Girl Rescues Orange Seahorse Mistaken For A Cheeto, The Creature Turns Yellow Once She Feels Better
A little girl was walking down the Indian Shores Beach near Tampa, Florida, when she saw something she thought was a Cheeto. When she picked it up, the girl realized it was a seahorse in desperate need of help. The child put the tiny fellow into her sand bucket, filled it with water and rushed to show the seahorse to her mom.
They called the Clearwater Marine Aquarium (CMA). After close examination, it turned out to be a female lined seahorse, a type that changes colors to match its surroundings. She must have lived in red and orange sponges before being swept to the shore – thus the orange color.
“The chances of surviving being dropped by a seagull in the sand are small,” Don Stansell, a marine biologist with CMA, told The Dodo. “It’s amazing because all of the things happened at the exact right time and probably only in a two-minute window for her to have survived.”
A week after her rescue, the seahorse ate for the first time. She also changed her color into bright yellow to match her surroundings. The staff even set up a webcam – the seahorse recovery was streamed live on CMA’s Facbook page.
More info: Clearwater Marine Aquarium | Facebook | Instagram (h/t: thedodo)
A girl was walking down the beach, when she saw something she thought was a Cheeto
Image credits: Clearwater Marine Aquarium
When she picked it up, the girl realized it was a seahorse in desperate need of help
Image credits: Clearwater Marine Aquarium
The child put the tiny fellow into her sand bucket, filled it with water, and rushed to her mom
Image credits: Clearwater Marine Aquarium
They called the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, who found out it to be a female lined seahorse
Image credits: Clearwater Marine Aquarium
This is the type that changes colors to match its surroundings – so she changed her color to yellow
Image credits: Clearwater Marine Aquarium
“The chances of surviving being dropped by a seagull in the sand are small”
Image credits: Clearwater Marine Aquarium
“It’s amazing because all of the things happened at the exact right time for her to have survived”
Image credits: Clearwater Marine Aquarium
The seahorse fully recovered and was released back into the sea
Image credits: Zack Perry
Watch the video here:
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Share on FacebookThis is how seahorse religions get started. I was lifted up into the sky, then fell to earth and would have died and a giant angel saved me.
way to go little girl and her mom for not tossing it back in the ocean but taking it to an aquarium to recoup in peace. Immediately releasing it back in the water would have been certain death for the wee critter.
We walk this beach every weekend! It's lovely! And the Clearwater Marine Aquarium is wonderful, they rehab lots of aquatic critters. Thanks little girl, for saving Cheeto!
Seahorses all over the world want to say thanks a thousand times to the little girl and her mom!
This is a beautiful story. My one question is, why would the girl pick a cheetoh up off the ground? I'm glad she did, but stll
She probably just picked it up bc it looked strange and then thought it might have been a cheetoh lol.
Load More Replies...It might be the Queen of the seahorses and come back to invite the little girl into her underwater palace.
The darkness that has covered my America since 11-9-16 is lightened by Bored Panda's remarkable posts of light & laughter...thanks!
Awww. So sweet. Glad that there are people out there that considered this wee seahorse's life as important enough to save her. Good on the little girl and her Mom.
This is how seahorse religions get started. I was lifted up into the sky, then fell to earth and would have died and a giant angel saved me.
way to go little girl and her mom for not tossing it back in the ocean but taking it to an aquarium to recoup in peace. Immediately releasing it back in the water would have been certain death for the wee critter.
We walk this beach every weekend! It's lovely! And the Clearwater Marine Aquarium is wonderful, they rehab lots of aquatic critters. Thanks little girl, for saving Cheeto!
Seahorses all over the world want to say thanks a thousand times to the little girl and her mom!
This is a beautiful story. My one question is, why would the girl pick a cheetoh up off the ground? I'm glad she did, but stll
She probably just picked it up bc it looked strange and then thought it might have been a cheetoh lol.
Load More Replies...It might be the Queen of the seahorses and come back to invite the little girl into her underwater palace.
The darkness that has covered my America since 11-9-16 is lightened by Bored Panda's remarkable posts of light & laughter...thanks!
Awww. So sweet. Glad that there are people out there that considered this wee seahorse's life as important enough to save her. Good on the little girl and her Mom.
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