Weedy wonder - a reminder of the need for marine safe havens

The Weedy Seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus. Photo: Abyss Scuba

This gentle and gracious marine creature is endemic to NSW waters and can be found from the Newcastle and Port Stephens area southwards. Weedy Seadragons are part of the same family that seahorses, pipehorses and pipefish belong to known collectively as Sygnathids or Sygnathidae.

They live in quite special marine environments like seagrass meadows and kelp forests where they feed on juicy sea lice and small marine crustaceans by sucking through their snouts. Well camouflaged with leaf-like appendages, orange/red hues with spots of white and stripes of bluey purple, they are often missed by the untrained eye.

Weedy seadragons can grow up to 45cm long and females are generally the larger gender. Unusually though, it’s the male that carries the eggs - anywhere between 100-300 of them - for 2 months on the lower side of his tail. Live young hatch over a period of six days and are then left to their own devices. At only 2.5 cm long they have a bit of a survival challenge ahead of them!

Sadly this mystical creature is an endangered species and is just one good reason for NSW to start taking marine conservation seriously. There are of course many more reasons, including serious environmental threats such as pollution, over fishing and climate change. This is why The Wilderness Society in NSW has initiated work on a new state-wide marine campaign.

Coordinated by the Newcastle Campaign Centre; The Wilderness Society has a vision to take marine conservation into uncharted waters. Imagine large connected areas of marine safe havens where fish, seahorses and dolphins thrive in a healthy and natural environment; where there is no threat of pollution and overfishing. And where marine environments can be given the best chance to remain resilient to the pressure of climate change, which is already warming up marine waters.

With a long term vision and lots of incremental steps, this can happen. The new Great Lakes and Port Stephens Marine Park is just one of these steps which The Wilderness Society has been instrumental in.

There is plenty to do so get involved today!