened by overexploitation (for traditional medicines, aquarium display, tonic foods and curiosities), accidental capture in nonselective fishing gear, and degradation of their habitats. Many seahorse species are included on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, primarily as Vulnerable and Data Deficient. The IUCN Red List is the world's most complete inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species. It uses a set of standards to check the extinction risk of thousands of species and subspecies.

Seahorses in the St. Maarten Marine Park
The Marine Park is an underwater world of wondrous beauty with colourful corals, sea fans, ship wrecks and all kinds of tropical fish. The seahorse is also a local resident; these cool fish have been spotted at a few dive sites in the Marine Park. Just as exciting as it is to see a sea turtle swimming by so is it the same when a diver spots a seahorse! These well-camouflaged, slow swimmers will let you get close but they will tuck their heads down and turn away.