gsl

Piddle Valley Vets at Puddletown near Dorchester kindly nominated the trust as their charity to raise money for and raised an amazing £174.19 to go towards our work. David Holah, established the surgery in 2011 and has always wanted to support charities especially wildlife ones that work in the local area.
Between David and his amazing team they worked hard to promote the work of the trust and raise the much needed funds and we would like to say a massive thank you to them. Without the likes of people like David and the team, the trust would not keep going and we could not keep doing our research, education and lobbying work to preserve seahorses and the environment. Thank you to David (pictured below) and everyone at Piddle Valley Vets.   http://www.piddlevalleyvets.co.uk/

Here at the trust we have just reached 600 members on our facebook page and we have supporters from all ages, including Lila one of our younger supporters. Lila and her Seahorse team kindly made some bead things to sell to raise money for the trust and its work and she has written a paragraph below saying why she loves seahorses. We have pasted all Lilas pictures and comments with permission from her Mum and Dad who we would like to thank for encouraging her in her love for the natural world.

My name is Lila and i have been rasing money at school to save the seahorses. I have loved seahorses since I was two and a half. I went to a sealife sanctuary and saw them and found them fascinating. I like seahorses because they are so different from any other animal and they are quite cute. I think that seahorses should be saved because they are an amazing creature and if we lose them then it’s another species gone. As well as this they don’t get as much attention as most other endangered animals do because they are so small. I don’t think that it is fair to kill seahorses for us especially becuase they have not done anything to harm us.  One of my favourite things about seahorses is thier tale and thier long nose.

Dear all, the kindness of people in the conservation of a species is always a pleasant experience for us and none more so than when Mel approached us to offer her support by offering to donate 10% of her profits to the work of the trust, Mel makes jewellery with small seahorses charms on and by buying her bracelets it will directly help to fund our work. So please support Mel and the trust and have a look at her site at the link below. From us all at the trust I would like to thank Mel for her amazing offer. https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/157085372/cute-seahorse-beaded-charm-bracelet

A lucky Short Snouted Seahorse was released back to the wild yesterday after a co-ordinated team effort.

The male Seahorse was accidently caught in a Sand Eel net a week ago and the quick thinking fishermen decided to put it in a bucket and take it to the Blue Reef Aquarium in Portsmouth, rather than put it back into the sea. In this

The male Seahorse was accidently caught in a Sand Eel net a week ago and the quick thinking fishermen decided to put it in a bucket and take it to the Blue Reef Aquarium in Portsmouth, rather than put it back into the sea. In this case it probably saved the seahorses life because there were lots of seagulls trying to get some of the sand eels from the net and would most likely have eaten the seahorse. Normally we encourage fishermen to put the seahorses straight back into the sea (after recording the details for us) but with such a risk, in this case it was the right thing to do.

All the staff at Blue Reef aquarium were fantastic, they put the seahorse into quarantine and made sure he was healthy and feeding.

Meanwhile Jenny Mallinson who is a visiting researcher with the National Oceanography centre at Southampton University and who holds a Marine Management Organisations license to handle seahorses got all the various organisations and individuals co-ordinated together and a release plan was organised.

The Seahorse Trust who set up and run the British Seahorse Survey and co-ordinate the National Seahorse Database contacted the aquarium and provided advice on the keeping of the seahorse and how we could all release him back to the wild.

It was decided to release him into a secret location because we were not sure exactly where he came from. There are other seahorses at this location and we know there is suitable food and habitat for him to live in.

As the pictures show, Jenny’s partner Dr Ken Collins released the seahorse back into the water and he swam off into the weeds, hopefully to set up home with the other seahorses in the area.

Thank you to everyone involved but especially the quick thinking fishermen whose actions probably saved this amazing little seahorse from the beaks of very hungry seagulls.

Its a very busy season with events, last Thursday night (the 27th) Weymouth Sea Life Centre put on their first conservation evening and it was a great success. The heavens opened and it rained all night but it did not dampen spirits. The trust attended the event and volunteer Maxine manned the stand along with trust Director Neil.
The Shark Trust, Dorset Wildlife Trust and many others put on stands and music was provided by Wessex radio. Trust volunteer and animal keeper at Weymouth Sea Life Centre Lauren Timson was one of a massive team of Sea Life staff organisers for the event and we would like to say a massive thank you to everyone at Weymouth who went to a lot of trouble to make everyone feel welcome and to put on this event which they hope will become yearly.

