Scuba Divers Film A Pregnant Male Seahorse Not Knowing It's The Moment It’s About To Have Babies

Jun 17, 2019 by apost team

It was a lucky day for divers Meagan Abele and Clayton Manning when they went scuba diving off the coast of Little Beach in Nelson Bay, New South Wales, Australia. The two saw and recorded a one-in-a-million underwater sight that they just happened to stumble upon.

It was an inconspicuous little fish with a big belly swimming along the seafloor. They identified it as a male H. White’s seahorse and they decided to film this unusual looking creature not knowing what was going to happen next.

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They got their underwater camera out and got up close and personal with the seahorse. Then they noticed a little green strand coming out of its stomach. When you watch the video, at first it looks like it might be a part of the sea grass that is surrounding the seahorse.

But then after a few more seconds, you can see it’s actually a little baby seahorse trying to escape his dad’s belly and swim free into the world. It’s not just that little baby but tons of other brothers and sisters that begin to swim free and float up with the current.

According to National Geographic, depending on the species male seahorses can give birth to up to 2,000 babies at one time. Thousands of seahorses are born because less than five per every 1,000 survive to reach maturity. It might sound like a lot of labor but at least their gestation period is short: between 10-25 days.

As the video shows, the seahorse offspring don’t get any support from their parents after they’re born. They fend for themselves whichever way they can and that might be why their survival rate is so low. Marine conservation group Project Seahorse reports that with threats to their habitat and over-fishing, their species is also now becoming extinct.

Do you want to learn more about these fascinating animals and about what you can do to help? Visit the Project Seahorse website and don’t forget to tell others about this miracle of life!