February 15, 2019
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Male sea dragon carrying its young for the female captured in fascinating footage
Fascinating and rare footage shows a male sea dragon carefully carrying his female's eggs under his tail.
Underwater videographer Jarrod Boord, 37, captured the video whilst deep diving in Port Phillip Bay in Melbourne. The stunning piece of footage has even garnered the attention of David Attenborough, who wrote Boord a personal letter.
Male sea dragons are responsible for carrying eggs after fertilisation, which happens in a delicate process were the female transfers the babies to the male. As with sea horses, sea dragon males are responsible for childbearing. They carry the offspring for around a month before the hatchlings emerge into the water.
But instead of a pouch, like sea horses have, male sea dragons have a spongy brood patch on the underside of the tail where females deposit their bright-pink eggs during mating. The males incubate the eggs and carry them to term, releasing miniature sea dragons into the water after about four to six weeks.
These elusive creatures are only known to be located in the Southern Ocean and can be hard to spot unless you know where to look.
Mr Boore, who grew up photographing wildlife, moved into film and has won multiple awards for his documentary and wildlife cinematography. He says that these leaf-shaped creatures are his favourite animal and was amazed to find that the male he was tracking was carrying eggs.
'It is not very common to see as they can only be seen with eggs at particular times of year. I also once received a letter from David Attenborough about how the Weedy Sea Dragon is one of his favourite animals too. I think the video is amazing as it can show how everyone is different, but we all have our strengths, no matter what others say,' he said.
Pollution and habitat loss have also hurt their numbers, and they are currently listed as near threatened.
Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk
