Seahorse Community

Whether it's blurring a background or narrowing in on a specific part of a subject, achieving a shallow depth of field in underwater photography can have a significant impact on the visual aesthetics of your images.

Opening up the aperture is what gives you the bokeh effect where the background or surrounding areas are blurred and out of focus. This helps draw your attention to the portions of the image that are sharp. This image was shot at f/4 so it takes the smallest movement for the focus to shift.

Pin-point accurate focus is key, as otherwise you will have critical elements of your photo out of focus due to the smaller working range with the wider aperture. Using manual focus or moving the focus selection area in addition to staying very still are useful techniques.

The distance between the camera, subject, and background also affects depth of field. The closer the subject is to the camera and the farther the background, the shallower the depth of field will be.

Shallow depth of field is used to effectively isolate a subject or part of a subject from the background. This is particularly useful when you want to emphasise the a specific marine creature in a particular environment , or a specific characteristic of the critter....like the eyes and patterns of this Messmate Pipefish.

Achieving a shallow depth of field in underwater photography requires careful consideration of your settings, focus and composition. When used effectively, it can enhance the visual impact of your images and provide an alternate view of certain creatures where portrait shots are the norm.

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#水中写真 #ダイビング

100 pounds (45kg) of dried seahorses were recently seized in an airport in the Philippines - that's hundreds and thousands of individual seahorses gone in one fell swoop!:
https://tinyurl.com/2pvt4zwy

Seahorses play a really important role in the food chain, consuming small fish, shrimp and plankton. Seahorses, in turn, are food for larger fish and crabs. So taking this many out of the wild is likely to have a big impact!

The illegal shipment that was seized at Zamboanga International Airport was packed in 3 boxes and shipped through a courier. It was bound for Manila and was falsely declared as barter trade goods. No arrests were reported

According to Project Seahorse, a marine conservation organization, dried seahorses are used for various purposes in the Philippines, such as medical remedies and good luck charms.

Lawatan dari pelajar-pelajar dan guru iringan dari Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Kampung Tengah, Terengganu.☺️
Terima kasih semua

UMT - Universiti Malaysia Terengganu Umt Bioteknologi Marin Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries - Akuatrop UMT

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Lawatan dari pelajar-pelajar dan guru iringan dari Sekolah Menengah Agama Rantau Abang, Terengganu.
Terima kasih semua

UMT - Universiti Malaysia Terengganu Umt Bioteknologi Marin Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries - Akuatrop UMT

29 OGOS 2022 🇲🇾 | Lawatan delegasi Universiti Teknologi Mara (UITM) yang di ketua oleh YBhg. Prof. Professor Ts. Dr Norazah Abd Rahman Tim. Naib Canselor (Penyelidikan & Inovasi) UiTM yang diringi oleh YBhg. Prof. Dr. Ikhwanuddin (Pengarah AKUATROP) serta para pegawai ke Akuatrop UMT dan nurseri kuda laut UMT (CenSTRaC).

Terima kasih 😁

UMT - Universiti Malaysia Terengganu Umt Bioteknologi Marin Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries - Akuatrop UMT UiTM Puncak Alam - Iklan

UMT - Universiti Malaysia Terengganu Umt Bioteknologi Marin Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries - Akuatrop UMT

24 OGOS 2022 | Lawatan delegasi dari Akedemi Perikanan Terengganu, Pejabat Perikanan Negeri Terengganu😁. Terima kasih👍

UMT - Universiti Malaysia Terengganu Umt Bioteknologi Marin Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries - Akuatrop UMT Pejabat Perikanan Negeri Terengganu

23 OGOS 2022 | Lawatan delegasi dari Midanau State University of Nawan Philippines🇵🇭. Salamat 😁

UMT - Universiti Malaysia Terengganu Umt Bioteknologi Marin Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries - Akuatrop UMT University of the Philippines

A new paper by researchers from Project Seahorse and IUCN Seahorse, Pipefish and Seadragon Specialist Group on how CITES protection has made a measurable difference to the trade in live marine fishes via the pioneering case of seahorses.

Paywall - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320722002063

Findings show that Appendix II CITES protection for seahorses appears to have reduced pressure of international live trade (for the ornamental fish trade/hobby) on some wild populations of some species. This gain is, however, tiny in the context of the vast trade in dried seahorses, most of which are now smuggled across borders for their purported medicinal benefits/use. The authors note that Appendix II listing has not made an impact on the dried seahorse trade yet.

