Sunday, October 4, 2015

Horse Of A Different Colour At Crescent Beach

TINY HOOFLESS HORSES with curly tails are sometimes known as Horse Caterpillars when translating the word Hippocampus from Latin as it relates to small fish. I remember seeing seahorses live at the Vancouver Aquarium years ago. Someone posted a video of this unique sea creature HERE.

Petite seahorses spark our imaginations and are often replicated for decoration. They are so cute they sometimes look cartoonish to humans who are their number one threat. Pollution and catching them by the millions yearly, particularly in Asia where their dried bodies are considered cures for various ailments, cuts their numbers down drastically.

The seahorses I see during my walks at Crescent Beach are usually far bigger than the real thing, which ranges from under an inch to just over a foot long. The statuesque stone seahorse (above) is on a pillar at a gate.

This seahorse with a greenish eye lends playfulness to the rust coloured gate.

This large version (above) is one of several similarly painted carvings located by the swimming pool at Crescent Beach. Two tiny ones are on the sign below.


The Seahorse Grill has a seahorse in the widow. Here is a closer look below.

A black painted seahorse (below) hangs over a pot of geraniums.

Most often seahorses are painted bluish-green like the three inch one tacked to the fence below. I am not certain of the true colours of the sea creature as they tend to match their surroundings and can look yellow to vibrant red.

The seahorse below is also pictured at the top of this post. On a different day from a different perspective the colour changed from white to pale gray.

I like the metal gray one (below) welded to the reeds.

There are three small woodcarvings of seahorses to find amid the fish below.

Someone even injected seahorses into Crescent Beach scenes and then tacked the printed pictures onto poles ... perhaps for a treasure hunt.


Live seahorses are a treasure, indeed, but the hunt for them is not a game. Uniquely designed so that the male gives birth to future generations from its mini frontal pouch, these "horses of a different colour" deserve to survive.

The fact that they barely seem real adds to their wide appeal. There is something otherworldly, waiflike and magical about seahorses. Their adorable snouts, miniature horse-like heads and flowing flexible tails seem more suited to a mermaid's tale than a nonfictional world.

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14 comments:

  1. Thanks for this post, Maria, as I do love Seahorses. Each seahorse of different colors is so charming and of course the real one in the video, too. Interesting to know that it is related to horse in Western culture while to dragon in Eastern culture. Seahorse is “Tatsu-no-otoshigo” in Japanese literally meaning “dropped child of a dragon.” The nice and unique shape of the seahorse must have ignited imagination that while flying across the heaven, a dragon dropped a child into the sea, which is the origin of seahorse.

    Yoko

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  2. What a great collection of seahorse photos! I had no idea they were under threat. Hmmm.

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  3. Oh, I love the seahorses, too!! And a great collection it is indeed!! I do hope they're saved!!!

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  4. You have found quite a collection of them there. They are indeed magical creatures.

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  5. A great series of artworks of different seahorses. I remember finding seahorses in tidal pools when I was a child but haven't seen any for many years. Thanks for sharing.

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  6. Oh I adore seahorses and your photos are wonderful and I am enthralled with each one!

    Happy Week to you,
    artmusedog and carol

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  7. What a great series of seahorses, and such a shame that they're being killed in such numbers. It's just another example of human shortsightedness.

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  8. I have a fondness of seahorses. Yours are wonderful!!!

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  9. A fun theme and beautifully written -- what a shame they are (still) being hunted and killed. I remember when I was a child (back in the dark ages, before anyone knew better) you could actually order some to be sent to you in an aquarium (-- from ads in the back of comic books.) My brother and I tried it once -- of course they didn't survive. Poor things).

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  10. I like all your photos of the horse caterpillar. Love that name for the seahorse. It's the first time I've heard that. I saw a live seahorse once at an aquarium. I felt very fortunate. My imagination loves seahorses and sand dollars.
    Take 25 to Hollister

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  11. this is a species I would love to see in its own habitat. But probably never will. :)

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  12. wow they are everywhere. My favourite one is on the fence with the green eyes. Gorgeous animals. What ashame that they get killed.

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  13. I watched the video link of the seahorse at the Aquarium and was fascinated, Maria! That made me realize I've never seen one in the wild. I will inspect the water around us more carefully in the future. You sure found a lot of references to seahorses around you. I'd never thought before how people seem to yearn to keep them in our mind's eye.

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  14. Pretty cool to see this post as I have always been fascinated with Seahorses. You found some great finds on the seahorses. Have a great weekend!

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