New Zealand fashion and lifestyle blog

Underwater world

We headed along in the school holidays to Kelly Tarlton’s latest attraction, the Seahorse Kingdom – their first new permanent exhibit in five years, featuring seahorses and the world’s only Spiny Sea Dragons on public display…

We headed along in the school holidays to Kelly Tarlton’s latest attraction, the Seahorse Kingdom – their first new permanent exhibit in five years, featuring seahorses and the world’s only Spiny Sea Dragons on public display.

Seahorses’ beauty means that they are under threat from overfishing due to use in medicinal preparations and general ocean degradation. So, Kelly Tarlton’s, as one of New Zealand’s leading conservation entities, has taken the seahorse plight to heart and has created a new Seahorse Kingdom where Kiwis and visitors can be educated.

“They are enigmatic little things, and I could watch them for hours,” says Andrew Christie, Curator at Kelly Tarlton’s. “Seahorses and their cousins the Spiny Sea Dragon, are found all over the world, but they are fast falling victim to human desires to harvest them.

The more we know about them, the more we can all do protect them – that’s why we’ve created the Seahorse Kingdom. Education is the key to their survival.”

“We are the only aquarium in the world to exhibit the Spiny Sea Dragon which is found in deep water locations such as Milford Sound.

While not strictly speaking a Seahorse, they are certainly part of the family and are special in their own right,” says Mr Christie. “We are able to retrieve these normally elusive creatures due to the unique environment in Fiordland that means they are closer to the surface than usual.”

While at Kelly Tarlton’s, we also found the penguin exhibit to be a real highlight. Below: the pitter patter of many happy feet.

Below: Viewing the penguins swimming underwater from the cart.

The gate into Seahorse Kingdom. Take your little people along there sometime soon. It’s a truly magical kingdom.

Megan Robinson
20 October 2011


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