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Record Release of White's Seahorses in Sydney Harbour

Published on: August 2023

Record: HANSARD-1323879322-133209

Record Release of White's Seahorses in Sydney Harbour

Ms FELICITY WILSON (North Shore)

—More than three-hundred and eighty baby seahorses have been released at Chowder Bay in my local community of North Shore as part of efforts to boost the population of the endangered White's seahorse in Sydney Harbour. This was the world's biggest release of seahorses after being successfully bred in captivity by the Sydney Institute of Marine Science over the past five months. The species was listed as endangered in 2020 and suffered mass die-offs in the last few years due to habitat destruction, and repeated rain events have hastened the species' demise in Sydney Harbour. However, marine scientists at the Sydney Institute of Marine Science hope to do another release next year and have high expectations that the population will continue to thrive over the next twelve months. I congratulate the terrific work of the entire team, particularly scientist Mitch Brennan who helped rear the baby seahorses and, of course, the SIMS general manager Brett Fenton. I am looking forward to visiting SIMS again soon to see more of the fantastic work they are doing in marine conservation.