wild shores of singapore

Dredging near Pulau Satumu has been going on Jan-Mar 2016.

Singapore's best reefs are found at Pulau Satumu
the location of Raffles Lighthouse, Feb 2008

Pulau Satumu, also the location of Raffles Lighthouse, has Singapore's best reefs. Dredging can affect corals as it stirs up sediments which make the water murky and affect coral health.

Why does murky water harm corals?

Reef-building hard corals need sunlight because they harbour microscopic, single-celled algae (called zooxanthellae) inside their bodies. The algae undergo photosynthesis to produce food from sunlight. The food produced is shared with the coral polyp, which in return provides the algae with shelter and minerals. It is believed this additional source of nutrients from the zooxanthellae help hard corals produce their hard skeletons and thus expand the size of the colony faster.

Rich reefs during the Mega Marine Survey, May 2013.

Thus clear waters that let sunlight through for photosynthesis is important for healthy reef growth. More about hard corals on the wild fact sheets.

Rich reefs during the Mega Marine Survey, May 2013.

More about the dredging near Raffles Lighthouse

From MPA's PORT MARINE NOTICE NO. 11 OF 2016 dated 26 Jan 2016

DREDGING WORK OFF PULAU SATUMU
With effect from 27 Jan 2016 to 29 Mar 2016.
Off Pulau Satumu, within the working area (see attached chartlet):

Working Hours : 24 hours daily including Sundays and Public Holidays.

The dredging work will be carried out by Trailer Suction Hopper Dredger (TSHD) pulling the draghead over the seabed. The TSHD is self-propelled and will maintain a speed of around two knots during the dredging work. Further enquires relating to the project can be directed to Mr Joachim Lebbe, Works Manager at Tel: 9646-7942 (email: lebbe.joachim@diapshapjv.com).

What is involved in this kind of work?

Here's some information about dredging on wikipedia

Trailing suction

A trailing suction hopper dredger (TSHD) trails its suction pipe when working, and loads the dredge spoil into one or more hoppers in the vessel. When the hoppers are full the TSHD sails to a disposal area and either dumps the material through doors in the hull or pumps the material out of the hoppers. Some dredges also self-offload using drag buckets and conveyors.

From the wikipedia site, this is what a trailing suction hopper dredger (TSHD) looks like.

What are some of the environmental impacts of dredging?
More information about dredging on wikipedia (in brackets are my explanations of 'cheem' science words).

Dredging can create disturbance to aquatic ecosystems, often with adverse impacts. In addition, dredge spoils may contain toxic chemicals that may have an adverse effect on the disposal area; furthermore, the process of dredging often dislodges chemicals residing in benthic substrates (sea bottom) and injects them into the water column (basically, stirs things up).

The activity of dredging can create the following principal impacts to the environment:

Release of toxic chemicals, including heavy metals and PCB, from bottom sediments into the water column.
Short term increases in turbidity (murkiness), which can affect aquatic species metabolism (animal breathing and eating) and interfere with spawning (reproduction).
Secondary effects from water column contamination of uptake of heavy metals, DDT and other persistent organic toxins, via food chain uptake and subsequent concentrations of these toxins in higher organisms including humans. (Should someone tell the fishermen who fish nearby?)
Secondary impacts to marsh productivity from sedimentation
Tertiary impacts to avifauna (birds) which may prey upon contaminated aquatic organisms.
Secondary impacts to aquatic and benthic (bottom-dwelling) organisms' metabolism (living processes) and mortality (death).
Possible contamination of dredge spoils sites (area where the dredged stuff is dumped, where is this?).

So glad to be back at Chek Jawa yesterday with the Naked Hermit Crab and about 90 families and kids!

Despite the hot weather, we had a great time!

Before we began, a large Golden Orb Web spider is spotted high up in the trees.

We crane our necks to gawk at the magnificently large mama spider.

Fortunately Jonathan has a long lens and took a great photo of the spider.

This is the great group of visitors who came with me. I struggled once again to reach the top of Jejawi Tower where we had a look at the islands and lands around us. And celebrated with a small group photo!

When we got back down, Jonathan was enthralling his group with the many tiny critters that can be found in the back mangroves. Jonathan did his talk in Mandarin as grandpa doesn't speak English. Salute!

We saw a fluffy seed floating in the air, and then a bird with fluffy seeds in its beak. Dad took a great shot of the bird! Hurray!

We cheat and take photos of his photo.

It was a scorching hot day on the Coastal boardwalk. While we did see many Sand bubbler crabs, I couldn't spot any fiddler crabs. Hopefully it was just because the tide was coming in. We did see many small Gold-spotted mudskippers, and some smaller schooling fishes as well as a large Needlefish. I didn't see any dead fishes but I did see one dying Tripodfish floating at the surface.

At the end of the walk, the kids shared what they love about Chek Jawa. I'm always amazed by their talent and thoughts!

Thanks to Sumita for organising the walk and all the volunteers for guiding. Join the next free Chek Jawa boardwalk tour with the Naked Hermit Crabs for families. More details on their blog.

The water looks alright during our bumboat ride. Not the colour of teh-o, which usually means there is a plankton bloom going on.

The hot weather and neap tides means the risk of a plankton bloom is rising.

Dead Fish Alert!

Please help me monitor dead fishes washing up on the Johor Straits. Please let me know if you see large numbers (more than 10) especially of large dead fishes (more than 20cm long) washing up on the northern shores such as Pulau Ubin, Lim Chu Kang, Sungei Buloh, Kranji, Woodlands Waterfront, Sembawang, Punggol, Lorong Halus, Pasir Ris, Changi.

Even though Singapore is one of the world's busiest ports, our waters are home to amazing marine life including dolphins!

Four adult dolphins were spotted off Pasir Panjang Container 33 on 25 Mar 2016. Thanks to Chng Joseph, master of tug boat TG47 for capturing and sharing a video of them.

Thank you to Chng Joseph for this video and message: i wished to share with you new sightings of a school of at least 4...
Posted by Ria Tan on Friday, 25 March 2016

Joseph also added this location map of his sighting.

On 6 Mar 2016, KayakAsia Sentosa shared this video of dolphins seen between Lazarus and St. John's Island while kayaking.

More about Singapore's dolphins.

It's been a while that I compiled sightings of dolphins and sea turtles!

Singapore has sea turtles and dolphins (May 2015)
December of Dolphins (Dec 2014)
Wild dolphins! Sea turtles! In Singapore waters! (Sep 2014)

What gives me a warm fuzzy feeling is not only knowing that there are wild dolphins in Singapore, but also that there are kind people at sea who look out and share their sightings!

Thank you to everyone who report sightings of special marine creatures such as dolphins and sea turtles.

How can we help protect our sea turtles and dolphins?

Stop littering.
Stop mass balloon releases.

Our friend Beverly in California snapped this photo of a balloon near a white sided dolphin while out on a wildlife...
Posted by Balloons Blow on Thursday, 24 March 2016

Balloons and soft plastic kill sea turtles, slowly and painfully. Balloons, plastic bags, nylon rope, styrofoam are swallowed by sea turtles which mistake these for jellyfish. One report found that sea turtles are selectively preferring to eat soft plastics over other types of rubbish.

An exploded balloon looks very much like a jellyfish!
This was seen at Cyrene Reef.

YOU can make a difference for our shores!

Explore your shores! Just join any of the many guided activities on our shores, from walks to dives. Come for shore talks and other events. These are updated daily on the wildsingapore happenings blog. Get weekly updates by subscribing to the blog.

Express about your shores! Blog about your trip and share it on social media. Share your photos.

Speak up about our shores. Enjoyed your trip? Tell the organisers, agencies managing the shore. You don't need to write only to complain. Written support of existing habitats will strengthen the case for preserving them. Don't wait until they are at risk!

Act for your shores! Join any of the many volunteer opportunities, more about these on on-going opportunities. Get updates emailed to you by subscribing to feeds from the wildsingapore daily news blogwhich features news, blog updates and volunteer opportunities.

MORE!
About our wild places how to get there, what to see and do, what to prepare.

Yesterday, I had a great time guiding at Pulau Semakau! This is the first time I'm guiding since I started the guiding programme on the island in 2005!

We had such a great time with enthusiastic and friendly visitors who spot all kinds of interesting marine life. We know we shouldn't take the sea stars out of the water, so we take our group photo with them this way!

We saw 10 of these large colourful Knobbly sea stars! They are indeed the highlight a trip to the shores of natural Pulau Semakau.

Chua Sek Chuan kicks off the walk with a safety briefing and introduction to the guides: Karen Chen, Ivan Kwan and Heng Pei Yan! Most of the team are also volunteer guides at the Sisters Islands Marine Park. While Ivan and Pei Yan and I also guide with the Naked Hermit Crabs, and we three are part of a small team of volunteers who regularly survey Singapore shores: 100 days a year covering 40 seashore locations, for about a decade.

