MLSSA member Ron Bellchambers recently told us about sighting 18 White’s Seahorses during a dive at Brown’s Beach, Innes National Park, Yorke Peninsula.
Ron and his family were diving behind the reef at Brown’s Beach on February 23rd. There they counted 18 White’s Seahorses floating on broken ‘sea branches’. Locals at Third Beach, Port Victoria, Yorke Peninsula have told Ron that they have also seen these (same?) little sea creatures. Ron wanted us to pass this information on to Dragon Search.
Brown’s Beach and Port Victoria are both on the Spencer Gulf (west) side of the Yorke Peninsula. “Coastal Fishes of South-east Australia” says that White’s Seahorses, Hippocampus Whitei, may possibly be found in Spencer Gulf.
Another fish book, “The Fishes of Australia’s South Coast” remarks that “This is a warm water species which occurs rarely on the south coast and then only as individuals carried with floating weed (sea branches?) into the area by southerly currents.”
This ties in with Ron’s sightings. To see eighteen seahorses on one dive would be great! I have seen quite a few on some dives but have not counted so many.