Sea Horses at the Black Sand Beach

The black volcanic sand and the calm, clear waters make this beach a perfect place for viewing these underwater stallions that are common in St. Lucia. Seahorses like to wrap their tails around plants or coral and relax in the warm, tropical waters. You might swim right by one of these sea creatures and not even see it. Sometimes they are barely visible because they are masters of camouflage as they blend in with their aquatic environment by mimicking the color of the plants under water. Crabs are the only marine animal that eats seahorse because they are so bony and hard to digest.
The seahorses swim upright in pairs and they link their tails together. They have a very small fin on their back that flutters back and forth about 35 times every second to propel them through the water. Smaller fins near the back of their head are used for steering. Seahorses mate for life. Their courting ritual lasts about eight hours and includes the seahorses swimming side by side, spinning around and changing colors. They are the only animals on our planet where the male bears the unborn babies. The male seahorse spends most of his life being pregnant and carries the eggs in his pouch. When the miniature seahorses hatch, the male’s body contracts and expels anywhere from 5 to 1,000 seahorse out of his pouch and into the water.