The visitors in my group are very keen-eyed. Among the first sightings was this pair of snapping shrimps! We also learned to spot the many Hairy crabs that wander the shore like little teddybears.

Today, there were many many Common sea stars in 'mating' position. Sea stars of the genus Archaster have a unique mating behaviour. The male, which is usually smaller, seeks out a female during the breeding season. He then moves on top of her, his arms alternating with hers. Their reproductive organs do not actually meet. Sperm is merely released by the male when the female releases her eggs, for external fertilisation. This behaviour is believed to increase the chances of external fertilisation. So much so that the males do not need to be large and are thus usually smaller than the females.

We also saw this skeleton of a Heart urchin which is related to sea stars -- you can see the 'star' on its skeleton! Heart urchins usually live burrowed into the sand, so we seldom see a living one above ground.

We saw one Garlic bread sea cucumber and several Durian sea cucumbers.

We also came across this yellow ribbon of eggs, probably laid by a nudibranch or snail.

This large odd-looking creature is a Cauliflower nudibranch! I don't come across it very often.

Another special sighting by the visitors, egg capsules of some kind of squid, laid among the green sponge-seaweed.

Sek Chuan has spotted an Upside down jellyfish! The jellyfish harbours microscopic, single-celled algae (called zooxanthellae) inside its body. The algae undergo photosynthesis to produce food from sunlight. The food produced is shared with the jellyfish, which in return provides the algae with shelter and minerals. It is the algae which gives the jellyfish its colours. This is why the animal prefers to be 'upside down', with its bell facing the sea floor and oral arms facing upwards toward the light. When one is turned the 'right' way up, it will slowly turn itself upside down again.

We saw one Giant carpet anemone. But no shrimps or clown anemonefish.

We manage to walk to the reef edge before the tide turns! Here, the corals are much bigger!

It has been very hot lately, which makes us worry about coral bleaching. So I always check for this during our trips. What is coral bleaching and why this is of concern on the Bleach Watch Singapore blog. I saw a few hard corals that were pale or yellow. These included very yellow or whitish Disk corals, a pale Pebble coral and some pale Small Goniopora corals.

There were many Anemone corals and all of them seemed alright.

These hard corals were the first to bleach in the past. Those I saw on the trip seemed alright, although some were rather pale. Many of the Cauliflower corals I saw were pale at the tips. All the Sandpaper corals I saw were mostly still dark brown. The Torch anchor corals were a little pale. The Brain corals I saw were alright.

I saw a few Asparagus flowery soft corals that were oddly coloured, but most of the Leathery soft corals I saw were alright.

Sea anemones are also affected by bleaching. Sadly, we saw one Haddon's carpet anemone that was bleaching. It did not have shrimps in it.

The visitors are very mindful of impact and we all walk in single file to minimise our footprint.

It's a very sunny day, but quite breezy so it wasn't too hot. We walk past the mangrove tree that has died.

In the past, we used this tree as a marker for the exit during surveys such as for TeamSeagrass monitoring.

TeamSeagrass monitoring in 2010.

Oh dear! The seagrasses have almost disappeared!

There used to be so much seagrass here that we have designated one path for everyone to cross the seagrass lagoon, so that we do not damage the seagrasses there.

Photo at the crossing path by Loh Kok Sheng in 2010.
Kok Sheng was a regular guide at the Semakau walks.

But the corals are still where the seagrass used to be.

This shore of natural Pulau Semakau lies close to the petrochemical plants on Pulau Bukom.

Here's more about booking an intertidal walk at Pulau Semakau on the NEA website.

Pulau Semakau is NOT the same as the Semakau Landfill. The Landfill was created by destroying all of Pulau Saking, and about half of the original Pulau Semakau by building a very long seawall. Fortunately, the landfill was constructed and is managed in such a way that the original mangroves, seagrass meadows and reefs on Pulau Semakau were allowed to remain. The eastern shore of Pulau Semakau is right next to the seawall of the Semakau Landfill, opposite the petrochemical plants on Pulau Bukom.

It is NOT true that the construction of the Landfill created the marine life found on Pulau Semakau. The marine life was there long before the Landfill was built.

As the existing half of the Landfill was used up, the Phase 2 of the Landfill was just recently launched. This involved closing the gap of the seawall on the Semakau Landfill, forming one big pool where incinerated ash will be dumped. NEA worked to limit the damage to natural shores during the construction work for this expansion of the landfill.

On the drive from the NEA Jetty to the start point of the walk, we pass by Terumbu Semakau (a submerged reef) and the Eastern shore of Pulau Semakau. Although I no longer guide at Pulau Semakau, we regularly survey Pulau Semakau and the terumbus around it, by landing amphibiously in a dinghy.

It was a rather hazy day yesterday. The heat is hard not only on people but also our marine life. Let's hope they make it through!

Thanks to Subaraj Rajathurai for inviting us to guide at this walk! It was quite nostalgic to guide at Pulau Semakau so many years after starting the guiding system there in 2005 with the Raffles Museum now called the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum which still conducts these walks. I also remember it was Keith Hillier who got NEA to include me when it was decided to open the Landfill and Pulau Semakau for recreational activities. Keith sadly has passed away and I miss him so much.

Other work I've done at Semakau include organising the first survey of Semakau's mangroves led by Zeehan Jaafar and Loh Tse-Lynn. As well as setting up TeamSeagrass who monitor seagrasses at Semakau as well as Chek Jawa and Cyrene Reef. Also helping Marcus Ng who wrote the awesome books about Semakau's amazing marine life published by NEA.

Just across the central business district on the mainland, are the living reefs of St. John's Island!

The tide was quite low today so we could get a glimpse of the reef edge.

At night, the fishes are less skitish so we see a wider variety of them. These include the False scorpionfish, Bengal sergeant and Carpet eel-blenny. I saw a lot of Shadow gobies.

How nice to see a baby batfish. At first, I thought it was a dead leaf.

I saw this oddly patterned filefish. I'm not sure if it is ill. It was very much alive.

As usual, with trepidation, I check for coral bleaching on the shore. I feel there are much fewer live corals in the area compared to our last trip here at super low tide in May 2014. Anemone corals were the most common coral I saw today.

Although they were not bleaching, the colonies didn't look very well. Their skeleton seems to be rather scummy.

This Anemone coral has dead patches with seaweeds growing on it.

There were several large Boulder pore corals and all those I saw were alright. I only saw a few Merulinid (formerly Favid) corals. Some of them had dead patches. Among the other kinds of corals I saw was one small Galaxy coral, and two small Crinkled sandpaper corals. I didn't see any Cauliflower corals.

The other common coral I saw were Flowery disk corals. All of them seemed alright. The dark blob on the lower right corner is a nudibranch!

Here's a closer look at the Black phyllid nudibranch which has its gills on the sides.

I also saw a large Tongue mushroom coral!

A few of the corals were rather pale.

The leathery soft corals, zoanthids and corallimorphs I saw were all not bleaching.

Spoon seagrasses were growing well on the shores, forming large lush patches inside the swimming lagoons, and also outside the seawalls. There were also patches of Tape seagrasses, most of which were cropped, but not very short.

Chay Hoon and Kok Sheng find two baby Knobbly sea stars. Our last trip here was in Nov 2015.

Today is our first predawn trip for the year.

A gorgeous sunrise is one of the delights of a predawn trip. It is also much less hot!

After sunrise, Kok Sheng documented the entire reef edge and brought back some stunning photos of the corals and anemones and anemonefishes that are found there. Check out his blog for more stunning photos and videos.

The visibility was great today! As we were leaving, we saw some guys offloading air tanks. I asked and they said they were preparing to do a shore dive of the reef edge.

Let's hope this beautiful shore remains safe until we check up on it.

More by others on this trip

Loh Kok Sheng on his blog.

Terumbu Bemban has among the best reefs in Singapore! Even though it is close to where many large ships are anchored.

I checked out a new edge of this submerged reef. And Russel and Adriane saw lots of sharks (which are abundant near this reef).

Today, I decided to walk to another reef edge. And found a stretch thick with many different kinds of corals!

Here's a video clip of the edges of this submerged reef.

Hidden among the corals and Sargassum seaweed was a little Fluted giant clam!

Here's a look at the little Fluted giant clam. It was about 6cm long.

Later on, I saw this small Burrowing giant clam, about 10cm long. Chay Hoon and Adriane also found one each.

The Cushion star looks just like a rock or another coral.

The sea star looks more obvious if you have a look at its underside.

