Marina of Ravenna, old fish market. In a 1930s building, fish auctions took place. A part of this now abandoned structure has been recovered to house the Cestha, Experimental center for habitat protection, a center for the protection of marine animals born in 2014 on the initiative of Simone D’Acunto and Sara Segati. It is a kind of hospital for fauna in difficulty, where it is treated by a team of eight marine biologists and then released into the sea. Among the patients of the center there are also seahorses, or seahorses, curious fish with an elongated snout and an upright position, with a prehensile tail.
The doctor who treats seahorses in Marina di Ravenna
The species present in the Mediterranean do not reach 20 centimeters in height. With their funny and colorful look and a head that resembles that of a horse in shape, they arouse an instinctive sympathy in us humans. «Due to its morphology and body structure, the seahorse doesn’t look like a fish at all» says Linda Albonetti, 29 years old, with a three-year degree in Aquaculture and a master’s degree in Marine Biology. At Cestha since 2019, she first dealt with the recovery of sea turtles and now she is the “doctor” of the horseson which he is working on his doctorate. Since it opened, the hospital has saved around five thousand seahorses.
Seahorse predators and the threat coming from fishermen
As with other animals, it is the human presence that causes them to get into trouble. «In the sea they defend themselves from their predators – turtles, crabs, larger fish – thanks to camouflage. Using their tails, they can attach themselves to algae or rocks” explains the person responsible for the Cestha seahorse activity.
When fishermen cast their nets – especially cuttlefish traps – seahorses often make a tragic mistake. «They mistake the net for algae, get hooked and are accidentally caught». It is the fishermen, with whom Cestha has an excellent relationship, who bring the recovered specimens to the centre, where they are placed in the aquariums dedicated to them – with water at the same temperature as the sea water at that time of the year – cared for and finally released into the sea.
A seahorse hosted in the Experimental Center for Habitat Protection. It is fed small crustaceans with a pipette.
The Hippocampus Rescue Center
And here an important partner comes into play for the centre, which is not a public structure and therefore must self-finance – through public tenders and private support – to carry out its important work in defense of marine animals. The Swiss luxury watch company Omega has chosen the hippocampus as the symbol of its Seamaster collection since the 1950s. In the name of his commitment to defending the oceans, he has chosen to support the first Italian hospital dedicated to seahorses, the Seamaster Seahorse Rescue Center.
«The aquariums are in operation in the old structure. Through an Ifaw (International Fund for Animal Welfare) tender, Omega partly financed this space that we are using and offered us important help for the new part, where there will be a room dedicated to seahorses” points out Albonetti. «Work is underway and should be completed by 2026».
A seahorse entangled in a cuttlefish fishing trap. It is the fishermen who bring the endangered specimens to Cestha.
The males give birth: 200 fry per litter
During his stay at Cestha, seahorses follow a diet based on artemia, small crustaceans that they are greedy for. «In the sea they feed on zooplankton, which they suck up with their pipette beak. They eat constantly.” Beyond their striking appearance, they are famous for a unique feature in the animal world: it is the males, and not the females, who give birth to the puppiesapproximately 200-300 fry for each brood. The eggs, produced by the mother, are placed in a sac in the father’s belly, where they are fertilized and kept. Puppies, microscopic seahorses, are formed within two weekswho are expelled after two weeks.
As the marine biologist explains, at birth they are already perfectly capable of feeding themselves. Some become prey, others will grow into adults. «A hippocampus typically lives for five years, at most seven» explains Albonetti. «Couples are mostly monogamous. A special moment in their life it is the wedding dance they perform to learn to coordinate movements. It is crucial to be able to transfer the eggs from the mother to the father, without dispersing them into the sea, frustrating their efforts. Over the course of the season, they manage to reproduce at least four or five times.”
In collaboration with fishermen
The Cestha has particular attention towards fishermen, who are precious allies. Bringing sustainable fishing activity and the protection of marine ecosystems together is possible. «We work to make fishing less impactful. This can be achieved by modifying a tool or a practice, without decreasing the fisherman’s income” adds Albonetti. «We carry out dissemination activities. Cestha is located near the fishing dock, we all know each other. The fishermen of two boats in particular come to us every dayto bring us what they found at sea and tell us what they observed.”
Linda Albonetti, Marine Biologist, has been at Cestha since 2019. Here she takes care of a sea turtle.
A curious activity is linked to cuttlefish and squid eggs. These cephalopod molluscs sometimes attach their eggs to fishing nets. If they were thrown back into the sea by fishermen, they would end up on the seabed and would not hatch. When they find them, the fishermen put them in a bucket of water and take them to the centre, where they remain in incubation for 60 days. After birth, the small squid and cuttlefish are released into the sea. Also turtles can accidentally end up in netsor are found on the beach if sick.
«Since 2019 we have saved more than 620» says the marine biologist. «Sometimes they are victims of fishing hooks, or they have ingested plastic. They can also be injured by boat propellers. We treat them and once they are healed we release them into the sea». The liberation is often followed by a small group of enthusiasts, on board a second boat. An activity like this and the guided tours, for schools and others, help Cestha to finance itself, but also to disseminate information on marine fauna.
More respect for sharks too
An important topic is knowledge of sharks. Those of our seas have nothing to do with the killer giant in the film. Indeed, sometimes without realizing it, we are the ones who eat them. Blue shark, dogfish, dogfish, for example, are sharks. «We have created a guide for the consumer. It’s good to know that some species are at risk of extinction and are characterized by slow reproduction, with few young.” Better to put other more abundant fish on the table, therefore. Within the project Life Prometheusin addition to reducing the capture of sharks and rays, Cestha also monitors an invasive species such as the blue crabin collaboration with local fishermen. The objective is the use of selective fishing tools that allow the exclusive capture of this crustacean.