THE first Seahorse of the season to be spotted at Studland was stranded, run over and thought to be dead, but miraculously survived its punishing ordeal.

And its presence has excited the experts who don’t normally see the delightful creatures this early in the year.

The 5cm long female spiny seahorse was spotted on Knoll Beach by an eagle-eyed Buckinghamshire schoolboy.

Studland National Trust visitor experience officer Kevin Rideout was walking along the shore with a group of 10-year-olds, looking at shells and seaweed.

“One of the lads tapped me on the shoulder and said ‘there was a seahorse back there’,” he said. “And there it was, lying on the sand. It was well up from the water’s edge.”

He said there was a cyclist ahead of them and the clear track of a bicycle tyre went right over the seahorse, which he would not have seen.

“We all assumed it was dead,” said Kevin, who had seen a dead one washed up on the shore.

He put it in a small bottle of seawater, where it plopped to the bottom, to make it easier for the children to see.

After it had been passed round he put it in his pocket and about 20 minutes later one of the children asked to see it again.

“I pulled it out of my pocket and it was swimming around. It was absolutely fantastic. We were all absolutely delighted.”

He said it must have been able to survive out of the water for a time and revived when put back.

The children found a safe spot near some rocks and released the tough survivor back into the sea.

“She’s beautiful,” said Neil Garrick-Maidment, executive director of The Seahorse Trust. “We have been waiting for the seahorses to return so it is good to see her.

“Normally they arrive back in the early part of May when the sea temperature rises to about 11 degrees.

“It’s only about nine degrees now, so she is early.

“But when we were diving last week we saw lots of food around so I am not surprised she is here.”