As usual, on reefy spots, I encounter corals I've never seen before. Like this small Mycedium sp., which I call the Nose coral because the polyps on this thick plate-forming coral look like noses! Thanks to Chay Hoon for the ID.

Oh, this looks like a Sunflower mushroom coral. I haven't seen one for a very long time.

I saw several special corals today. Including several colonies of Boulder horn coral and Branching horn coral.

I think this is a plate forming Montipora coral. I seldom see this.

Other less commonly seen corals included Moon corals, large mushroom corals and Ringed plate coral and Ridged plate coral and Bracket mushroom coral.

There were several Acropora corals, none of those I saw were bleaching. There were many Pebble corals, and only a few had whitish portions.

I saw many Brain corals and most appeared normal. The white one seems always white whenever I see it.

I saw many Disk corals and most of them were well formed and looking alright. Nice and brown!

I actually didn't see many Merulinid (previously Favid) corals corals, probably because I kept to the reef edge. But most that I saw were not bleaching.

Common corals like Crinkled sandpaper corals, Anemone corals, Disk corals and Circular mushroom corals that I saw were not bleaching. In the past, these were among the first to bleach.

Some of the corals were pale but few were bleaching outright.

ost of the Pocillopora corals were alright although a few had white tips. Similarly, only a few of the many Galaxy corals I saw had white patched. Most of the Carnation corals I saw were also pale. And only a few small Merulinid (previously Favid) corals had white patches.

There were a few large Boulder pore corals and Merulinid (previously Favid) corals that were bright pink. Probably a sign of stress?

I did see one small bleaching Torch anchor coral and another that was very pale. Also a large Branching anchor coral with very pale polyps.

Although most of the Asparagus flowery soft corals I saw were pale or oddly pastel coloured, most of the Leathery soft corals I saw were alright. Although some were also oddly pastel coloured and one was very bright yellow.

I only got to have a quick look at the rich reef near our landing point towards the end of our survey.

There are still many corals here. Although some were pale, I didn't see any that were bleaching outright.

This is what the same spot looked like during the 2010 global mass coral bleaching.

During our trip in Jun 2010.

At Marina at Keppel Bay, the corals growing on the pontoons were not bleaching.

There were spinkles of Spoon seagrass, and twirls of rather short Tape seagrass as well as some Sickle seagrass here and there. Not very different from what I saw on our last survey here in Jun 2015.

Although the Sargassum seaweed bloom season appears to be dying out (finally!) there now seems to be a bloom of bright green Bee hoon seaweed.

We land at first light! Thanks to Alex and James as usual for getting us there safely. (And back too).

It is very tricky to land on the correct reef in low light, because we need to avoid the small submerged reefs around Terumbu Bemban, and also avoid landing on Beting Bemban Besar!

Let's hope this beautiful little reef stays safe until we get to survey again.

Posts by others on this trip

Russel Low on facebook.
Adriane Lee on facebook.

Others on this trip: Toh Chay Hoon, Lisa Lim, Richard Kuah.

This morning, a small team surveyed an East Coast Park shore that is only accessible at super low tide. We found lush seagrasses and corals!

We also encountered a large group of Smooth-coated otters! And a seahorse too!

Throughout our survey, a group of possibly 10 Smooth-coated otters were hunting and playing nearby. Mostly ignoring us!

Smooth-coated otters (Lutrogale perspicillata)

It's not surprising that the otters love this shore as it is lush with seagrasses and corals. This shore has the largest patch of Noodle seagrass on the mainland which I have ever seen. My last trip here was in Jun 2015, but at that time, I still wasn't walking well and didn't explore much of it.

Among the abundant animals I saw in the seagrasses were Gong-gong snails, Black lipped conch snails, Dubious nerite snails and Fan shell clams. On the sandy parts there were many Cake sand dollars. On the canal walls, Ivan saw Diadema sea urchins!

Other animals were one Slender sea pen, a few cerianthids and several large Haddon's carpet anemones. We also saw two Fat-armed jellyfishes zooming past in the outgoing tide. On the rocks, there were clumps of Stinging hydroids.

Among the lush Smooth ribbon seagrass was one Haddon's carpet anemone that was bleaching. But most of the corals and other animals I saw were not bleaching.

Spoon seagrasses as usually is the most common, with large leaf blades. There were also Needle seagrasses, both with narrow and broad leaf blades.

There were also several clumps of Tape seagrass all of them with nice long leaf blades.

Here's a video of the seagrasses I saw on this shore.

Where the seagrass meadows end, the corals start to appear!

As usual, I check for coral bleaching. Although some of the corals appear rather pale, I did not see any that were bleaching. Merulinid (previously Favid) corals were the most common, with many different kinds seen.

There were many Boulder pore corals and Branching pore corals. Most were alright, although one had many pink spots.

There were also several Anemone corals.

There were many Disk corals of various kinds. Most were well formed and healthy looking.

I saw one Cauliflower coral and one Crinkled sandpaper coral which were not bleaching. In the past, these two species were the first to bleach.

Ywee Chieh found a Tiger-tailed seahorse! He was very pregnant so we didn't disturb him.

Here's a video of the corals and seagrasses on this shore, as well as the seahorse that we saw.

Corals at East Coast Park with Tiger-tailed seahorse (Hippocampus comes)

We came across an abandoned fishing net. One large coastal horseshoe crab was trapped in it and was long dead. A small Spot-bellied forceps crab was still alive, probably trapped as it tried to eat the horseshoe crab. We released the crab and brought the net out to dispose of it.

The trash bag in the dustbin nearby was not properly set up, so trash was spilling out. Sigh.

I hope this shore remains safe from humans and other impacts. For the otters and seahorses to flourish among the lovely seagrasses and corals!

This morning, I did a solo survey of the natural shores that still remain on Sentosa near the Tanjung Rimau beacon. And found 'Nemos' in one of the many Giant carpet anemones there.

There's still lots of seagrasses, a sprinkling of corals and other marine life. And no coral bleaching seen. A check on a rare mangrove tree growing there shows it is recovering from being chopped in half.

I start the survey on the shore behind Underwater World. How nice to see that signs have been put up along the shoreline to share more about shorebirds and other birds.

I was surprised to see many Giant carpet anemones on the shore behind Underwater World. There were also some Haddon's carpet anemones there. Everywhere, there were Frilly anemones on the rocky areas. Most were alright although I saw a few that were pale.

Later on, I came across a Giant carpet anemone that was still submerged in water and found it was full of anemonefishes! I tried to take a video of them but it was hard in the strong waves.

False clown anemonefishes (Amphiprion ocellaris) in Giant carpet anemone (Stichodactyla gigantea)

I start at the western most point of this shore. There used to be corals where the wall is now. They were buried for the reclamation that Resorts World Sentosa stands on now.

It was heartbreaking to watch them bury the reef there in Jul 2007.

Here's a view of some of the corals near the cable car tower that were lost in that reclamation.

There were still some clumps of Tape seagrasses with long leaf blades along this shore. Despite the very murky waters.

I saw larger patches of seagrasses here in my trip in Aug 2015. But today, there were still patches of Sickle seagrass, patches of narrow leaved Needle seagrass and many patches of Spoon seagrass.

There are sandy patches here and there. Although I could not find any Common sea stars, I did find some Cake sand dollars at the sandy patches nearer the beacon.

There are not many corals here. But still, a few large colonies. Like this healthy looking Crinkled sandpaper coral.

The small patch of Branching montipora corals that I saw on my last trip here in Aug 2015 are still there.

I saw many Boulder pore corals, some Branching pore corals, one Blue coral and several Crinkled sandpaper corals. Most were not bleaching, some were a little pale or oddly coloured. But I didn't see some of the other corals that I saw in Aug 2015. Did I miss them because the tide wasn't so low, or were they gone?

As usual, there were many Merulinid (previously Favid) corals of all kinds. Most were alright although a few had pale or yellowish patches.

There are also a few Leathery soft corals on the shore.

The few Leathery soft corals I saw seemed alright although one had rather pale patches. I didn't see the Flowery soft corals that I saw in Aug 2015.

Much of the shore near the beacon is still covered in layers of colourful sponges.

There are also some other kinds of sponges on the shore, though not a lot of clumps.

On the shore near Rasa Sentosa, the Tape seagrasses were cropped but not very short. And lush patches of Spoon seagrass were growing all along the mid-water mark.

There is still a bloom of Bryopsis green seaweed, judging from the large piles washed up on the high shore. But the Sargassum bloom seems to be over.

It was raining at the end of the trip and I notice freshwater gushing out of the seawall. Right in front of the flow, the seagrasses seemed particularly lush and healthy. Nice long tape seagrass, the only patches of Sickle seagrass on the shore near Rasa Sentosa, and really healthy Spoon seagrass.

