Artificial aquatic nurseries installed to protect baby seahorses
The project will help increase numbers of the creatures around the Solent
Last updated 7th Jul 2021
Protected seahorses have been given new homes in the waters off Gosport to help them hide from prey.
Special biohuts have been placed in Haslar Marina to provide shelter for young short snouted seahorses.
The biohut is an artificial marine aquatic nursery which provides shelter to many juvenile species.
It restores the ecological nursery function that is lost when natural shallow coastal waters become urban environments.
Watch a live underwater camera of a biohut in Haslar Marina here
Both of the UK’s native seahorse species, the spiny and the short snouted, were granted protected status in 2008.
The biohuts were designed and built by Dr Ian Hendy from Portsmouth University’s Institute of Marine Sciences along with his two Masters students, Stephanie Northen and Georgios Georgiou.
Dr Hendy said: "While many studies report on the decline of coastal biodiversity, we will be reporting on how the biohuts have created new and safe habitats for a vast number of baby, rare, and endangered aquatic animals in the marinas of the Solent.
"This project will greatly improve wildlife and the environment and will benefit communities local to the Solent."
Biohuts are currently deployed at Port Hamble and will soon be installed in a marina at Cowes.