Hippocampus Association

Dear Volunteers

Once again, Hippocampus Association takes part in Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup to remove trash and debris from the beaches

We are inviting people, organizations and movements who want to be part of this activity for garbage mapping and want spend a day picking up everything from cigarette butts and food wrappers to lost fishing nets and major appliances.

When we trash the ocean, we trash our own well-being

Whether we live along the shore or hundreds of miles inland, we are all intimately connected to the ocean. It drives and moderates our climate. It is the ultimate source of much of the water we drink and much of the air we breathe.

Join forces for a clean, healthy ocean

Human hands have the power to stop it. You and your friends, neighbors, family, and colleagues can truly make a difference through this remarkable experience of clean up the sea in this day.

We encourage you to take part in this experience.

It will take place next Saturday 20^th of October at 10:00 a.m. next the first windmill in “La Mota” beach in Lo Pagan (San Pedro del Pinatar)

Thanks beforehand for your help

Cristina Mena
Asociacion Hippocampus
www.asociacionhippocampus.com
cristina@asociacionhippocampus.com

Sea Horses

Below is a report about the re-appearance of sea-horses in the Mar Menor, thanks to the hard work of the Hippocampus Association and the Oceanic Institute, both of whom Adapt has worked alongside.

http://lospiesenlatierra.laverdad.es/noticias/2434-los-caballitos-se-dejan-ver-de-nuevo-en-el-mar-menor

Hippocampus Group

Below is a letter from Elena, the coordinator of the Hippocampus group, to all volunteers who have been involved in the project since it began several years ago.

 

Dear Volunteers,

 

After four years of breeding and maintaining sea horses in the IEO aquarium, the moment has arrived to release those that remain in captivity so that they can form part of the natural population of the Mar Menor.

 

We have had many ups and downs during this period but ultimately it is clear that to capture the sea horses as juveniles and to return them to the sea as adults is a very positive way of contributing to sea horse population levels.  In this way we increase their chances of survival into adulthood.  It is a cheap and ecologically safe method of contributing in a constant and gradual way to the recovery of the species and therefore to the biodiversity of the Murcia region.

 

Our intention is to put the sea horses into a cage in the Mar Menor at the end of the first week of July in order to allow them to acclimatize.  Their final release will take place towards the end of the third week of July, depending on how they adapt to their new environment.   We are currently carrying out work on the cage which we hope will be finished by the end of next week.  The most complicated task will be to find a new secure place to put the cage since the area used last year is completely silted up with mud this year.  If there is any diver who would like to follow us in this work, please get in contact with Elena. Unfortunately, lack of funds means that IEO are not able to pay for the bottle you will need to participate.

 

The scientific results have been quite satisfactory, despite not being quite as positive as we had hoped in some aspects.  One of the best results for us has been the relationship that has been established between IEO and the ADAPT association.  The fact of uniting forces of two such different groups in the single aim of the environmental conservation contributes significantly to the possibility of success. Your cooperation and suggestions have been a great help to us in this first stage of the Hippocampus project.

 

We would like to thank you for the diligence and seriousness which you have shown in carrying out the tasks assigned to you and we would like to encourage you to continue with your spirit of cooperation not only in the Hippocampus project in the future, but also in other environmental projects.  The environmental conservation does not only belong to the Mar Menor, to the Murcia region or to Spain, it is something that belongs to all of us in the present and to those who will be here in the future.

 

Please receive a warm embrace from,

Elena