Hello everyone! I'm Sophia, the brainy Bubble Buddy from the beautiful bay of Milos, in the Greek Sea. 

My friends say I'm the smartest of the school, but let's be honest, who really knows! Why do we need a competition on who is the best? Everyone is valuable, everyone has flaws. The important thing is to know that there's always something new to learn, and I'm always diving headfirst into the unknown!

Learning is super fun, and there are millions of incredible things to discover in our big blue world! I can't teach you everything, because even I don't know it all! But I hope I can inspire your curiosity, and together we can explore the wonders of the ocean.

Back to me, I'm a bit of a unique fish.

As a seahorse, I have my very scientific name, Hippocampus, which literally means Seahorse! Just like you are called Homo Sapiens, which literally means Wise Man. You got it right, you have a scientific name too! Honestly, sometimes it makes me laugh! Wise? Sometimes you sound more like confused, sometimes naughty! But I know there are many of you who are really smart and care about our planet. I hope you will help us protect the sea, our home. Together we can do great things.

As I said, I am a fish, even if I am quite different from most fish. First, unlike most fish, we seahorses swim straight up and down, like little dancing horses! And we don't have a big tail fin like other fish. Our special tail can grab onto seaweed or coral, like a tiny monkey's tail! This helps us hold on tight when the currents get strong.

We have a long, tube-like nose that works like a straw to slurp up tiny bits of food, but we don't have a tummy! So, we have to eat food all the time to stay full! We munch on tiny fish and plankton, sometimes up to 3000 little crustaceans a day!

We're not the best swimmers, but can change colour to blend in with their environment. It's like we have our own built-in camouflage! This helps us hide from predators and sneak up on our prey.

In many seahorse species, the couples get together daily to greet each other and dance. We do a little dance every morning to strengthen our relationship, and we often stay with the same partner for life! ! Moreover, it is the dads who have the babies in a little pouch on their belly until the little ones are ready to face the big, wide ocean.

Sadly, seahorses are facing some big problems. Humans are the biggest threat to our survival. Fishing nets, habitat loss, climate change, and pollution are all making it harder for us to survive. But there are people working hard to protect us!

Here are some ideas for you to do. We would be happy if you would share them with us:

Draw Your Own Seahorse: Create a colourful drawing of Sophia the Seahorse. You can add fun details like seaweed, other fish or even a tiny scuba diver. It would be lovely for us to see your drawing.
Seahorse Dance: Pretend to be a seahorse and dance around the room. Move slowly and gracefully, like a real seahorse.
Seahorse Story: Write or draw a short story about a seahorse's adventure. What kind of adventures could a seahorse have? Do you want to share it with us?

Have fun exploring the underwater world of seahorses!