Do Not Mess With Fish 12

Seahorses thriving in cleaner river Thames,

and you thought fish were fun! well in this case they are, just do not kill one!

FOR 18 months it has been a closely guarded secret seahorses, (er no), the exotic creatures from tropical waters, are alive and well in the Thames estuary. The fish once thought to pull Neptune’s chariot in some enchanted realm can do the same for Old Father Thames now that the river’s waters are so much cleaner. The Zoological Society of London discovered the colony in 2006 but decided to keep quiet until legislation could be put in place to protect the seahorses. They live in the river’s estuary, between Essex and Kent. Scientists have greeted their arrival as an indicator of the increasing purity of the river’s water. Fifty years ago they declared the river biologically dead - killed by the pollution that was the product of industrialisation and urban growth.

Now the tree huggers are saying this is a sign of global warming, but I have known that seahorses have been living in the Thames as far back as I can remember and I am 58 years old!, to quote Brian MEAD, Barnet, Herts,

I was brought up in Leigh-on-Sea and can remember seeing small numbers of seahorses in the weedy water near the swimming pool alongside a beached mv Lady Seville, HQ for boat club. This would have been in late 40's early 50's. We swam there regularly through each summer. Sometimes using the paddling pool that was on the opposite side of the main pool to the Lady Seville & it was more often there that we saw them especially at height of summer. I do not know which they were but they were a sort of almost translucent greyish colour.

they were first noticed in 1820, see graph below,

are they dangerous?

well yes if you kill one, careful you do not treed on one!

a new law now includes the seahorses, (the conservation and wildlife act 1981) which came into force today, means that anyone found killing, injuring or taking any of these species from the wild faces a £5,000 fine or six months’ imprisonment.