Theme: Camouflage
Award: Highly Commended
Photographer: Emily Phang
I took this picture of a seahorse when I visited an aquarium in Singapore during a holiday with my parents and sister. I did not notice the seahorse right away when I looked into the tank and took me a while to realise that the seahorse has camouflaged itself with the seaweeds. The shape of the seahorse\’ body, tail, fins and snouts all blend in very nicely with the seaweed. Even the colour is very similar to its environment. The seahorse is a slow moving creature and cannot escape from its predators by swimming away quickly. It therefore uses this camouflage technique as a defence mechanism to protect itself from the predators in the water. I later discovered that the seahorse is a veritable chameleons. They can change their colors and patterns to blend in with their environment. Apparently, some seahorse species can even grow fleshy filaments which look like algae or other plant life to match their specific habitats.