The Seahorse Trust has set up a seahorse study project working in the Maltese archipelago to research and understand more about the 2 species of seahorses found in these clear Mediterranean waters. By working together with the people of Malta we aim to learn more about the seahorses and the habitat they live in.

Partnerships are key to our work throughout the world and none more so than in Malta where we are setting up an advisory committee of interested individuals and organisations to advise and help with our research work.

Throughout the project we will be under strict license issued by the Malta Environmental and Planning Authority (MEPA) as we look for sites around the islands where seahorses are found and we hope to start an individual identification project in year two, photographing (without flash as this can kill seahorses) and recording individual markings and features.

We have set up the National Malta Seahorse Database which is run by The Seahorse Trust where we will record all the sightings we and others see in Malta, although this database is not open to the public to see; so we can protect the exact locations of the seahorses, it will provide information and statistics to allow us to write reports and give recommendations to our in-country partners to preserve these amazing animals for generations to come. We will also be publishing our reports on the trusts website so that others can learn about Malta’s unique marine life. The database will link into the Europe wide database we are developing which already contains the National Seahorse Database for the UK.

We aim to understand more about seahorses throughout Europe and in 2014 we will be setting up a joint project in Greece with our partners

juvenile Spiny Seahorse Female (copyright The Seahorse Trust)

THIS PAGE IS STILL BEING DEVELOPED AND WE AIM TO PROVIDE MORE DETAILS AS THE PROJECT DEVELOPS