Greece: Divers spot 'really rare' & endangered seahorse; area losing species to pollution

In a historic development, a group of divers in the polluted lagoon of Aitolika in Western Greece reported a rare sighting of hundreds of endangered seahorses. Divers also warned they could be lost if the area is not cleaned up. The lagoon in the northern Patras Gulf contained thousands of seahorses but their number plummeted in recent years therefore the divers were surprised.

"It was the first time I had spotted seahorses and they were in a place I least expected," said a local diver Labros Charelos  giving hope of more emergence of the species. Another local fisherman recalled that number of seahorse in the lagoon was much higher, earlier.

Owing to excessive pollution in the Aitoliko lagoon waters coupled with overfishing declined the amount of an already endangered species of seahorses. Already, the experts had warned that the species is threatened to becoming extinct. An endangered species is threatened by external factors and pollutants which counter their respite to an environment comprising of organisms to feed on, sea plants' life to hide and sea weed to feed on. 

Why is lagoon of Aitolika in Western Greece polluted?

Aitoliko reached a depth of up to 30 metres and is linked by narrow waterways to a shallow lagoon that opens to the Aegean Sea. Over recent years leaks from damaged mechanics owing to irrigation purposes in the canal which according to reports stink of "rotten egg" smell from hydrogen sulphide produced in deoxygenated waters.

A local fisherman told media persons that the area has been polluted to an extent where he hardly catches any aquatic beings. 

Previous rare sightings of seahorses species

A long-snouted a.k.a spiny seahorse was photographed off the coast of Plymouth in the South West of the United Kingdom. It is amongst the protected marine animals that are found in shallow waters of seagrass meadows. A license is required to look for them in the deep waters.