A rare sighting of a live long-snouted seahorse in Irish waters was made by a group of divers in Co Cork.
The seahorse was discovered by a group of divers night diving in the seagrass beds at Oysterhaven, Co Cork, on Monday evening.
They captured the finding on video, and it is believed to be the first time a wild seahorse has been filmed in Irish waters.
According to the National Biodiversity Data Centre, there are eight previous sightings of seahorses in Irish waters, with most occurring more than 100 years ago. The earliest took place in 1837, with the most recent in 1956.
Seven sightings were of the short-snouted seahorse, and the other was of a long-snouted seahorse, which was made earlier this year in Co Cork. However, it was found dead along the Ballynamona Strand.
James Northover, who owns Discovering Scuba dive centre in Carrigaline, was one of the local divers to see the creature along with Martyn Mannion and Luke Cuddihy.
It was Mannion who spotted the seahorse and called Northover and Cuddihy over to see it.
Northover said it was “very exciting”. He said he would often dive in the seagrass beds at Oysterhaven and has seen “lots of marine life” but nothing “as rare” as the seahorse.
Northover, who had previously seen a pygmy seahorse in Indonesia, said he had to look twice upon the discovery on Monday, spotting it and “couldn’t believe it”.
He said the seahorse – discovered about 30 minutes into their dive, before 8pm – was brown in colour and some 4cm to 5cm in length.
Northover took some video footage of the seahorse and has since shared it on his Instagram page.
Ecologist and Cork Sub Aqua Club member Dr Tim Butter described the sighting as “a bolt out of the blue”.
He, who also works with the National Biodiversity Data Centre, said seahorses can usually be found off Portugal, Spain and France. He added that short-snouted seahorses have been found off the south coast of Britain.
He said night diving is popular at this time of year as the water is still warm and many creatures become more active at night as they come out to eat.
The seagrass at Oysterhaven is a popular spot with local scuba divers as it is rich in wildlife but also easily accessible.
He said the seagrass meadows at Oysterhaven have been the subject of research over the past few years by a team of citizen scientists at Cork Sub Aqua Club.
Butter said club members have been working hard over the past few years to study the “incredible seagrass habitat in Oysterhaven and Kinsale and to educate others about this valuable resource”.
Seagrass also has “huge capacity” to absorb atmospheric carbon, supports local fisheries and helps to mitigate the impact of storm events.
He described it as a biodiversity hotspot that supports a diverse range of marine life.
“Not in my wildest dreams did I think we would ever see a seahorse. It is such an iconic species,” he said.
Northover submitted the record to the National Biodiversity Data Centre, which will go through a validation process.