Seahorse Adoption Scheme

Help The Seahorse Trust to save seahorses by adopting one of our British Seahorses.

For just £5 per month (minimum 12 months), you can adopt a beautiful seahorse!  As part of the adoption, you will get an ID card with information about your seahorse, a Seahorse Trust pinbadge, certificate of your seahorse adoption, a Seahorse Trust sticker and a fluffy toy seahorse.

Also, The Seahorse Trust will send you our newsletter to your registered email address. If you have already adopted and your email address has changed, don’t forget to let us know!  Unfortunately we can no longer send out paper copies of the newsletter due to the cost of postage.

Don’t forget to Gift Aid your donations, as we can claim 25p from the government from tax you have already paid, for every pound you have donated.

Adopt Jubilee

Jubilee represents all Seahorses found in the UK and further afield

We have chosen Jubilee to represent all the seahorses around the UK and further afield, in celebration of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Seahorses are very majestic, regal and serene, and Jubilee encompasses all of these. We have, through the work of The Seahorse Trust, found seahorses all around the British Isles. In 2008, after much campaigning, we ensured they are all protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act. This work could not have been done without the help of so many volunteers sending in sightings to us – thank you all.

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seahorse in vegetation

Adopt Usti

Cherokee Native American name meaning “Little”

Usti is a female Spiny Seahorse who was found by Lin Baldock. Lin has found many Seahorses for the British Seahorse Survey and has a keen eye for finding them. Tiny was found by Western Ledges in Dorset attached to the seagrass.

When she is fully grown she will be about 8 inches (20.5 cm) from the top of her head to the end of her tail.

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small seahorse

Adopt Atsadi

Cherokee Native American name meaning “fish”

Atsadi was found in the River Tamar where it turns from salt water to fresh in the brackish area – in fact, he was more in the freshwater than salt.

Over the years we have found quite a few seahorses in brackish areas up rivers and in estuaries, and we think that this is because they are hunting for the small Mysis shrimp that move in and out with the tides.

The range of seahorses is quite diverse and can be found up rivers and in shallow waters and right out to the deep waters of the sea, with the deepest recording so far at 257 feet or 78 metres.

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yellow seahorse

Adopt Namid

Chippewa Native American name meaning “Star Dancer”

Namid was studied by our assistant project officer, John Newman.  John spent almost three months going underwater to study Namid and his partner Muraco (which means “White Moon”). During this time Namid got pregnant and gave birth 3 times. He was very hard to find as his colours and the fact he sat very tightly against a small piece of weed, made him disappear. For John to have  studied him for so long is amazing. This is the first time somebody has studied the same pair of seahorses in the wild for such a long time.

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tiny seahorse

Adopt Peta

Black Foot Native American name meaning “Golden Eagle”

Peta is a very young seahorse and was caught in a shrimp net.  She was floating around with a large swarm of shrimps, which we think she was eating. Because of the various types of habitat to be found in Torbay, it has both species of seahorse living there. Another seahorse was found a week later about 100 yards away and this was a Spiny Seahorse.

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inflated bellied seahorse

Adopt Chowilawu

Hopi Native American name meaning “Joined together by water”

Chowilawu is a fully adult male Spiny Seahorse and he was fully pregnant. Judging by the size of his belly he would have given birth within a few days of this picture being taken. The fifty fry (babies) would have been born after a contraction period of up to 12 hours and they would have popped out of the pouch within a few seconds.

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dirty seahorse

Adopt Niyol

Navajo Native American name meaning “wind”

Niyol was found in a lobster pot in Swanage, Dorset, and is a female Spiny Seahorse. Like all seahorses, Spiny Seahorses can change their appearance by growing spines (cirri) or by changing colour.

Niyol looks like she has had a bad hair day as her spines have accidently trapped sediment which helps her in blending in, and hiding from potential predators.

The British Seahorse Survey relies heavily on the help of fishermen and divers sending in their sightings of seahorses they find.

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seahorse in hands

Adopt Machk

Algonquin Native American name meaning “bear”

Machk is the largest seahorse ever recorded by the British Seahorse Survey –  from the top of his tail, he measured a full 9 inches (23cm). Spiny Seahorses can be big prickly seahorses but he was a major surprise to us, and makes us realise how much more there is to learn about seahorses in the British Isles and in other parts of the world.

The more work we can do in the Survey, the more we can learn about these amazing creatures and make sure their future is a secure one.

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seahorse wrapped around seaweed

Adopt Tangakwunu

Hopi Native American name meaning “rainbow”

Tangakwunu was found amongst the pontoons and boats of the marina, attached to the weed.  She is a young seahorse, and we know there are a number of seahorses breeding in this area. When fully grown she will be about 5 to 6 inches (13 to 15 cm) from the top of her head to the end of her tail, and should live for up to 6 or 7 years.

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Adopt Catori

Hopi Native American name meaning “spirit”

Catori is a beautiful adult Short Snouted Seahorse who was in very good health when she was found in a lobster pot off Portland in Dorset. Seahorses are often found in lobster and crab pots. We think they are attracted there by the small shrimp that feed on the bait put into pots to attract the crabs and lobsters. Because of the amount of seahorses found in these pots, we value the information given to us by fishermen. They have an indepth knowledge that helps us in our research.

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