In partnership with the Seaquariumin Grau du Roi (Southern France), Peau-Bleue association has started studying a population of short-snouted seahorses. A report was shot on this project; this film can be seen here.
Hippo-Atlas in the Museum Data Base
03/12/2012
Hippo-ATLAS records are now included in the French data baseINPN (Inventaire National du Patrimoine Naturel) developped by the French Museum of Natural History. The INPN data can be consulted online : see for instance here...
Next wednesday, the French television program "Des Racines et des Ailes" will deal with Languedoc-Roussillon lagoons, and especially with Thau lagoon seahorses. This program will report on our Hippo-THAU project. Broadcasting : France 3, wednesday November 14th 2012, 20:45.
N-Sulawesi UW Biology trip in a French Magazine
29/10/2012
Our Underwater Biology Trip in Indonesia (Fish Watch mission in North Sulawesi) features in the November issue of the French diving magazine: Plongée Magazine. This paper is also available online in the magazine's website(in French). Our photo report of this mission is availablehere
Your photos in the World UW Pictures festival ?
20/10/2012
Peau-Bleue association will be present in the 39th World Festival of Underwater Pictures in Marseille (France), 1st to 4th of November 2012. Come and meet our team in our stand, and bring your seahorse and pipefish photos : our specialists will help you upload them in the Hippo-ATLAS online database.
Hippo-THAU on France 3 channel
01/10/2012
Last week-end, 12 divers participated in Hippo-THAU survey dives. A total of 58 survey transects were made on three different study sites in the Thau Lagoon (Southern France). 14 pipefishes and 4 seahorses were censused and photographed, and their micro-habitat was described. This "Operation Hippo-THAU" was the subject of a TV report in the local France 3 channel. This report can be seen here(select Journaux > Editions régionales > Languedoc Roussillon > 1920 Languedoc Roussillon 30/09/2012 [de 16'16" à 18'20"]).
Hippo-THAU : Autumn session
10/09/2012
Hippo-THAU autumn season is about to start (September 15th to October 29th). Divers will run the seasonal seahorse and pipefish census in the three places we survey every year in the Thau lagoon (south of France). Amateur divers may join our team on specific Hippo-THAU week-ends, organized in partnership with the French diving federation (FFESSM). Next opportunity: September 29th an 30th. Information at CPIE Bassin de Thau.
RHIZOMA: the report
31/08/2012
Peau-Bleue is the scientific partner of the RHIZOMA project concerning seahorses and pipefishes (Syngnathidae). The 2011 scientific report is now available here (PDF, 3.1 Mo, in French).
Seahorse survey in Grau du Roi
27/07/2012
In partnership with Peau-Bleue association, The Seaquarium in Grau du Roi (Southern France) has engaged in a survey of coastal seahorse populations. Yesterday, 4 divers spotted 10 short-snouted seahorses, 1 long-snouted seahorse, and 1 greater pipefish, and recorded morphological and ecological data in order to better understand their biology. See the Hippo News section. To know more about Seaquarium, click here.
Next October, Patrick Louisy will explore the Hurghada area in order to find the rare soft coral dwarf seahorse. You may join the quest...
Hippo-THAU Day
02/07/2012
On the 1st of July, 2012, 13 divers participated in Hippo-THAU survey dives. 19 and 20 survey transects were made on two different study sites in the Thau Lagoon (Southern France). 12 pipefishes were spotted and photographed, and their micro-habitat was described. This Hippo-THAU Day was organized by the CPIE Bassin de Thau, the diving center Plongée Passion, and the association Peau-Bleue.
June 16th : Operation "Drôles d'Hippos"
15/06/2012
On Saturday June 16th, a large number of divers will gather on Arcachon Bay in order to census seahorses, that are common there. This operation aims at estimating the overall seahorse population.
Seahorse study methodology in Arcachon Bay
28/05/2012
Last week-end (May 26th-27th), divers from the Bordeaux region and from the Hippo-THAU project met in Arcachon Bay in order to compare experiences and test underwater methods to survey seahorses and pipefishes. This was part of the Hippo-BASSIN project, aiming at better describing and understanding seahorse and pipefish ecology. The Hippo-BASSIN project is run by the Arcachon Bay Marine Natural Park project together with divers from the French Diving Federation (FFESSM, CoDep 33), with the scientific support of Peau-Bleue association.
Hippo-THAU: new contributors
06/05/2012
A new partner joined the project Hippo-THAU last week-end: the "Ecole de Plongée Sétoise" organised a transect dive in one of our survey sites with amateur divers from the diving club "La Terrasse Plongée" (Isère). Thanks!
Hippo-THAU : thanks to Plongée Passion
01/05/2012
Thanks to volunteers from Plongée Passion (a diving center in Frontignan) we managed to significantly progress on the spring Hippo-THAU survey. No seahorse was recorded, but 10 pipefishes were observed, and their habitat quantitatively assessed.
Fish Watch expertise in a magazine
18/04/2012
The French magazine Octopus #11, presently on sale, features a paper writen by Patrick Louisy on coral reef fish identification. This article includes a lot of the field experience acquired during Fish Watch scientific surveys conducted by Peau-Bleue since 2003.
Hippo-THAU : Spring session is on
01/04/2012
Hippo-THAU spring season is on. Divers started the seasonal seahorse and pipefish census in the three places we survey every year in the Thau lagoon (south of France). Amateur divers may join our team on specific Hippo-THAU week-ends, organized in partnership with the French diving federation (FFESSM). Next opportunity: April 28th and 29th. Information at CPIE Bassin de Thau.
Blowing seahorse
09/03/2012
The photo below was sent by Michel Barrabés to the Hippo-ATLAS. It depicts a long-snouted seahorsefrom Arcachon Bay blowing water with its tube mouth to scatter the sand away. More information in the Hippo News section.
This year again, Peau-Bleue and Blue Lagoon associated in creating an educational poster: butterflyfishes of the world on one side, identification tools for tropical fish families on the other. This poster is available in the Blue Lagoon offices of Paris and Marseille.
Spotted worm pipefish
30/01/2012
We received yesterday our first record of spotted worm pipefish(Nerophis maculatus). Thanks to Sabine Boulad, a diver from southern France, who contributed already with several Hippo-ATLAS records. If you also have photos and records of seahorses and pipefishes from anywhere in Europe, please send them to Hippo-ATLAS!
Seahorse predator !
23/01/2012
Do seahorses have predators ? Yes ! In Arcachon Bay (France), great northern divers have been seen fishing seahorses and pipefishes. To see the photos, type JOUANDOUDET in the keyword search box.
RHIZOMA meeting
21/01/2012
This week-end, all the partners of the participatory science program RHIZOMA meet in La Pommeraye (close to Angers, France) in order to discuss the possibility to expand the program at a wider scale : the Channel and Atlantic French coasts.
