Notification – International Marine Biology Summer School/Survey, with main and exclusive objective the Hippocampus of Stratoni Colony in Stratoni Chalkidiki
More than ten years have passed since we first encountered a colony of seahorses in a particularly small, coastal zone.
Nowhere else in Greece, are we aware of a place where we can always and surely encounter seahorses. We can also say that it is a very rare phenomenon for the Mediterranean. In this particular area of Chalkidiki, Stratoni, for the past decade we have always encountered this magnificent phenomenon. What is even more unique, is that in this area we sometimes find both species of seahorses found in Greek waters, Hippocampus hippocampus and Hippocampus guttulatus.
Since then, we have systematically observed the colony performing research, measurements and press publications. The result of this ten year effort, for the promotion and communication of this magnificent phenomenon was the creation of a marine research center, especially for the seahorse.
The Hippocampus Marine Institute, is a Non-Profit Organization whose main focus is the study and protection of Seahorses. The institute was created by the same people who have passionately worked all these years and bequeathed all the results of their efforts to the institute.
The seahorse is a particularly popular, loved and truly small dragon, who entices young and old.
In August 2018, a story released by Reuters journalists, travelled around the world in only a few hours making the seahorses of Stratoni, internationally famous.
Seahorses have been listed in the Red List of Threatened Species of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) since 1996 as Vulnerable. From 2003 until today they are categorized as Data Deficient worldwide, besides the Mediterranean species who were re-evaluated as Near Threatened in 2016.
Four European and International treaties protecting these species have been signed by Greece. The Hellenic Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food, the Ministry of
Shipping and Island Policy along with the Hellenic Ministry of Environment and Energy have the responsibility for implementing the relevant treaties which ensure their legal protection by banning the fishing of seahorses by any means. The latest documented populations of seahorses in the Mediterranean are located in Stratoni, Spain, Italy, France and at Atlantic sea at South Portugal.
With this Press Release we would like to inform you about the International Marine Biology Summer School-Survey, whose sole research interest is the study of the Seahorses in Stratoni and will take place between the 3rd and 10th of May, in Stratoni, Chalkidiki.
The summer school will be attended by 19 participants, including the staff of our Institute.
Dr. Miguel Correia is the scientific co-ordinator for the summer school. He is a scientist with international recognition and specialization in the study of seahorses, as he is a Marine Biologist with a MSc in Marine Resources Biology and Management, a PhD in Marine Ecology, Project Seahorse Research Associate, Researcher at Centre of Marine Sciences (CCMAR), Department of Fisheries Biology and Hydroecology from the Universidade do Algarve and member of the IUCN Seahorse, pipefish and seadragon specialist group.
The scientific responsibility for our Institute is taken on by Dr. Kostadinos Dounas, Biologist, Research Director in the Institute of Marine Biology, Biotechnology and Aquaculture (IMBBC) of the Hellenic Centre of Marine Research (HCMR), President of the Hippocampus Marine Institute and Elina Samara, Marine Biologist (MSc), Ichthyologist for the Fisheries Research Institute, Dive Instructor, Field biology/Research officer of the Hippocampus Marine Institute.
In addition, The School of Naval Mechanical Engineering, of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) will deploy a prototype, submarine system for the visual monitoring of the seahorses and other organisms. The system has the capability of taking continuous pictures and video or regulating the times of monitoring along with a system for optical identification of the species.
The Summer School is organized by the Hippocampus Marine Institute, the Centre of Marine Sciences of the University of the Algarve, Portugal along with the co-operation of the international seahorse protection organizations, Project Seahorse and I-Seahorse.
The aim of this research is to investigate the phenomenon of the seahorse colony and its localization in this small area (why only there?), to estimate their abundance and to complete the filming of a documentary which will utilize all the visual material collected in the past years.
The documentary is co-produced by UFR Team/NGUE, COSMOTE TV, HCMR and is under the auspice of Central Macedonia Prefecture and the Ministry of Tourism.
