Linking Tales
An intimate look at one of nature’s many miracles and how man’s fascination with the seahorse joins myth and reality. 
Last week I went on an outing to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California. Perusing the grounds, I caught glimpses of bioluminescent jellyfish, playful sea otters, and lined up with children to delicately touch spiny sea stars. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw both children and adults transfixed under a sort of magic spell. No doubt, I had arrived at the seahorse exhibition.
Seahorses are often thought of as mythical creatures. With a demure horse snout, kangaroo shaped torso spiraling downward, and the ability many have to change colors, the seahorse is an absolute wonder of nature. To see one is like gazing upon a tiny mythic sea dragon and more so; to find a seahorse in the ocean itself would feel like discovering a unicorn in and enchanted forest.
What makes these extraordinary creatures such a remarkable symbol of the sea? A brief journey into both the mythic wonder as well as scientific facts, reminds us how magic and nature can often be indistinguishable.
Ancient Greeks believed the seahorse to be a powerful mark of the mighty sea God, Poseidon. The famous myth depicts Poseidon’s chariot gliding upon the surface of the ocean, lead by a half horse and half sea monster. Hippocampus, an ancient word for seahorse, deriving from the Ancient Greek word hippos, meaning “horse”, and kampos, meaning “sea monster”, has mythical origins that extend from Greece, Rome, Italy, Spain, Scotland, England, Turkey, and Australia. Countless historical artifacts and treasures honoring the seahorse silhouette and its mystical Fibonacci spiral have been discovered from Egypt to the far east. Chinese culture views the seahorse as a type of sea dragon signifying good fortune. Seahorses have also been used for hundreds of years as a source of healing in traditional Chinese medicine.
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) contains the the largest direct market for seahorses and is a major threat to the preservation of all related species, including its relative, the pipefish. It is important to note that TCM is trusted by over a quarter of the world’s population and recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO), as a valid form of health care. Project Seahorse, an international organization committed to preserving the planet’s marine eco-systems, states “it is important to focus on the over-consumption of seahorses, rather than the validity of TCM treatments…It may be possible for practitioners and consumers to adjust the consumption of seahorses to relieve pressure on certain species.” This points to the unsustainable commercial fishing practices that cause major disturbance to the world’s oceans, destroying coral reefs and the creatures that dwell within these delicate ecosystems. The endangered seahorse is a call to action in healing our world’s precious oceans.
Seahorses live among seagrass beds and coral reefs in shallow, moderate waters. They have the capacity to change colors and grow skin filaments to camouflage with their surroundings, a unique armor to ward off predators. Their eyes move independently from one another and in all directions, a characteristic the seahorse shares with the chameleon, along with a prehensile tail shared by many reptiles, as well as mammals such as the monkey.
Seahorses are loyal creatures. They are one of the only monogamous sea animals, most mating for life. Seahorses are the only species on the planet where the male carries the unborn young, another enchanting characteristic that awakens us to the inexplainable twists and turns within nature. The mating dance of seahorses is a fantastical site! Synchronized swimming, twirling, swirling, as well as changing colors in unison, are a few things that can occur during seahorse courtship. Watching a youtube video of this dance was all at once reminiscent of a scene from a Disney movie and not unlike countless courtship rituals in nature, including our own.
One of the most delightful observances of seahorses is their preference to swim in pairs and groups, linking tails as they flow with the current. Seahorses are never in a hurry, for their upright shape causes them to be very slow swimmers. Perhaps part of the reason seahorses seem so pure and tranquil is because they have no choice but to go with the flow, riding with the tides that life brings them.
As I observed the seahorses linking tales, swirling around their spacious tank, I was tickled to find a similar reflection mirrored in the glass that separated us…mothers holding hands with their children, friends arm and arm, lovers embracing, all eyes aglow at the enchanting world in front of them.
The seahorse is more than an icon of the sea, its shape is an actual bite size version of the spiraling golden ratio that embodies countless patterns in the universe, from DNA to the Milky Way. Linking mysticism to science, fantasy to fact, magic to reality, the seahorse is a not so tiny reminder of the delicate, enchanting dance of nature; a dance that deserves to be nourished, respected, and preserved for generations to come.
More on Seahorses and the conservation effort at Project Seahorse http://seahorse.fisheries.ubc.ca
More on the links between myth and reality http://helenscales.com/poseidons-steed
Photo Credit: La Mer