Featured Image Credit: Clearwater Marine Aquarium
The Clearwater Marine Aquarium is absolutely booming with seahorses recently— or, that’s what it feels like. Only a month ago, the female lined seahorse (hippocampus erectus) known as Cheeto was making her recovery thanks to the little girl who saw it as well as the aquarium’s staff. Cheeto was made famous by the “Cheeto Cam” that hundreds of people watched, and when she was released on May 16th, many people were excited for it.
Then, only a couple of weeks after Cheeto, the Clearwater Marine Aquarium played a part in rescuing another lucky lined seahorse— Funyun.
If you remember our recent story, Funyun was suffering from an over-inflated swim bladder, making her too buoyant and causing her to not be able to swim, but instead float helplessly at the surface of the water, unless she was holding onto a stick to keep her down.
But the Aquarium worked swiftly to fix her right up, taking the excess air out of her swim bladder very carefully with a small needle, and then giving her some time to rest.
Now, only a couple of weeks after her original rescue, Funyun has been released!
On June 12, the Aquarium hosted an event on their Facebook, broadcasting the live release of Funyun, similarly to how they did with Cheeto.
Taking the seahorse to Clearwater Beach, they found a clear spot with plenty of seagrass to release her into. They were patient to watch her move herself out of the smaller aquarium box they’d put her into and then she was swimming off, “happy as a seahorse”, as marine biologist Don Stansell reported.
David Yates, CEO, told viewers on Facebook that… “Whether it’s dolphins, sea turtles, or small seahorses, this is what we do— this is what we’re about,” and we think you do it amazingly!
We’re wishing all the best to Funyun back in her own habitat!