In October, the Octopus Foundation met up with three members of the Peau-Bleue association on the shores of the Bassin d’Arcachon, in France, to collaborate on the SYNTESE scientific program. Both operational teams worked alongside local organisations interested in seahorses and Syngnathidae.
This first mission away from the Mediterranean Sea proved a perfect opportunity to test and validate various field methods in adverse conditions. Indeed, the powerful tides and currents allow only for short windows of interventions. The pushnets, already in use in the lagoons of the Mediterranean, were tested in different situations: on foot in shallow waters, while snorkelling and while scuba diving. Syngnathidae and other fish were captured, identified, measured, classified by gender before being released back in their environment.
This tedious work allowed Patrick Louisy, the founder of the Peau-Bleue association, to attest that the populations of Syngnathidae are much more abundant in the Bassin d’Arcachon than previously thought.
Simultaneously, morphometric photographs of seahorses were taken while diving. The in situ profile pictures will be used to compare the morphology of different populations of long-snouted seahorses. The visual characterization of the specific lines to each individual, identified by geneticists, is key to manage and preserve these species of fish.
Lastly, the Octopus Foundation and the Peau-Bleue association collaborated with Ocean’Obs, a local scientific organisation. Together, they compared various field methods used to survey the Syngnathidae in their natural environment.
“This mission to the Bassin d’Arcachon was rewarding on multiple levels,” concludes Patrick Louisy, founder of the Peau-Bleue association. “Firstly, we were surprised to gather so much data during the research phase. It was very successful. Furthermore, it was a real pleasure to work alongside Julien Pfyffer and his team. They were all involved and motivated, adding their competences to the mission. Their skills were perfectly complementary to ours.”