Here's a view of the drain with the flow of freshwater, and the patches of green seagrasses on the shore. I notice at Labrador, the seagrasses also grow well in front of a similar drain.

Thank to Bian Tan for telling me about a small Nyireh laut tree growing near the Siloso pill box. He was most distressed in Dec 2015, to find that it had been chopped in half. Nyireh laut is Critically Endangered in Singapore and we probably have only about 7 trees on our shores.

I was relieved to see that new leaves are growing on the stump.

The big mother Nyireh laut tree is turning orange. I think this is a normal seasonal thing. The daughter tree nearby seems alright too.

Hurray, the line of floating 'security barrier' installed in 2012 that used to smash up and down on the reef has been removed. Only the drums that float in the water remain. The big square concrete block that used to anchor the drums on the reef is still there. Heng Pei Yan saw broken drums when she last checked in Aug 2013.

Alas, I saw two fish traps on the shore. One was much further away. They are tied to a rock and a long rope leading to the high shore. I also saw fish traps here on my trip in Aug 2015.

Smooth natural pebbles cover large stretches of this shore. Looks pretty, but can be awful to walk on. I am proud to say that today, for the first time since I broke my foot 2 and a half years ago, I walked this shore without a walking stick!

Let's hope this beautiful shore and all the precious wildlife on it stays safe until I can visit again.

A great day out at Chek Jawa with families at the free monthly walk by the Naked Hermit Crabs!

It was a super hot day but we saw lots of interesting animals.

Thanks to Zara and the visitors for spotting crabs, mudskippers, birds and many other creatures.

I forgot to take a group photo of my group at the top of Jejawi Tower. This photo at the Mud Lobster point is just as nice!

After gawking at Sand bubbler crabs, fiddler crabs, looking at propagules and other mangrove curiosities, we emerged on the rocky shore and seagrass meadows on a hot hot day.

We saw several Carpet anemones and none of them were bleaching. This one is happily settled among Sponge seagrasses and Ribbon seagrasses.

There were various herons hunting on the shore as this tide height allows them to better catch the fishes that they love to eat.

It was easy to spot all kinds of interesting things in the clear water at this tide height.

The tide was just the right height. Not too high (water murky), not too low (too dry).

When we stopped at the Coastal Boardwalk shelter, we saw several wild Junglefowl fly through the air. In the water, we saw some Gold-spotted archerfishes and halfbeaks. We also saw Needlefishes. And a stingray too!

At House No. 1, the kids had fun drawing what they saw!

Alas, we saw two people fishing on Chek Jawa off Pulau Sekudu with cast nets. Although we yelled at them to stop doing so, they just ignored us.

Here's a look at one of them.

The water looks alright during our bumboat ride home. Not the colour of teh-o, which usually means there is a plankton bloom going on. The hot weather and neap tides means the risk of a plankton bloom is rising.

The next Chek Jawa walks with the Naked Hermit Crabs will be part of Pesta Ubin, Ubin Open House!

Come join us on 14 May (Sat) for our regular free Chek Jawa walk. Or at the Chek Jawa Open House on 5 Jun (Sun)! There'll be lots of activities for kids and many guides to share their favourite stories about Chek Jawa with you.

The was a massive fire at an oil tank on Jurong Island at Jurong Aromatics Corporation (JAC) on 20 Apr 2016. It took five hours to put out the fire.

Location of JAC from google maps.

What are the possible impacts on marine life nearby? Here's a closer look at the public information on the fire so far.

More about the fire and responses to it
Based on media articles and SCDF post on facebook.

The cause of the fire remains unclear. SCDF said the blaze involved a storage tank, containing light crude oil, measured about 40 metres in diameter and 20 metres in height. The tank on fire was contained within a bund wall measuring 100m by 150m, and it said the intensity of the fire had caused the tank to fold and buckle.

SCDF deployed about 40 firefighting and rescue vehicles, including a 6,000-gallons-per-minute foam monitor, to control the blaze. Several ground water monitors and fixed drencher systems were also used to cool down two nearby oil tanks. It was raining at the time of the fire.

From the SCDF facebook page.

The last major blaze on Jurong Island took place on May 3, 2007, when an ExxonMobil oil refinery caught fire. Three workers died in the fire, while one was injured.

In 2011, a chemical fire ravaged the Royal Dutch Shell’s refinery on Pulau Bukom, and the SCDF needed 34 hours to extinguish the blaze.

Toxic by products from the fire?
Some workers on Jurong Island said they were able to feel the heat from the blaze even though they were several kilometres away.

The fire and thick plumes of smoke from the JAC complex could also be seen from some western areas, such as Jurong and Tuas.

However, the , was “not toxic in nature”, and that the affected oil tank was contained within a 100m-by-150m bund wall.

But SCDF said the fumes were not toxic and the National Environmental Agency (NEA), which was notified of the blaze at 3.30pm, noted that the ambient air quality readings taken during the fire were within the normal range.

What impact on the surrounding sea?
Fire fighting foam can have toxic impact on marine life. While the chemicals in the fumes from the fire eventually fall back into the sea.

Fire-fighting foam at the JAC fire.
Photo from SCDF facebook page.

During the Bukom fire in 2011, Shell said they took precautions against any chemicals spilling into the sea. "(We) have deployed booms off Pulau Bukom in the sea to ensure that if in the event, any of this does escape to the sea it will be captured in the booms, and we have boats offshore keeping watch."

But no such action was reported for the JAC fire.

What natural shores are found near the site?
The nearest natural shores are the Life Firing Islands of Sudong, Pawai and Senang, as well as Raffles Lighthouse. These are among the most pristine and untouched of Singapore's reefs and shores.

Will the aftermath of the fire affect nearby shores?
We can only hope for the best.

We arrived at dawn to a strange purple sunrise. The northern tip of Pulau Semakau is quite reefy.

Fortunately, we didn't see much coral bleaching. We encountered lots of Giant clams and other interesting finds!

Before sunrise, there were ominous flickers in the sky. Soon, we could hear the thunder. The full moon was blurry even though the sky appeared clear, probably due to haze. Is this why we had a purple sunrise? Fortunately, the storm did not head towards us and we had a nice cool dry morning. (Russel showed us how to get a photo of the lightning by taking a video of the storm!)

Here's a video of Pulau Semakau's northern shore during the purple sunrise!

Among the interesting finds was this Xenia soft coral which has large polyps that pulsate!

Kok Sheng also spotted a Leathery anemone, which we rarely encounter.

There were also some Bubble tip anemones and many Frilly anemones. All those I saw were not bleaching.

I saw two Giant carpet anemones and one of them was a bit pinkish. Oh dear. Alas, none of the large sea anemones that I saw appear to have any anemonefishes.

Russel found the Fluted giant clam near our departure point that we saw on our last trip here in Jul 2015. I was at first worried as it appears pale, but Mei Lin assured that it was not bleaching. Mei Lin also found a large Burrowing clam, while Kok Sheng found another Fluted giant clam.

Here's video clip of the Giant clam and a Scallop that I saw.

Fluted giant clam (Tridacna squamosa) and Scallop (Family Pectinidae)

At first, I thought it was just a nice unbleached coral, then I realised it was a very large Cushion star!

I surveyed the higher reef flats. There are lots of leathery soft corals here, and most of them looked alright.

But I did see one rather yellowish leathery soft coral and the two Asparagus flowery soft corals I saw were rather pale.

Most of the corals on this shore are boulder shaped. And most of them were not bleaching. I saw more bleaching corals on our last trip here in Jul 2015.

I did not see many plate corals. Those I saw were small.

There are many Brain corals here and most of them seemed alright although many were pale.

There were some Boulder pore corals and most were nice and brown. Only a few were pale or had bleaching spots. I also saw some small colonies of Anemone corals and most seemed alright although some were greenish.

Some of the corals I saw were rather pale or oddly coloured.

Here's a video clip of some of the corals I saw.

At Marina Keppel Bay, all the corals I saw growing on the sides of the pontoon were not bleaching.

The tide was very short today and I did not have time to check out the seagrass areas. On the reefy area, I did see a few clumps of long Tape seagrass (not cropped).

As we left Pulau Semakau, two small boats zoomed in. People on one boat looked like they were about to retrieve fish traps (bubu) laid on the reef. While the other looked like recreational fishermen.

On the way home, we went past a little island near Pulau Bukom with mangrove trees on it. I believe this is where the Great billed herons in the area are said to nest. Alex said he had once brought some surveyors to the shore and there were nice seagrasses there. How nice to know that!

There were two large ferries tied up to buoys near Pulau Bukom. If they can be provided with buoys, hopefully this means it is possible to also allow a buoy for recreational divers near Pulau Hantu. Buoys help reduce the damage to the reef as boats then do not have to drop anchor onto the sea bottom.