Trust volunteer, Dr Eva Durant kindly represented the trust at the annual Seahorse Challenge Swim held by the East Dorset Open Water Swimming Club on the 23rd of June at Knoll Beach in Studland Bay. There were 165 swimmers completing the 3 kilometre course and only a small handful retired from the race. This is the third time this fantastic swimming club have supported The Seahorse trust and they kindly raised £232 towards our research work which was amazing and we would like to thank them so much for supporting us again. From everyone’s comments the race was well organised and a lot of fun despite the weather. As well as our representative Eva, Vince Classen the British Long Distance Swimming Association President presented the awards and his wife Jacky has vowed to join the fun next year. Thank you so much to Bob, the club and the team for putting on this amazing event and thank you so much for supporting the trust.

Later this year Ben Toulson and the University of Exeter’s Expedition Team will be going out to Koh Rohl Samleon in Cambodia to follow on from the work of The Seahorse Trust, Marine Conservation Cambodia, Save Our Seahorses in Ireland and Pro Abroad in partnership with the Royal University in Phnom Penh and the people of Cambodia. They are set to explore this amazing Island and to log and catalogue the various species that live in this tropical paradise. Follow the team on their website (and updates here and on the trust facebook page), details of which can be found on the Vimeo film http://vimeo.com/68850576

They still need donations and sponsors for this incredible trip and equipment, so if you know anybody who can help, please get in touch via The Seahorse Trust. Corporate sponsors would be fantastic for Ben and the team on this ground breaking trip, which aims to discover so much and link the people of Cambodia, the natural world and the west in a unique expedition.

Dear all, it is with great sadness to announce the death of a colleague of ours from Save Our Seahorses in Malaysia. Choo Chee Kuang the founder and Team Leader of SOS was an inspiration to all and our thoughts are with his family and friends.We often shared ideas and thoughts with Choo and he was always insprirational and his enthuisam will be missed. I have posted below the abituary to him posted on the Save Our Seahorses website. http://www.sosmalaysia.org/home.html

Last Sunday, 9 Jun 2013, Save Our Seahorses Malaysia bade farewell to its Founder and Team Leader, Choo Chee Kuang after a long but incredibly brave struggle with cancer. Chee Kuang will fondly be remembered for his pioneering work on seahorses and the conservation of their precious seagrass home in Sungai Pulai, Johor.

Chee Kuang touched the lives of many who came in contact with him, and inspired many to engage in marine conservation. He will be dearly missed by all who had the privilege of knowing him intimately.

Thank you for the wonderful years for the seahorses and all those around it. Rest in peace our dear ecowarrior. May your bask in the warmth of Sungai Pulai’s tropical sun forever.

Sea Life’s new edition of Sea Urchin magazine features seahorses and some of the work of the The Seahorse Trust. In the latest edition there are some articles about our work at Studland and about various species of seahorses.You can download an app at https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=517272291661333&set=a.172294776159088.47574.171616729560226&type=1&theater or follow a blog on http://seaurchinsmag.com/blog/?p=230S   Sea Life kindly help to fund some of the work of The Seahorse Trust through their vortexes; the money spinners in each European centre that collect donations for a charity. During the winter Sea Life dedicated a number of these vortexes to the trust and wil start again next October. We would like to say a massive thank you to them for their support.

Hippocampus Guttulatus Gorilla

Hippocampus Guttulatus Gorilla (or Hippy Gut for short) has been painted by Deborah Treliving, for the Great Gorilla project. Artists were invited to submit designs for the project, organised by Paignton Zoo to celebrate their 90^th birthday in 2013 and provide funds to the Wildlife Conservation Society to support Cross River gorilla research and conservation as well as a local community project in South Devon. Deborah’s Gorilla has been sponsored by Cavanna Homes, who are also celebrating their 90^th birthday this year.

Deborah wanted to make her gorilla relevant to Torbay. Seahorses, like the great gorillas are threatened worldwide. Torbay has a good population of two species of seahorses: the spiny seahorse and the short snouted seahorse.

Deborah explained: “This has been a great project giving me scope to do something different from my usual way of working. I have found seahorses fascinating creatures to draw. I hope that Hippocampus Guttulatus Gorilla will help to increase the awareness of Torbay’s seahorses”.

Hippocampus Guttulatus Gorilla will be part of the Gorilla Flotilla across Torbay on 23^rd July.

When the trail is complete, gorillas will be on show at businesses, shops, offices, schools, colleges and public spaces across Torbay and Exeter. Hippocampus Guttulatus Gorilla will be sited at Living Coasts, Torquay from 3^rd August.

After the event, the gorillas will be auctioned at a gala charity evening at the Palace Theatre in Paignton.

Deborah Treliving is a fine artist, painter and printmaker inspired by poetry and landscape. Her abstract work is recognised by richly textured and heavily embossed carborundum prints. A passion for colour is evident throughout her work, and her palette ranges from the strong and vibrant, to the delicate and subtle. She is a member of the Devon Guild of Craftsmen. Her work has been exhibited nationally, internationally, and in her studio in the stable yard at Cockington Court.

Further information:

www.deborahtreliving.co.uk

http://www.greatgorillas.org.uk