Dear Carrie:
Wow, that’s going to be a heckuva great trip! Your mother in law and you have a real treat to look forward to! I am officially jealous…
I don’t know if it would be possible for you to handpick some seahorses during your visit to Ocean Rider. That would be a good question for you to ask Carol and Craig, the husband and wife team of aquaculturists who own and operate the seahorse farm.
However, I suspect that it doesn’t work that way, at least on the public tours of Ocean Rider which go through their new Visitor’s Center. Of course, you’ll see loads of brilliantly colored seahorses of all kinds at the Visitor’s Center, but I believe those are all display specimens that are not for sale.
As I understand it, because Ocean Rider is a High-Health aquaculture facility, the actual nursery tanks for fry, grow-out tanks for juveniles, and holding tanks for adults must be maintained in a biosecure area that is not open to the general public. So I don’t think you would actually get to see the seahorses that are for sale during a public tour of Ocean Rider.
If you could possibly arrange for a private, behind-the-scene tour of the facility with Carol, perhaps you could work something out. But that’s something you would need to ask Carol and Craig about personally. I would send them an e-mail and ask them specifically if that would be possible in your case. You can reach them at the following e-mail addresses:
[email protected]
[email protected]
Best of luck on your vacation to Hawaii, Carrie! Let us know how everything worked out when you get back.
Happy Trails!
Pete Giwojna
Ocean Rider, Inc. is an Organic Hawaiian-Based Seahorse Aqua-Farm & Aquarium that Follows Strict Good Farming Practices in Raising Seahorses and Other Aquatic Life.