Pulau Semakau is NOT the same as the Semakau Landfill. The Landfill was created by destroying all of Pulau Saking, and about half of the original Pulau Semakau by building a very long seawall. Fortunately, the landfill was constructed and is managed in such a way that the original mangroves, seagrass meadows and reefs on Pulau Semakau were allowed to remain. The eastern shore of Pulau Semakau is right next to the seawall of the Semakau Landfill, opposite the petrochemical plants on Pulau Bukom.

It is NOT true that the construction of the Landfill created the marine life found on Pulau Semakau. The marine life was there long before the Landfill was built.

As the existing half of the Landfill was used up, the Phase 2 of the Landfill was just recently launched. This involved closing the gap of the seawall on the Semakau Landfill, forming one big pool where incinerated ash will be dumped. NEA worked to limit the damage to natural shores during the construction work for this expansion of the landfill.

Let's hope Pulau Semakau's natural shores survives the anticipated bleaching period!

Photos by others on this trip

Marcus Ng and Nicole Wong on facebook
Jianlin Liu on facebook
Russel Low on facebook
Loh Kok Sheng on facebook
Neo Mei Lin on her blog.

Others on the trip include Ian Siah and Nick Yap

Singapore's corals are alive and well and very sexy too. Their annual orgy of explosive sex just happened!

New life explodes from our corals!
Photo by Chay Hoon on facebook.

Once a year, on the fourth month, around four days after the full moon, our corals seed the seas with new life! Thanks to the dedicated team who have been keeping an eye on this event every year, we get a glimpse of what happened in 2016.

What is Mass Coral spawning?

Some corals release their eggs and sperm all the same time. Called broadcast spawners, these mass spawning events usually occur once a year, a few nights after full moon. Tiny packets of eggs and sperm pop out of the coral polyps.

Photo by Chay Hoon on facebook.

These packets drift to the water surface where they open up, releasing the eggs and sperm for fertilization. After a few days, the embryos will have developed into coral larvae that drift about and eventually settle down on a hard surface to form new corals.

Photo shared by Chay Hoon on facebook.

While bazillions of eggs and sperms are released during a mass spawn, most don't make it. Hordes of marine creatures gorge on the spawn, from fishes and crabs to jellyfishes. As the tiny coral larvae develop, they have to survive the countless predators that constantly sieve the water for plankton and edible bits.

Photo by Chay Hoon on facebook.

The coral larvae also have to overcome many other challenges that we are still learning about. Excessive sedimentation, for example, can interfere with fertilisation and other aspects of coral larvae survival and successful settlement.

Photo shared by Chay Hoon on facebook.

Besides corals, other sea creatures also spawn!

Last year, large sea anemones were also see releasing sperm and eggs from the mouth. Like a smoking volcano! As usual, there is lots to see during the dive besides just corals spawning. Including some stunning reefscapes. Singapore's corals are alive and well and very sexy too.

Here's a video on facebook shared by Minister Tan Chuan Jin:

A video of Moon coral spawning, shared by Chay Hoon.

See also video on From Snow underwater? It's corals spawning Audrey Tan Straits Times 1 May 16;

Why is coral mass spawning in Singapore a big deal?
From Sex in the Tropics 2008 on the blooooooooooo blog

Coral mass spawning in Singapore was first recorded by Dr James Guest in 2002. It was the first record of coral spawning in the tropics. At least 18 different coral species from ten genera and five families (Acroporidae, Faviidae, Merulinidae, Oculinidae and Pectiniidae) have been observed to spawn in our waters! Mass spawning occurs on the third to fifth nights after the full moon between 8 and 10 p.m.

In interviews with the media, Dr James Guest emphasised that corals are part of Singapore's biodiversity and natural heritage. "There are 255 species of corals recorded here, and there may be some corals here that were around before Stamford Raffles arrived."

The fact that our corals mass spawn shows that our reefs are functioning well! According to Dr James, the number of coral species in Singapore that mass spawn is "as high as on other Indo-Pacific reefs, like the Great Barrier Reef... " This shows how rich Singapore's natural heritage is. We can find right at our doorstep: "diverse, functional and fascinating coral reefs, that people would normally associate only with countries like Australia."

Some observations on Mass Coral Spawning in 2016

Dr Karenne Tun's facebook remarks on the 2016 spawning: "I missed the 2016 synchronous mass coral spawning event in Singapore. The folks that monitored the event shared that it was rather muted again this year, and I suspect even more so that 2014 and 2015, possibly due to the sustained thermal stress over the last three years that depressed the gametogenesis cycles of the corals. I reckon that 2010 was still the best spawning year since I started monitoring it over 10 years ago."

Karenne's facebook remarks on the 2015 spawning was: "On a more serious note, the 2015 Mass Coral spawning event was not as vibrant as the 2010 event, which was one of the best spawning observed in Singapore. Will need to crunch some data to see how the 2015 event compared to those from 2011 to 2014, but our preliminary assessment is that the mild coral bleaching events in 2013 and 2014 following the massive event in 2010 may have had a direct impact on the reproductive capacity of the corals over the last 5 years."

MORE photos and stories of mass coral spawning in 2016

Toh Chay Hoon on facebook, night one, night two, night three
Minister Tan Chuan Jin video on facebook.
Coral Spawning in Singapore: A Natural Wonder Hantu Blog
Annual departure of "future" coral babies (27042016 & 28042016) Psychedelic Nature

Previous posts about previous coral spawning

Pesta Ubin is Ubin Open House! Once a year, people who love Ubin step up to share with the public their special slice of Pulau Ubin. Pesta Ubin activities are heartfelt, organic and led by the community. Passionately highlighting Ubin's unique charms. Get a taste of the kinder, gentler way of life on Ubin during Pesta Ubin.

Kampung Photo Booth for Ubin Open House, 2015

People passionate about Ubin joyously offer Pesta Ubin activities.

Many Pesta Ubin activities are free of charge! Some do NOT require registration. Simply come to Pulau Ubin and join the fun! Find a Pesta Ubin activity that suits your schedule and interest! Don't say Bo Jio!

Here's highlights of happenings at Pesta Ubin!

Every day got something on! Join the Treasure Ubin treasure hunt (with prizes!). Visit an Ubin fish farm for their Open House. At Uncle Lim's shop at Ubin Town, have fun at the FREE Kampung Photo Booth, FREE colouring the big Pulau Ubin Fun Map. Then get nostalgic at the 'Islands of Memories -- Pulau Ubin' exhibition.

The prettiest farm at Pulau Ubin is among
those hosting the special fish farm 'Open House'.

Makan! Psst -- Durian season may start during Pesta Ubin! Anyway, must try sedap home-style cooking with Ubin-grown veges and Ubin-caught seafood. Or just lepak, lim kopi and watch the kampung go by at Ubin Town. MORE about Makan at Ubin.

Durians and other local fruits on sale at Pulau Ubin

Ubin's organic durians are THE best in Singapore!

Ubin Family Fun! Pesta Ubin is fun for the whole family. Join a treasure hunt (every day, with prizes!), re-live Kampung Games and specially for kids: walks, night walks, nature camp, art workshops.

Balik Chek Jawa - Free, no registration required, all are welcome!

Life on Ubin: Pulau Ubin is Singapore's last kampung (village). Enjoy Kampung Life in the slow lane. Learn more about Ubin's heritage through guided walks, cycles and Kampung Games. There is a huge kampung on the waters off Pulau Ubin! Find out more at the 'Open House' at Pulau Ubin fish farms, available every day of Pesta Ubin.

Kampong from the lily pond at Pulau Ubin

The tranquil Sensory Trail ponds.

Colourful Traditions: Join celebrations of Tua Pek Kong's birthday! Ubin bursts with six days and six nights of festivities. Ubin Jetty is decked out in flags and lanterns, and Ubin Town is host to lavish rituals. The ancient Wayang Stage comes alive with traditional opera in glittering costumes. Worshippers make their time-honoured pilgrimage to Ubin. Also check out the many activities that celebrate Ubin's heritage.

The Ubin Wayang Stage comes alive during Tua Pek Kong's birthday.

For Nature Lovers! From forests to seashores, mangroves to wild gardens. Join walks at Chek Jawa and around Ubin, boat tours of Ubin's secret mangroves, special walks by leading nature guides, go birdwatching with experts, or go nature camping with the whole family. Learn more about Ubin's wildlife through playful booths.

Visitors encounter Wild boar (Sus scrofa) at Chek Jawa

If we remain calm, we can enjoy a closer look at the wildlife!

Wonderful Wanderings: A leisurely stroll is a great way to savour the sights and sounds of Ubin! Join guided walks with experienced enthusiasts who will reveal secret corners of Pulau Ubin. Or check out the downloadable DIY walking trail of Pulau Ubin (pdf).

