Sydney Awards 2024: Seahorse saviour among finalists for Young Sydneysider, People’s Choice gongs

These three young Sydneysiders have made enough of a splash in their city to receive a nod as finalists in the Sydney Awards. Vote for your People’s Choice winner.

Three young Sydneysiders have made enough of a splash in their city to receive a nod as finalists in the Sydney Awards, but none quite so literally as marine biologist and seahorse aficionado Mitchell Brennan.

The 29-year-old PhD student and project manager of the Sydney Seahorse Project is, alongside his team at the Sydney Institute of Marine Science, attempting to bring Sydney Harbour’s population of endangered White’s seahorses back from the brink.

By breeding baby seahorses in captivity and releasing them – in their hundreds – back into the water at Mosman’s Chowder Bay and other seahorse habitats around the harbour, Mr Brennan is living his childhood dream.

“From quite a young age, seahorses and sea dragons were something that really captured my imagination, and I’ve been able to land in a conservation project to attempt to save a seahorse species – I’ve ended up in the ideal scenario,” he said.

The Harbour now hosts more than 50 ‘seahorse hotels’ – structures that resemble crab traps overgrown with sponges and algae, that allow seahorse fry somewhere to cling on and call home amid massive natural habitat destruction.

Sydney Awards finalist Mitch Brennan pictured in Chowder Bay, where his Sydney Seahorse Project is helping bring an endangered species back from the brink. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“This is the Sydney Awards, and our work is based in Sydney Harbour – one of the most amazing and diverse harbours in the world,” Mr Brennan said.

“We have over 650 species of fish. There’s an amazing array of ecosystems and habitats, but unfortunately we’ve seen some of this degraded over time. My work is really focused on how we, as people who live in these coastal communities, can make a positive change on the environment and help bring Sydney Harbour back to the beauty that it once was.”

Small fry ain’t small fry: PhD student and project manager of the Sydney Institute of Marine Science’s Seahorse Project Mitchell Brennan repopulates baby seahorses into Sydney Harbour. Picture: Jayne Jenkins

Fellow finalists in the Young Sydneysider of the Year competition, reserved only for the under 30 crowd, are medical student and children’s author Alexia Paglia, and the 17-year-old youth voice of Muslim Women Australia Khadijah Habbouche.

Ms Paglia said it was “an incredible privilege” to be recognised as a finalist in the Sydney Awards for her efforts in educating young children about their lifelong health, and an “encouragement” to keep going.

“It’s brilliant to know that the work that you do has been acknowledged, especially because I know for myself and all of my colleagues and fellow medical students, we work so tirelessly to try to learn everything that we can, so that we can make a tangible impact,” she said.

Ms Habbouche, by far the youngest of the finalists, said one of the things she’s most proud of through her work with Muslim Women Australia has been running swimming lessons for women who have escaped domestic violence.

Young Sydneysider of the Year finalist Khadijah Habbouche.

Young Sydneysider of the Year finalist Alexia Paglia. Picture: Richard Dobson

“It’s contributed to their healing journey, and they’ve actually been able to gain confidence and connect with each other through those programs,” she explained.

“It’s very important to me - throughout the years and all the volunteering that I do, I’ve been able to build different connections with people.”

All three finalists – along with nine other finalists across the three other Sydney Awards categories – are in with a second chance at winning, with all finalists eligible for the Coles People’s Choice Award voted on by you – the readers of The Daily Telegraph.

To find out more about the finalists and cast your vote, go to www.sydney.org.au/vote.

Originally published as Sydney Awards 2024: Seahorse saviour among finalists for Young Sydneysider, People’s Choice gongs