Many rare seahorses return to UK's Dorset coast for the first time since 2008.
With humans away, the animals are coming out to play. Whether it be pelicans thriving in Louisiana or (in this great video) animals reclaiming the streets, there have been many wildlife success stories as a result of lockdown and/or environmental improvements.
And here's another one, albeit rather less visible to the general public. Off the coast of Dorset, in south west England, divers counted the largest number of protected spiny seahorses they have seen in the seagrass meadows in at least twelve years.
According to the Seahorse Trust, divers found at least 16 seahorses, including pregnant males (yes, males - it's a clever seahorse thing) and two babies, in a single dive. That’s a terrific amount considering no seahorses had been seen in dives since 2018 when, sadly, just a dead one was found. Trust founder Neil Garrick-Maidment attributed the increase to a reduction in people, boat traffic, and anchors, which typically damage the seagrass that seahorses typically inhabit.
This quantity of seahorses had not been seen during a single survey in the area since 2008 when monitoring began in the bay, he added. That year about 40 spiny seahorses were recorded, but only two live ones have been spotted since 2015.