Welcome back to Coastkeeper Chronicles! As part of our ongoing series commemorating Orange County Coastkeeper’s major milestones, we invite you to explore an unexpected, inspiring chapter in our journey to restore native habitats in Upper Newport Bay. Visit our blog to read previous stories on our WHALES education program, water recycling successes, and more.
Today, we’re diving into our successful eelgrass restoration efforts, a project that not only revived critical marine habitat in Upper Newport Bay but also led to a rare and exciting discovery: the return of the Pacific seahorse!
On May 7, 2016, while surveying an eelgrass restoration site in the bay, staff from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) documented a sighting that hadn’t happened in over 15 years.
Among the eelgrass blades, they spotted a six-inch Pacific seahorse—a species incredibly rare to find north of Baja, California. They noted that this was only the tenth sighting recorded in the region since the 1800s.
The Pacific seahorse (Hippocampus ingens) has been classified as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature due to its declining population. Between 2007 and 2012 alone, its population dropped by 50 percent.
These beautiful creatures rely exclusively on seagrass beds and coral reefs to survive. Eelgrass provides an ideal habitat for the Pacific seahorse by offering camouflage from predators, a stable anchor against strong currents, and ample food sources.
This sighting wasn’t just a marvel but a strong indicator that our eelgrass restoration efforts in Newport Bay were making a difference. By planting over 1,000 square meters of eelgrass in Newport Bay, our goal was to make Newport Bay a safer, more hospitable place for vulnerable marine life, like the Pacific seahorse. Since that first sighting in 2016, two more Pacific seahorses were spotted in our Newport Bay restored eelgrass sites in 2019 and 2021.
These sightings serve as powerful reminders of what’s possible when we dedicate ourselves to revitalizing our coastal ecosystem. Seeing these rare, vulnerable creatures return to our waters motivates us to keep growing our marine restoration efforts. I hope we’ll soon be able to report seahorse sightings at our other restoration sites in Alamitos Bay and Seal Beach.
Lastly, I’d like to dedicate this Coastkeeper Chronicles story in memory of Dr. Dennis Kelly, a brilliant marine biology professor and friend of Coastkeeper since our early days. Dr. Kelly was a renowned expert on dolphin behavior, but he also held a unique passion for seahorses. He often spoke of how abundant seahorses once were in our local waters and expressed his hope that they might return one day. Dr. Kelly, who passed earlier this year, left an incredible legacy with the countless students, advocates, and colleagues he inspired. It’s an honor to know that our restoration efforts helped fulfill one of his dreams by bringing seahorses back to our waters, even if only occasionally.
Thanks for joining us for this month’s Coastkeeper Chronicles! To learn more about our restoration projects and how you can support our work, please visit this webpage.
Sincerely,
Garry Brown
Founder & President
