The Singapore Oceanarium is running a special focus on Seahorses this year, in line with the Year of the Horse. Animal on the Spotlight Seahorses edition is a 45-minute tour which lets participants gain insights into the Syngnathidae family and discover Singapore’s amazing marine life.
We began our 45 minute tour with Chin, an excellent Animal Specialist guide brimming with knowledge and enthusiasm over seahorses and its historical significance. She was ready to take on all sorts of questions from the group and give us insight on how our activities contribute to the degradation of the marine environment.
Animal Spotlight on Seahorses: History of Seahorses
Did you know that the seahorse is a creature that spans both western and eastern cultures? Seahorse are seen as messengers of the water god. Known as the Hippocampus, they have been depicted in drawings as pulling Poseidon’s chariot and also carved onto the roofs of Chinese buildings.
These were just the tip of some of the interesting facts that we learned about during the tour.
Seahorse: Survival skills of an Apex predator
It took us a while to spot the seahorses in the water tank when Chin brought us around to identify them. They were able to camouflage among the artificial sea grass in the tank by wrapping their tails around the bottom of the sea grass. They swayed to the gentle current in the tank, looking all delicate and in the words of my 7 year old, “ So elegant!”.
We learned that in their region, even though they are weak swimmers and move really slowly, the seahorse is considered an apex predator with a hunting success rate of 90%. This is probably due to their camouflaging ability and the fact that their bony structure doesn’t make them a very tasty snack.
Pregnant father? Yes please.
Next up, is a back-of-house tour of the facility where the Singapore Oceanarium tries to breed seahorses. There’s a running joke in our family every time a kid asks for another sibling- if daddy can be a seahorse, sure thing.
We were not allowed to take pictures inside the facility and it was kept very sanitary because the seahorses are probably fragile and breeding was in process. We got to see a pregnant male seahorse and learned how to identify the female and male species. The females had a more letter p-like body shape, whereas the males had a more letter b-like body shape. This was to facilitate the female depositing the eggs into the male seahorse’s pouch when they mate.
We were also able to witness the feeding of the seahorses and the production of plankton feed.
Chin also highlighted how Chinese medicine often promotes seahorses as a remedy for asthma, even though it is not scientifically proven to be able to do anything. This, along with trawl fishing, has resulted in seahorse numbers plummeting in our waters.
She highlighted the need for us to be mindful of how our human practices affect the sea creatures.
Seahorse-themed Plushies and souvenirs
The tour comes with an eco-friendly souvenir — a lanyard with a wooden card with a seahorse print attached to it.
We then ended up at the lovely Oceanarium souvenir store.
They have the cutest sea horse plushies!
Pricing of Animal in the Spotlight: Seahorses
It costs an additional $28 for this tour, excluding the entrance ticket into the Oceanarium.
You are required to arrive at the meeting point at Singapore’s Coast at least 15 minutes prior to the tour time that you have booked.
Children should be at least 4 years of age. Make your reservations at Singapore Oceanarium’s site.
