11th August Seahorse Day

At my school, Year 3 students are taking part in an exciting STEM learning experience focused on helping the endangered Sydney white seahorse. As part of the challenge, students will design and build small model habitats to support the survival of this special marine animal.

To launch the project, scientists from the Sydney Institute of Marine Science (SIMS) visited the School last week. They shared their expert knowledge about the seahorse’s habitat, how it lives, and the threats it faces. You can read about the Sydney Seahorse Program here.

The children at school are fascinated by seahorses because they all live near the harbour  or specifically close to Chowder Bay where the research is taking place. Many of them have seen a seahorse. That got me thinking about whether there actually is a day to celebrate seahorses. There is. Some websites say Seahorse Day is 7th July which means I missed it. Other sites say it is 14th December which is still a way off.  So today it is unofficially Seahorse Day.

When I put together a display usually include seahorses and sea dragons so that I have a large number of books. A student will always ask if they are the same. Yes because they are both fish, but strictly speaking they are cousins.

The scientific name for seahorses, Hippocampus, comes from the Greek words meaning "horse" and "sea monster." Both seahorses and seadragons have a head and neck that look like a horse, and long tube-like snouts to catch minuscule prey like plankton, small shrimp or crustaceans. Their bodies are also covered in segmented bony armour for protection against predators. 

One of the most notable differences between seahorses and seadragons is that seadragons have small leaf-like appendages on their bodies that provide camouflage among lush kelp forests and seaweed. Seadragons are often more colourful than seahorses with bright yellows, purples, blues and reds on their body and appendages.

Find 

some information books

some picture books

Some seadragon books

Coming soon

And for those wanting beginning chapter books

and two series

Simon Seahorse  by Cora Reef (6 titles)

Seahorse Stars  by Zuzu Singer (6 titles)

Read Grow Inspire The Slogan for Book Week 2023 (Part 2)

If you watch this video on Youtube you will see and hear Matt Ottley talking about his inspiration for the Book Week Slogan. He talks about why he chose to feature a seahorse on his poster. He states that it represents growth, strength, beauty and spirituality. You can read about the symbolism of seahorses here. Hopefully it inspires you to explore seahorses more. If you want to learn more about seahorses quickly, then watch this slide share.

Torres Strait Islanders revere seahorses and seahorses feature in Indigenous Art. These works of art could be used as a provocation or thinking routine,  as a comparison to the poster or a photograph of seahorses...

• https://www.baduartcentre.com.au/artists/weldon-matasia/seahorse-meaning-symbolism

•https://www.cairnsartgallery.com.au/collections/seahorse

• https://umi-arts.myshopify.com/products/postcard-seahorses

• https://www.aboriginalartstore.com.au/artists/alan-ah-kit/seahorse/

Now at my school, it is time to get all the seahorse books off the shelves and make a display, so that students can read all about seahorses and be inspired to act in their defence as there is an endangered  seahorse right on their doorstep in Sydney Harbour. See this article and filmclip. My students will recognise the locations!

Now for some books. This is what the library has... some factual, some stories on both seahorses and sea dragons. What is the difference? Have the students find out by reading. It is a shame so many are out of print, but I am pleased we bought so many before American books became too expensive for Australian school libraries.

• The Sea Hides a Seahorse by Sara T. Behrman and Melanie Mikecz

• Seahorse: the Shyest Fish in the Sea  by Chris Butterworth and John Lawrence

• Seahorses by Jennifer Keats Curtis and Chad Wallace

• Seahorses by Valerie Bodden

• Fry to Seahorse by Camilla De la Bedoyere

• Seahorses and Seadragons by Debbie and Brendan Gallagher

• Sea Horses and Pipefish  by Stanley Swartz

• Seahorse by Greg Myers

• The Way of the Weedy Seadragon  by Anne Morgan and Lois Bury

• Seahorse's Wild Ride by Steve Parish

• Leo the Littlest Seahorse by Margaret Wild and Terry Denton

• Seadragon Sea  by Margaret Spurling

• I am a Sea Horse: The True Story of a Dwarf Sea Horse by Trisha Speed Shaskan and Todd Ouren   

• Mister Seahorse by Eric Carle

• One Lonely Sea Horse by Paxton Freymann and Joost Elffers

• Secret Seahorse by Stella Blackstone and Clare Beaton

• Ocean Lullaby  by Sally Odgers and Lisa Stewart 

• The Seacret of Driftus and Sprout  by Maree Coote

• Peanut Butter and Jellyfish  by Jarrett J. Krosoczka 

• Sully the Seahorse by Natalie Pritchard and Natalie Merheb

• Seahorses are Sold Out by Constanze Spengler and Katie Gehrmann  

For beginning readers looking for longer texts these short novels are popular

• Sylvie's Seahorse  by Mara Bergman

• The Not-So-Tiny Tales of Simon Seahorse: Simon Says Book 1 by Cora Reef and Liam Darcy There are nine titles so far.

• Seahorse Stars  by Zuzu Singer and Helen Turner. There are six titles.

Why do some titles have seahorse as two words? Another mystery to solve.

Seahorses, something so small and hard to find truly are inspiring! We can learn so much from them!

In the video Matt Ottley set students a task to find something for each letter of the alphabet, so make an alphabet poster where the students can record their answers. I need to find out more about the other creatures in the poster...an octopus, a starfish, a flying fish, a Bird of Paradise...