Unwind with a refreshing stroll at Pulau Ubin.

Ubin on Wheels: Rent a bicycle or bring your own. Guided cycling tours allow you to wander further, discovering more of Ubin’s nature and heritage.

With bicycles in all configurations for rent,
everyone can enjoy a day biking at Pulau Ubin.

Adrenaline Junkies! Join the Pesta Ubin Run to get active while exploring Ubin. Learn from experts at a special mountain biking clinic. Go on a Round Ketam Kayaking Expedition!

Join the inaugural Pesta Ubin Run!

Splashing Good Time! Have fun in the waters of Pulau Ubin. Lots of kayaking: from a gentle kayaking tour up quiet mangrove creeks, or night kayaking, to a rare opportunity to kayak in an Ubin quarry!

A magical mangrove tour by kayak.

Join the Dark Side: Discover Ubin after twilight through night activities: walks, night kayaking, cycling, stargazing and more (to be confirmed). Join Ubin Kampung Night Adventure for all of the above plus kampung BBQ and games. More about Ubin camping.

After sundown, Ubin's mysteries come to life!

Music and Movies! Part of the Singapore HeritageFest 2016, which is a standalone annual Singapore-wide festival in its 13th year, enjoy an evening of music and movies at the Wayang Stage! We are thrilled that among them will be Inch Chua, who first performed for Pulau Ubin Open House in 2014!

Performance at the Wayang Stage, Pulau Ubin

Inch Chua performing at Pulau Ubin Open House 2014.

Inspired by Ubin: Artists and photography enthusiasts, find your muse at Ubin! Join arts activities for kids, go for a nature sketching walk, be inspired by the 'Islands of Memories -- Pulau Ubin' exhibition. To be confirmed -- a photo walk and workshop.

Unleash the creative spirit in you!

Green Energy at Ubin: Pulau Ubin is a test-bed for cutting edge green energy. Find out more about how Ubin Town (and Ubin Day activities) are powered by green energy.

Volunteer for Ubin: During Pesta Ubin, help out in the several efforts to clean up the shores and the forests of Pulau Ubin. Volunteers are also needed to run some Pesta Ubin activities. More ways to volunteer for Pulau Ubin throughout the year.

Together we can keep Ubin beautiful!

Specially for Pesta Ubin, there will also be talks by people passionate about Ubin. Come learn and find out how you too can be a part of their efforts for Pulau Ubin.

Find a Pesta Ubin activity that suits your schedule and interest!

'Like' the Pesta Ubin facebook page to get the latest updates! Such as alerts when registrations are opened.

Here's more about what to see and do on Pulau Ubin

Want to share about Pesta Ubin 2016 with your friends and colleagues?

Simply print out the A3 poster (or downsize it to A4) and put it up where others can learn about Pulau Ubin and Pesta Ubin! Thank you!

Click on the image to download the full sized image.

Black and white Poster for Pesta Ubin 2016

This poster features free events that do not require registration and are open to all who are on Ubin during Pesta Ubin.

But there are more than 50 other activities! Find activities that suit your interest and schedule.

Want to know when registrations are open for your favourite activity? 'Like' the Pesta Ubin facebook page to get the latest updates! Also, new activities offered and lots more.

A part of Changi beach with lush seagrass meadows is going to be affected by seawall repairs over the next six months.

This shore teems with colourful sea cucumbers and other creatures. And is one of the few places where we have found several specimens of a sea anemone new to science and named after Singapore.

This new genus and new species of sea anemone is described from Singapore. Two specimens of this sea anemone was found at this Changi shore. It is proudly named Synpeachia temasek. More about the sea anemone in this post.

On our last trip here in Apr 2015, we saw lots of Sea Apple sea cucumbers!

There was mention of that "tidal pool units will be placed on a portion of the seawall at Changi Beach Park, Car Park 5 (CBP CP5) and will be ready by the end of the year. A total of 15 tidal pool units, with 3 different designs, will be installed at the area. Placement of the tidal pool units on CBP CP5 seawall". But nothing was recently mentioned about this.

Figure 1: Placement of the tidal pool units on CBP CP5 seawall.

Here's posts about our surveys of this shore.

Apple surprise at special Changi shore, Apr 2015
Surprises at special Changi shore, Aug 2014
Hazy at special Changi shore, Jun 2013
Special Changi: a last look in 2012, Aug 2012
Surprises on a neglected Changi shore, Jul 2012

Let's hope the works there do not permanently damage the shores.

PORT MARINE NOTICE NO. 41 OF 2016 dated 26 Apr 2016

REVETMENT AND SEAWALL REPAIR WORKS OFF CHANGI BEACH

Applicable to: Mariners operating in the vicinity of SAF Changi Ferry Terminal and CAFHI Jetty

Date : With effect from 01 May 2016 to 31 Oct 2016.

Location : Off Changi Beach, within the working areas “A” and “B” bounded by thefollowing co-ordinates (see attached chartlet):

click on image for larger view.

24 hours daily including Sundays and Public Holidays.

The revetment and seawall repair works include the removal of existing revetment by excavator on flat top barges and the laying of geotextile panels and rocks. The works will be carried out by excavators and the materials for the restoration work will be provided by the work barges. Safety boats will be deployed in the vicinity of the working area to warn other craft of the project.

Further enquires relating to the project can be directed to Mr. Lo Ming Rui, Project Manager at Tel: 8518 0316 (email: mingrui@oung.com.sg).

According to a post on Stomp, 'massive amounts of oil gushed into the sea' on 30 Apr 2016 at Tankstore on Pulau Busing. 5 days after the incident, I have not been able to find any public announcements from corporations or agencies responsible for such incidents.

Photo from Stomp

Pulau Busing is close to some of the best reefs and seagrass meadows in Singapore.

Why is now a bad time for an oil spill? What natural shores may be affected by the spill?

From Stomp,

An oil spill occurred at Tankstore @ Pulau Busing Terminal earlier today (Apr 30) at around 11pm.

Stomper C and Mak shared a video of the incident with Stomp, showing massive amounts of oil gushing into the sea water.

Tankstore is a petroleum storage company and its facility is located on Pulau Busing, an island in Singapore.

Mak told Stomp: "This happened at Tankstore Singapore at Pulau Busing at around 10 plus to 11am this morning.

"The bottom catch of a tank gave way.

"Previously, there was the Jurong Island fire. Now, a tank burst. What is going on in our oil industries?"

C also said: "It was quite random. The container cover burst open."

There is also a video on the Stomp post

It appears the spill may be have been massive enough to result in a decline in trading, from this Reuters report:

"SINGAPORE, May 3 (Reuters) - Cash discounts of Asian 380cst fuel oil narrowed on the first trading day of the week on unusually few offers for the more viscous fuel oil in the Platts window, industry sources said.

Just three physical offers for 380cst fuel oil were made in the Platts window on Tuesday which was "in sharp contrast to the usual 10 to 20 offers typically seen throughout April," said one Singapore-based trader.

The decline in offers could be a result of a fuel oil spill at Tankstore's facility in the southern island of Pulau Busing, Singapore, which could hamper sales from a number of suppliers with storage there, said another Singapore trader."

Any public explanations of the incident?

So far, now 5 days after the incident, I have not been able to find any public announcements from corporations or agencies responsible for such incidents. Key community leads have also not heard from agencies. I find this odd and rather disturbing. In the past, agencies would alert the community about such incidents.

Why is now a very bad time for an oil spill?

Anytime is a bad time for an oil spill. But now is particularly bad because our shores are already suffering from heat stress from the recent unusually warm temperatures. And, our corals have just spawned, releasing their offspring into our waters to seed near life. An oil spill will seriously harm such young life.

What natural shores are found near Pulau Busing?

Pulau Hantu is the closest, with beautiful reefs that was just visited by the volunteer divers of the Hantu Bloggers the weekend before the spill.

Petrochemical plants on Pulau Bukom from living reefs of Pulau Hantu

The amazing living reefs of Pulau Hantu, opposite Pulau Bukom.

Also nearby is Cyrene Reef, a large submerged reef with some of the best seagrass meadows in Singapore. Also natural sandy shores, and reefs.

Colourful Cyrene Reef opposite Pulau Busing

The submerged reefs of the Terumbu Pempangs are also nearby.

Living reefs of Terumbu Pempang Laut, Jun 2015

Also Pulau Semakau which has vast seagrass meadows and reefs.

Pulau Bukom off Pulau Semakau's seagrass meadows

The natural shores of Pulau Semakau.

The lovely submerged reef of Terumbu Semakau is also near Pulau Bukom and Pulau Busing.

Corals on Terumbu Semakau opposite Pulau Bukom.

