A trip to a popular Texas aquarium left one visitor deeply concerned about the health and well-being of the animals on display.
After witnessing what appeared to be distressed seahorses, she turned to social media to ask if what she saw was normal. And the video sparked an important conversation about proper marine animal care.
Visitor Questions Seahorse Behavior
In a viral video, content creator @prettylittle.dd said she visited the San Antonio Aquarium and expressed alarm about the condition of seahorses in one of the tanks shortly after feeding time.
“I’m in San Antonio at the San Antonio Aquarium right now, and I’m pretty concerned with some of the stuff I’ve been seeing here,” she says.
She explains that staff had just fed the seahorses using syringes to disperse food directly to them. However, what happened after feeding raised red flags for her.
Four seahorses were clustered in the corner of the tank, barely moving and grouped together while holding onto each other or decorative branches in the exhibit.
“Can someone tell me if this is normal?” she asks repeatedly in the video.
The visitor notes that while she could see the seahorses moving slightly, their movements—or lack thereof—didn’t appear healthy to her. She mentions that she and her companion volunteer at a wildlife rescue, suggesting they have some experience with animal behavior and welfare.
“This can’t be okay. Also, this was just one of the many things unusual in this place,” she added in the caption.
What Healthy Seahorses Actually Look Like
Seahorses are notoriously delicate creatures with very specific care requirements, and their behavior can signal a lot about their health and tank conditions. According to PetMD, healthy seahorses should display active behavior, cruising around the tank, latching onto hitching posts, and showing curiosity about their environment.
Signs of a healthy seahorse include bright, clear eyes with no cloudiness or swelling, smooth skin without bumps or spots, and calm, steady breathing—not fast or labored.
Top Shelf Aquatics notes that seahorses should be alert and clearly engaged with their surroundings, not hanging out in corners looking lethargic.
The behavior described in the video could indicate several problems. According to Chewy’s seahorse care guide, lethargic swimming with abnormal patterns, such as staying at the top or bottom of the tank, can be a warning sign.
Seahorses should spend time observing their surroundings and actively using their prehensile tails to grip vertical structures throughout the tank.
Seahorses are extremely sensitive to water quality, temperature changes, and even lighting conditions. They require turbulence-free tanks with appropriate water flow, and they need multiple hitching posts, like vertical structures they can grasp with their tails since they’re not strong swimmers.
Poor water quality, inadequate tank setup, or stress from improper conditions can all cause seahorses to display abnormal, sluggish behavior.
@prettylittle.dd I cannot find their @. This can’t be okay. Also, this was just one of the many things unusual in this place.
Commenters React
“Sometime seahorses will anchor themselves to objects during times where there trying to conserve energy and eat, BUT most animals in aquariums and zoos are all sad animals,” a person said.
“So overpriced! I went there recently and it was horrible,” another wrote.
“An aquarium in the middle of a giant city nowhere near an ocean is never normal. What were you expecting?” a third commenter claimed.
BroBible reached out to @prettylittle.dd for comment via TikTok direct message and comment and to the San Antonio Aquarium for comment via email. We’ll be sure to update this if they respond.