Amanda Vincent photographed this beautiful female seahorse, Hippocampus patagonicus, while visiting colleagues in San Antonio Bay, Patagonia, Argentina. H. patagonicus is a newly discovered species listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
They are threatened by habitat degradation and loss from coastal development and destructive fishing practices, targeted exploitation, and by being caught extensively as bycatch in shrimp trawl fisheries
Seahorses are iconic, flagship species that bring attention to a wide range of marine conservation concerns, including overfishing, pollution, the climate crisis and much more.