Although tiny, Pulau Jong is among our last unspoilt islands and is very close to Pulau Bukom.

Emissions from Pulau Bukom near Pulau Jong

Further away on the mainland is Labrador and next to it, the natural shores of Sentosa.

Will the aftermath of the oil spill affect nearby shores?

I have no idea and can only hope for the best.

A glorious sunrise over Chek Jawa! The team conducts this survey of the Chek Jawa coral rubble area once a year. To check, among others, whether it has recovered from the devastating mass deaths in 2007 which wiped out the sponges and many other animals here.

This year, we are joined by volunteers from NParks this morning. Besides checking out the rich shores of Chek Jawa, we also removed a long net that that trapped many fishes, crabs and other creatures.

I'm so impressed that ten Ubin NParks volunteers have made it to our ungodly early morning trip to Chek Jawa. Thanks to Alan Tan for arranging for them to come along.

Haddon's carpet anemones are still abundant on the shore. I only saw one that was bleached, it was near the boardwalk.

Many of the carpet anemones had Tiny carpet anemone shrimps. This one is a mama shrimp carrying eggs!

Yi Feng found this Snaky sea anemone! These used to be more common on Chek Jawa before the mass deaths in 2007.

There were many seapens of various kinds. These burrowing colonial animals love the silty soft shore. Little porcelain crabs were living in some of them.

Yi Feng found a baby Knobbly sea star. While the rest of the team found several adults.

We also saw some small Cake sea stars, many tiny to medium-sized Biscuit sea stars and a few White sea urchins.

We saw many medium sized Garlic bread sea cucumbers, a few Thorny sea cucumbers and some buried Ball sea cucumbers. I saw one Beige sea cucumber and a few Sponge synaptid sea cucumbers.

Brittlestars are abundant on the shore but retract quickly into hiding places. This large Blue-lined britterstar was well outside its burrow and upside down. Getting ready to release eggs or sperm?

We saw several Noble volutes laying egg capsules!

The only nudibranchs I can find are huge ones. Like this Spotted foot nudibranch. I also came across an Ornate leaf slug. While the rest found sea hares and other slugs.

At night, it is easier to document fishes. Jian Lin did a great job on them. Among the fishes I saw was a pregnant papa Estuarine seahorse. Also some Pink-eared Emperors, and a large Black eel-tail catfish.

We had to watch our step as there were many stingrays in the water! Like this small pretty Blue spotted fantail ray.

I saw many Penaeid prawns in the seagrass meadows. Among the interesting crabs we saw was a Velcro crab.

The jetty legs are coated with all kinds of encrusting animals like ascidians. These are eaten by flatworms: Blue-lined and Blue spotted. We also spot cowries here.

I saw a few Boulder pore corals. They looked alright, they were not bleaching. I did not see much soft corals and sea fans that I saw on our last survey here in Jul 2014. Perhaps it was also because the tide was not as low as we expected it to be.

Coral rubble is a great place for seaweeds, sea anemones, fan worms, sea cucumbers and other creatures to settle on. But the diversity of sponges and number of sponges on the shore remains low. It is probably just as bad or worse than our survey in July 2015 which was already worse than what we saw in Jun 2014 and Aug 2013.

There were a few Branching purple sponges, and some Spiky ball sponges.

I only saw a few small clumps of sponges.

The seagrasses were lush along our survey route. Mostly Spoon seagrass (big and small leaf blade) and Needle seagrass (skinny leaf blades). Yi Feng spotted a clump of Tape seagrass which was a bit cropped (similar to what we saw in Jul 2015). I saw a few patches of Fern seagrass.

How lovely to come across dugong feeding trails!

Dugongs are air-breathing mammals and will drown if trapped in the net. That's why it was particularly disconcerting to come across a long net on our survey today. The net (red line) was laid in a straight line near the boardwalk entrance to the sand bar. The net was about 200m long. The yellow line was the route I took with the volunteers on our survey of Chek Jawa this morning.

Checking the net for animals trapped in it.

Thanks to many hands, we managed to remove the entire 150m long net and release all the animals that were trapped in the net. More on the Project Driftnet blog.

Thanks to NParks for permission to do these predawn low spring tide surveys of Chek Jawa, specially to Alan Tan for all the arrangements. Thanks also to Chay Hoon for making all the transport arrangements. And the team for helping to cover as much ground as we can during the narrow low tide window. Thank you!

Chek Jawa and Pulau Sekudu may be affected by the 2030 landuse plan by the Ministry of National Development. The plan includes plans for a road link (black line) from the mainland jumping off at Punggol, crossing to Pulau Ubin through Chek Jawa to jump off to Pulau Tekong before circling back to the mainland on Changi East. Proposed reclamation (in yellow) will bury Pasir Ris shores, Pulau Sekudu and Chek Jawa as well as a large amount of shore at Changi Beach.

Click on images for larger view.

I feel it is thus important to update our understanding of what is going on in the field at these sites including Chek Jawa and Pulau Sekudu.

More from others at the survey

Jianlin Liu on facebook.

Others who came on the survey: Heng Pei Yan, Marcus Ng, sgbeach bum, Ivan Kwan, Toh Chay Hoon, Lisa Lim, Jonathan Tan.

Kusu Island may be reclaimed but it still has among the best reefs of our accessible islands.

This morning, we checked for coral bleaching and saw some signs although most of the corals seemed alright. Sadly, we found another net, which we removed after releasing all the living animals.

A night survey means we get to see more reef fishes as they are more active in the dark.

Are those leaves?

Only one of them. The other is a baby Batfish!

Corals are important habitats for many animals. Like this Acropora coral full of animals living among its branches. These included several Machine gun shrimps and many tiny coral scallops.

Super well camouflaged Reef octopus!

How nice to come across the Egg-white moon snail which we rarely encounter.

We are on alert for coral bleaching on our reefs. Dr Karenne Tun just revealed on facebook 7 May that "We just entered Bleaching Alert Level 2. The rise from Bleaching Warning to Bleaching Alert 1 and 2 were rapid. 2010 paled in comparison." Alert Level 2 is the highest level of alert.

She also shared these data charts.

This is the latest on the NOAA Coral Reef Watch site.

Today, I checked the reefs near the southern lagoon. There are some corals outside the seawall, but much patchier than in the northern side of Kusu Island.

There were some plate corals too.

Most of the Merulinid (previously Favid) corals were alright. Although a few were pale.

Inside the southern lagoon, there are some patches of Branching montipora that look nice and brown.

Some special corals I saw were Trumpet coral, Stumpy acropora coral and a large Mole mushroom coral.

While some of the Boulder pore corals were brown, others were really pale.

Some of them were pink and a few were very white.

Oh dear, these large colonies of Lettuce coral look really stressed with white tips.

A closer look at the coral.

There was also this bleachy coral. I'm not really sure what kind it is.

Most of the Flowery disk corals I saw were pale, and some of the other Disk corals were oddly coloured.

A few of the Cauliflower corals I saw were bleaching. I only saw a few small Sandpaper corals and they were pale but not bleaching.

The leathery soft corals I saw were mostly alright. I only saw two Asparagus flowery soft corals and they were alright.

I came across one patch of Sea mat zoanthids that was bleaching.

In the northern lagoon, there is a patch of Spoon seagrass with small leaf blades. It is studded with many Haddon's carpet anemones. About one third of them were bleaching or showing signs of bleaching.

The highlight of a predawn survey is the sunrise!

Sadly, we also came across a net laid across the mouth of the northern lagoon. More about the net on the Project Driftnet blog. There is a rich reef at the mouth of this lagoon which I surveyed in Jun 2015. Kok Sheng's photos suggest they are still rich and doing well. We also could not find the Fluted giant clam that we saw in the past. Have people been harvesting on Kusu Island?

Our corals and the animals that depend on them are currently under stress from high temperatures. We should give them a break, especially during this period, by not doing harmful things like laying nets.

Posts by others on this trip

Lok Kok Sheng on facebook.

Others on this trip: Chay Hoon, Lisa Lim, Richard Kuah, Tang Yong Jen, Jonathan Tan, Ian Siah, Dayna, Brandon Chia

A dugong was found dead in West Johor Strait on 5 May. In Singapore, dead fishes and poor water quality have been observed sporadically in March-May 2016.

Photo from AsiaOne attributed to The Star.

Here's a compilation of some of these issues.

Malaysia: Second dugong found dead in Johor
The Star 9 May 16;

GELANG PATAH: The carcass of a young dugong was found floating in the sea near Kampung Pendas Laut here after getting caught in a fishing net.

click on image for larger view.

Fishermen spotted two dugong, believed to be a mother and its kid, on Thursday.

A few hours later, the carcass of a young dugong emerged and was spotted floating in the sea.