The majority of seahorses for the hobby now are sourced from captive-bred stock with benefits including their culture is viable & consumers prefer; aren't easily smuggled; fetch good prices; usually, go to countries with good regulatory capacity.

https://projectseahorse.org/
https://www.iucn-seahorse.org/https://cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/cop/18/doc/E-CoP18-072.pdf

Seahorses (𝐻𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑢𝑠 𝑠𝑝𝑝.) set precedent as the first marine fishes added to CITES Appendix II and taken through CITES processes.

Animals listed under the CITES Appendix II are classified as not necessarily threatened with extinction, but that may become so unless trade is closely-controlled.

𝗣𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀
Listing seahorses on CITES has changed the live trade in two significant ways. 1) Volumes of seahorses in international trade have declined considerably over time. 2) The international trade has seen a shift from wild to captive-bred sourcing.

In contrast, the dried seahorses' trade remains problematic after the CITES listing. We do not know how changes in live trade are affecting wild seahorse populations.

𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲
CITES makes a measurable difference to the trade in live marine fishes: The pioneering case of seahorses

𝗖𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
S.J. Foster, T. Justason, A.M. Magera, A.C.J. Vincent, CITES makes a measurable difference to the trade in live marine fishes: The pioneering case of seahorses, Biological Conservation, Volume 272, 2022, 109653, ISSN 0006-3207, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109653

𝗔𝗯𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁
Seahorses set precedent as the first marine fishes added to CITES Appendix II and taken through CITES processes. Although the vast majority of seahorses are traded dead for traditional medicine, the live trade for ornamental display was the main pressure on some populations. We investigated changes in the international trade in live seahorses over time, exploring the influence of CITES listing and its compliance process (called Review of Significant Trade or RST).

Globally, reported exports of live seahorses from key trading Parties declined notably in the first years after the CITES listing, and yet more after RST, to just 7 % of historic levels. These changes are explained first by a decline in wild sourcing after the listing and then by a decrease in the number of captive born seahorses (from wild-sourced parents) after RST. Almost all live seahorses in international trade are now captive bred (F2 generation or more). Consequently, there are now fewer wild sourced species in trade, from fewer countries and more tank-raised species, from more countries.

In summary, the CITES listing for seahorses appears to have reduced pressure of international trade on some wild populations – those involved in live trade. This gain is, however, tiny in the context of the vast trade in dried seahorses, most of which are now smuggled across borders. The difference probably lies in the small volume and relatively high value of the aquarium trade. CITES Parties still need to determine how changes in live trade are affecting wild seahorse populations.

𝗜𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲
Zebra Seahorse - 𝐻𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑢𝑠 𝑧𝑒𝑏𝑟𝑎
https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/107261083/54906819
Anthony Healy, CC BY-NC - October 1962
https://www.inaturalist.org/photos/12218050
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Congrat guys… PM Dr. Liew👍👍👍

M A H A 2 0 2 2 D a y 5 | Sahabat-sahabat pemamir dari Lembaga Kemajuan Ikan (LKIM) Terengganu… Thanks you guys

M A H A 2 0 2 2 Day 4 | Jom datang Pavilion Terengganu… Boleh tengok kuda laut hidup, ikan nemo & karangan yang dibawakan khas dari Center of Seahorse Training, Research & Conservation (CenSTRaC) UMT bagi pengunujng MAHA 2022. Terdapat 3-4 spesies kuda laut dari perairan Malaysia khususnya Terengganu bahkan dapat memegang dan merasai struktur kuda laut yang dikeringkan.

UMT - Universiti Malaysia Terengganu Umt Bioteknologi Marin Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries - Akuatrop UMT

M A H A 2 0 2 2 D a y 5 | Sahabat-sahabat pemamir dari Jabatan Perhilitan Terengganu… Thanks you guys

M A H A 2 0 2 2 Day 3 | Lawatan YAB. Dato' Seri Dr. Ahmad Samsuri bin Mokhtar Menteri Besar Terengganu sempat meluangkan masa melawat akuarium kuda laut & hidupan marin Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT).

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M A H A 2 0 2 2

M A H A 2 0 2 2 Day 4 | Suasana akuarium kuda laut & hidupan marin Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT).

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C e n S T R a C U M T | Lawatan pelajar-pelajar dari Sekolah Meraga Beris,Terengganu ke nurseri kuda laut UMT pagi ini. Terima kasih semua

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