NGM FEBRUARY 2026
INTO A SEAHORSE UTOPIA
In the Bahamas, a landlocked lagoon called Sweetings Pond is home to one of the highest density of seahorses in the world, possibly reaching 800,000 fishes. This pond is so unique the seahorses have evolved to have smaller bodies and differently shaped heads, demonstrating they are genetically shifting away from their fellow species. These two factors—abundance and evolution—is an opportunity to better understand the fish in general. Biologist Hannah Mason at the University of Tampa has been studying population for the past several years and has been working with the Bahamas National Trust to protect the lagoon, which was recently stalled.
Other features in this issue include:
• The Quest to Reengineer Beer: Biologists in Belgium are modifying yeast to concoct a beverage-industry holy grail: a nonalcoholic brew for beer lovers who hate nonalcoholic brews.
• How Brazil Went Country: With their national’s agricultural economy surging, Brazilians have fallen for the earner twang of sertanejo music—and the cowboy lifestyle it evangelizes.
• The Wolfkeepers: For nomadic Kazakh herders in Mongolia, hunting wolves is both a livestock-protecting necessity and a sacred responsibility.
