Poseidon’s Steed

Welcome to my story of seahorses

My first book is about a most peculiar and much-loved group of animals: the seahorses. The biography of seahorses, if you like. It’s a blend of popular science, history, mythology, literature, and archaeology that traces a journey above and beneath the waves in pursuit of the elusive sea creatures that have captured the human imagination for thousands of years.

Poseidon’s Steed was published by Gotham Books (Penguin Group) in 2009 in paperback and in 2010 in hardback.

Seahorses on the radio

I’ve talked about seahorses and Poseidon’s Steed on a host of radio shows in the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK. Here are clips from a few of them:

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A few reviews

‘Each chapter is a perfect blend of past and present, fact and whimsy’ Globe and Mail

‘A nuanced & thoughtful analysis’ National Geographic

‘In this fascinating book Helen Scales, an aptly named marine biologist, explains the myth, biology & ecology of what the Victorians called queer fish’ The Economist

‘Elegant & engaging’ Natural History Magazine

‘This is one charming book about one charming fish’ Booklist

‘Against every expectation, her attentive scientific descriptions show these sea-drifting enigmas to be even more wondrous than we previously thought’ Barnes & Nobel Recommends

Poseidon’s Steed on Facebook

You can keep in touch with the book and stay up to date with the latest news from the seahorse world via the Poseidon’s Steed Faceboo k page. I do my best to post the latest seahorse science and conservation developments there.

Get your copy

If you’re not lucky enough to have a friendly, local, independent book shop to get your copy, here are some online retailers that sell Poseidon’s Steed:

The making of…

Some photos I took while researching & writing the book including trips to Belize, Vietnam, and the Orkney Islands.

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View of Ambergris Cay, Belize, from the air
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On Ambergris Cay I found seahorses above and below the waves.
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Tours to visit some of Belize's underwater wildlife.
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Colourful fishy on Ambergris Cay, Belize.
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Touring the mangrove-fringed cays of Belize, proof is found that seahorses are real animals & not just fairy tales.
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A lovely Belizean house, borrowed from a friend, where I wrote much of chapter 6.
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Ribonned pipefish at Tennessee Aquarium. The inspiration - perhaps - for the Rainbow Serpent.
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Tank of baby seahorses at Tennessee Aquarium.
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Trawling boats at the Vietnamese city of Nha Trang.
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Motoring out for a night on the South China Sea on a Vietnamese trawler. Will we catch any seahorses?
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Onboard a Vietnamese trawl boat, an octopus makes a break for the side.
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Vietnam celebrates one of its smaller, coastal residents on a postage stamp.
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Dead and live seahorses on sale in a traditional medicine store in Vietnam.
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Greeting me at the front door of a guest house I stayed at in the Orkneys.
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You can just make out the curving outline of a Pictish seahorse on the Maidenstone in Scotland.
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The hardbacks arrive!