SEAHORSES

Along with the beasts, the birds and the earth, we are told in Job 12:8-9, 13, “...let the fish of the sea declare to you...that the hand of the LORD has done this...with Him are wisdom and might.” Scientists believe the oceans contain about 20,000 species of fish and up to 1.98 million species of animals and plants, such as worms and jellyfish. All of them gives evidence to the fact that the LORD is their Creator. However, of all the amazing fish in the sea, the one that is the most fascinating is the seahorse. The seahorse declares the wisdom of our Creator. At the same time it presents a problem for evolutionists.

The seahorse swims upright. Even when it sleeps it floats vertically. God, in His wisdom, designed an elaborate balancing mechanism within a specially designed swim bladder to maintain the seahorse’s upright posture. He placed an air bubble in the swim bladder to maintain its uprightness. In addition, God placed sensitive cells at the top of the swim bladder that detects when the air bubble moves to the wrong place. The movement triggers several complex responses that cause the seahorse to right itself. The seahorse begins to move until the bubble tells it that it is again upright. The seahorse uses its fin to swim vertically, and rises or sinks by altering the volume of air in the swim bladder. If the swim bladder’s air bubble was not designed with the right capacity to hold the right volume of air, the seahorse would sink to the bottom of the sea and die. There was no time for an evolutionary process here. The seahorse had to be designed perfectly the first time.

The fin on the back of the seahorse can flutter up to 35 times per second moving it along in search of food. They live on plankton, shrimp larvae and other small sea life by creating a powerful vacuum that sucks up food as they swim. Seahorses do not have a stomach or teeth, but can easily digests their food. They even digest the hard exoskeleton of their prey.

The seahorse also has a unique head design. It swims with its head held upright. It can bend its head up and down, but not from side to side like other fish. To compensate, the Creator in His wisdom designed the seahorse’s eyes to move independently. One eye can look left while the other looks right, or when swimming near the surface one eye can look up while the other looks down. It can scan both above and below the water at the same time.

The male seahorse is one of the only animal species on Earth that bears the unborn. The female seahorse deposits 300 to 600 eggs in the male’s brood pouch located on its stomach. The male seahorse fertilizes these eggs in the pouch, then carries the eggs in the pouch for about 45 days until they hatch. The male seahorse will look after the new born until they are ready to live on their own.

Evolutionist have dated the oldest seahorse fossils back to Eocene rocks, which they claim dates back about 40 million years ago. Yet no evolutionary links exist that are half typical fish and half seahorse. Even though the seahorse is closely related to the sea dragon and pipefish, there is no evidence suggesting evolution. Genetic research on seahorse evolution has not supported any evolutionary theory that explains where they originated. However, the over 35 species of seahorse living in oceans all over the world do declare that God is their Creator as Job 12:8-9 states. In wisdom God created the seahorse so we might behold its beauty and so we might give God the glory for His incredible creation.

PHOTO AND ILLUSTRATION CREDITS

Seahorse: www.seahorsespictures.com

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bergman, Jerry. Article: Seahorse Origin Baffles Evolutionists. Published by Creation Science Association of Alberta, July 2010. www.create.ab.ca/seahorse-origin-baffles-evolutionists.

Juhasz, David. The Amazing Seahorse. www.answersingenesis.org/articles, Creation Magazine, June 1, 1994.

Weston, Paula. Enter the Sea Dragon. www.answersingenesis.org/articles, Creation Magazine, December 1, 1999.