Customer Reviews

NOVA - Kingdom of the Seahorse

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This is a beautiful piece. Not only will you learn a lot about seahorses, it also illustrates a great lesson of how one concerned person can make a significant impact.

Seahorses are very small and purposely try to hide themselves. Plus, underwater camera work is difficult. These factors make this documentary necessary and hard to produce. The work really focuses on one marine biologist. I wonder if she could be the Jane Goodall of seahorses. I also wonder if she will inspire other women to enter the field.
It's easy to think of seahorses as cute when you see Aquaman cartoons or buy My Pretty Pony Merponies. However, I saw a seahorse in a tank once and it was ugly. It looked like a worm turned 90 degrees. I was prepared to be repulsed by this documentary, but it was okay. I wasn't grossed out.
This documentary tries to emphasize that the seahorse is a fish and not some magical creature. However, it still seems like a platypus, a type of animal with few relatives. The work says seahorses don't have teeth or stomachs. Their male pregnancy also makes them stand out.
Many say rightwing activists have tried to adopt penguins due to their childrearing practices as seen in "The March of the Penguins." This work seems to say seahorse couples are monogamous. The cover shows a couple kissing and making a heart-shaped pattern, though the work never addresses that formation. The work does show many seahorse couples with entwined tails. I think romantics, gender activists, and transgender activists could embrace the animal after seeing this work.
The marine biologist is seen investigating seahorse sails in Chinese markets. The work says it's used in Chinese medicine. I wish the work has explored whether this is quackery or whether seahorses actually have healing properties. Environmentalists will love this work because the marine biologists speaks with Pilipino fishers and creates a seahorse habitat that actually works. (I wish we could do this for pandas and manatees.) I think this documentary would be great for junior high school science classes. Since the work ends with the environmental message, it can be turned off without students left hanging if the class period ends.