Seahorse Dads
Today I want to talk about seahorses…
Diver’s confession: I’ve been diving quite a bit for quite some time and in quite a number of places… and yet, I’ve not quite seen a seahorse before! Well… ok, i’ve seen pygmy seahorse (See picture on right and hyperlink to blog-post), so technically, i’ve seen a seahorse. BUT, my point here is: - I’ve not seen a common seahorse! *sigh*
Anyway, a snippet of how the topic on Seahorse Dads came about:-
Here I am, praying and journalling at a cafe. In one of those pensive moments, I’m reminded of how resilient and courageous my dad is; I’m also reminded of how loving and caring my Father in Heaven is.
The bible verses, to seal it in, are:- Matthew 7:9-11 “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (New International Version)
This picture, coming to my mind, is: It’s the Seahorse Dad which carries the eggs in his pouch, incubates them and “gives birth” to its young. If a seahorse knows how to take care of its offsprings and guards them with his life, how much more will (or in some cases, should) a human daddy do for his family… :)
I was interested to find out more about Seahorses. Little is explained, though, about why Seahorse Mums deposit the eggs to Seahorse Dads’ pouches for incubation. Perhaps the offsprings’ chances of survival may be higher in such a case. However, I’ve learnt a bit more about these creatures… (and gosh… humans can learn so much from them):-
1. Seahorses mate for life. They are monogamous and faithful to each other.
2. Courtship lasts for several days, they change colour, dance, hold tails, make musical sounds. They have a good time, if you ask me.
3. The energy costs for generating eggs for the female are apparently twice that of the energy costs required by the male to give birth to Seahorse Babies. See the first 40sec of this clip to catch a glimpse of how potentially difficult it looks for the Seahorse Dad and imagine the difficulty for the Seahorse Mum. (Thanks to youtube). Survival is tough.
4. Throughout the male’s incubation, his mate visits him daily for “morning greetings”. Females are generally more sensitive, aren’t they? ;)
So… :) Here’s a little underwater message (sent via water waves) to all the Seahorse Dads (and Mums and Babies), I’ll meet some of you on my next diving trip ok? ;)))))
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