Seahorses Really Do Swim in NY Harbor

​It’s true. Seahorses not only survive, but thrive in New York Harbor and surrounding waters including Raritan Bay and Sandy Hook Bay. Throughout the last several years, I’ve caught many adult seahorses in my seine net while fishing along the harbor’s southern shore. There is also a decent population of seahorses that exist in other parts of the estuary including near the Brooklyn Bridge.
 
Seahorses living close by the Brooklyn Bridge might strike you as an urban oxymoron, but actually it makes sense.  These unique fish are poor and slow moving swimmers. A single seahorse will rely on its long tail to grip onto sea grasses, pilings, or other firm objects to stay in one place.  Plenty of pilings and sea grasses exist underneath the Brooklyn Bridge. Good seahorse habitat.
 
Occasionally a storm or a strong current might displace a few little seahorses downstream to other parts of the estuary. Once these little critters find something hard to attach, they will continue feeding on plankton. With a small, toothless mouth, a seahorse will quickly suck in water and hopefully prey into its long, tubular snout. It feeds on a variety of small shrimp and various zooplankton. 

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