Helen Scales, author of Poseidon’s Steed: The Story of Seahorses from Myth to Reality, reveals the unusual anatomy and strange sex lives of seahorses. She tells “The WildLife” host Laurel Neme that seahorses live mysterious lives, tucked away out of sight on the seafloor, and provides insights into their strange characteristics, including: kangaroo-like pouches for the males to bear the young, horse-like snouts used like straws to suck in tiny zooplankton, prehensile tails to grasp sea grasses, swiveling chameleon eyes and color-changing skin. Seahorses face many threats, including habitat loss and degradation and commercial trade. They’re used in traditional Asian medicine, and also sold as curios and as aquarium pets. Global consumption of seahorses is massive, with about 25 million seahorses sold each year. There’s so much we still don’t know about seahorses. For instance, we’re not even sure how many different species there are.
Dr. Helen Scales is a marine biologist, writer, and broadcaster who specializes in fisheries, habitat protection, and the international trade in endangered species. She has lived and worked in various countries and now lives in Cambridge, England where she works as a consultant for a number of conservation groups including the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Natural England, and TRAFFIC International. For her PhD from the University of Cambridge she studied the loves and lives of one of the biggest coral reef fish, the Napoleon wrasse, and its imperiled status due to demand from Asian live seafood restaurants.She appears as a radio host on the BBC’s The Naked Scientists show and on BBC Radio 4’s Home Planet. She also produces and presents a new podcast series, Naked Oceans, a fun and informative exploration of the undersea realm. In her first book, Poseidon’s Steed: The Story of Seahorses from Myth to Reality, she explores humankind’s thousand-year fascination with seahorses. This episode of “The WildLife” originally aired on The Radiator, WOMM-LP, 105.9 FM in Burlington, Vermont on January 17, 2010. It was reposted on August 22, 2011.
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The WildLife: Financing Wildlife Conservation, Ray Victurine
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The WildLife: Hawaii's Aquarium Trade, Rene Umberger
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The WildLife: A Zookeeper's Bear Adventures, Else Poulsen, Part I
The WildLife: Lorises, Anna Nekaris
The WildLife: Connections between Wildlife, Livestock and Human Health, Steve Osofsky
The WildLife: Geoduck Trade, Craig Welch
The WildLife: Wildlife Rescue Centers, Tracy O'Toole
The WildLife: Elephant Seals, Christine Heinrichs
The WildLife: Smithsonian's Feather Identification Lab, Marcy Heacker
The WildLife: Rhino Horn Trade, Rhishja Larson
The WildLife: Marine Aquarium Trade, Brian Tissot
The WildLife: Gorillas & Bushmeat Trade, Pierre Fidenci
The WildLife: Philippine Forest Turtle, Pierre Fidenci
The WildLife: Wildlife Forensics & Mammal Hair, Michael Gonzalez
The WildLife: Reef Sounds, Corals and Reef Fishes, Steve Simpson
The WildLife: Brazil's Illegal Bird Trade, Juliana Machado Ferreira
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