A fisherman from the village, Azman Adan, said the dugong was found floating near a mega development project.

“The dugong, weighing about 60kg, was already dead, so the fishermen brought the carcass back to shore.

“We immediately alerted the Fisheries Department and handed the carcass to them,” he said.

State Fisheries Department director Zamani Omar said that a team of officers went to the location after being informed of the sighting.

“The dugong suffered injuries after it got caught between some fishing nets.

“We will conduct a post-mortem first,” he added.

This is the second dead dugong sighting this year after the first carcass was found washed ashore at Pantai Tanjung Logok, near Kota Tinggi in February.

About 20 large dead farmed fishes at Sungei Buloh, 1 Apr 2016

I saw about 20 large (>25cm long) freshly dead fishes, probably farmed milk fishes during a short walk at Sungei Buloh...
Posted by Ria Tan on Friday, 1 April 2016

30 Mar 2016 -- Brown water at East Johor Strait

Today, thanks to the kind invitation of Outward Bound Singapore, I made a trip to Western Ubin via Punggol.The water...
Posted by Ria Tan on Wednesday, 30 March 2016

Any dead fishes at Western Johor Strait? (17 Mar 2016)

I checked Lim Chu Kang and Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve this afternoon. No mass fish deaths, yet? Last year, I noticed a...
Posted by Ria Tan on Thursday, 17 March 2016

Any dead fishes at Western Johor Strait? (16 Mar 2016)

I checked Lim Chu Kang and Sungei Buloh this afternoon. All seems well so far. More details here...
Posted by Ria Tan on Wednesday, 16 March 2016

In Mar 2016, it was reported that 100 tonnes of fish worth RM4mil were wiped out in fish farms in Pulau Kukup in Johor. Marine Fish Farmers Association deputy president Mohamed Razali Mohamed said the hot weather had encouraged algae to bloom in the shallow water, pushing up fish mortality.

Kukup Johor is located in the Malacca Strait.

Among the reefiest natural shores near the mainland is Sentosa Serapong. This shore lies opposite the Tanjung Pagar container terminal and just off Serapong Golf Club. With the kind permission and support of Sentosa and the Golf Club, we survey this shore once a year.

It was a relief to see that most of the corals we saw were not bleaching. And we encountered fascinating marine life such as anemonefishes and more.

There are many Magnificent anemones on this shore. And most of those I looked closely at had at least one Clown anemonefish. During our survey last year, I didn't find any anemonefishes.

The anemonefishes that live in this sea anemone were sheltering in a pool of water nearby while the anemone was out of the water.

I also saw this feisty little Bigfin reef squid.

In deeper water, I saw a humungous Curvespine cuttlefish.

I saw two Reef octopuses stranded on the seaweeds. This one was still half alive so I put it back into the water. The other wasn't moving at all.

The Mosaic crab is the most poisonous crab in Singapore. Its bright markings warn everyone not to mess with it.

I saw this Purple climber crab on the shore. The rest of the team saw some clinging onto branches near the water. This is unusual behaviour. Marcus suggests this might be because they were mother crabs about to release their eggs into in the incoming high spring tide.

Red feather stars are still abundant on the shore, festooning hard corals and sponges.

Marcus found a basket star!

Colourful seaweeds, sponges and leathery soft corals crowd some parts of the shore.

There are still lots of colourful sponges and sea fans under the jetty.

She also shared these data charts.

This is the latest on the NOAA Coral Reef Watch site.

I'm relieved that we didn't see much coral bleaching during this survey. There are still small patches thick with colourful flowery soft corals, sponges and small corals. But I feel the area covered is reduced compared to our survey in Jul 2015.

Near the beacon, there are still some areas of the shore that are thick with leathery soft corals and hard corals of all kinds. Only a few of them were bleaching.

Here's a video of the area.

The Asparagus flowery soft corals I saw seemed alright. I also saw one leathery sea fan.

I'm so glad to see that the fields of Cauliflower corals that we saw during our last survey in Jul 2015 are still there. And they are all still nice and brown. I didn't see any that were bleaching. I saw a few Crinkled sandpaper corals and they were pale but not bleaching.

The large colonies of Acropora are still there. Although some were a little pale, I didn't see any that were bleaching. There were smaller colonies elsewhere too.

I also saw a few mushroom corals. A little pale but not bleaching. Other common corals that remained alright were Disk corals, Anemones corals and the Merulinid (previously Favid) corals.

There were only a few leathery soft corals and hard corals that were bleaching. Ironically, most of these were in deeper water.

Of the few corals that I saw bleaching, most were Boulder pore corals. I also saw a few Brain corals bleaching.

Much of the reefs, however, was blanketed in a combination of Sargassum seaweed and Hairy green seaweed. So we couldn't see if there were any corals under there and if the corals were alright.

I saw one clump of Tape seagrass. The patches of Sickle seagrass near the beacon was still there. And there were sprinkles of Spoon seagrass (with tiny leaf blades) near the old jetty.

After reading about our trip in April 2011, Dr John Yong, our mangrove guru, shared that the presence of mangroves in Berhala lagoon (outlined in green) probably contributes to the healthy reefs here (outlined in yellow). Thus protecting mangroves also helps protect reefs and visa versa. Thanks Dr Yong! Indeed! We have yet to be able to explore the tantalizing reef outlined in orange as it seems to require a much lower tide. I'm quite certain it is just as, if not more, spectacular than what we have seen so far!

Thanks to Josephine from Sentosa Development Corp and Sheila of Serapong Golf Course for arranging the trip. Also to Shao Wei who unfortunately couldn't join us today. And to Jeremy and Hidayah for driving us there and for joining us for our survey. And to the team who surveyed the shore.

Posts by others on this trip

Marcus Ng on facebook.

Those on this trip include Jonathan Tan, Lisa Lim, Richard Kuah, Tang Yong Jen, Dayna Cheah, Ian Siah, Ivan Kwan and Mr Kuet.

Corals, seagrasses and other marine life have settled on artificial shores at East Coast Park!

This morning, a small team checked out the corals that settled on the seawall that is only exposed at super low spring tide. We also explored the seagrass meadows here and saw mangroves had settled too!

While the rest of the team bravely walked on the slippery seawall, I stayed on the high wall to take photos of the area.

Reefy seawalls and seagrass meadows at East Coast Park

I tried to take photos of the large corals growing on there. But failed. Just have to wait for the rest of the team who were on the wall to share their photos. But I did see some smaller corals elsewhere.

Some of the rocks are covered in colourful life. Here we have Coin green seaweed, Pom pom red seaweed and a tiny red sea fan.

This rock is covered in Button zoanthids, where many Tiny red sea cucumbers have settled, as well as some sponges.

We came across a patch of many brittlestars. Some were crisping in the sun above the low water line, others were in the water. Did they just mate during the night high tide?

I saw one small Diadema sea urchin. Also many White sea urchins on the seagrass meadows. We also saw many skeletons of the Thick edged sand dollar, but didn't see any live ones.

There were many Haddon's carpet anemones in the seagrass meadows as well as a few Mini carpet anemones. And also many small Thorny sea cucumbers and Pink warty sea cucumbers. As well as Orange-striped hermit crabs, small fan shell clams.

There are also lush seagrass meadows in the lagoon.

The most common seagrasses here were Spoon seagrasses (both small and large leaf blades) and Needle seagrass (both skinny and broad leaf blades). There was also one small clump of Tape seagrass and a small patch of Noodle seagrass.

From above, I notice dark patches in the lagoon. Are they seagrasses too?

Here's a video of the seagrasses.

We walked right to end of the lagoon. Arjun pointed out the mangrove trees that have settled on the seawall.

Among the mangroves we saw were: Bakau pasir (Vulnerable), Api-api bulu, Bakau putih and Chengam.

How nice to walk along a shore planted by Mother Nature. With our very own wild trees and sea shore shrubs.

Among them, the Bonduc which is listed as 'Critically Endangered' in Singapore, with records of only three plants: in Pulau Semakau, Lazarus Island and Pulau Senang. I saw it during our trip in Jun 2015.

I saw someone in a small boat working on what seems to be a net laid on the reefy rock wall.

We saw two large fish traps on the seagrass meadows. And several abandoned nets. Most were already well covered in seaweeds and have become habitats for marine life. We usually don't remove such nets.

For a shore that isn't cleaned every day, the trash load is rather light.

Among the vegetation, there was what looked like a refrigerator packed with other trash. We also saw bottles and other trash coated in oil.

We arrived before dawn!

A glorious sunrise is always a treat during our predawn surveys!

The highlight of the day was to finally meet Arjun Sai Krishnan who shared with me some intriguing photos of corals at East Coast Park. As a result, Kok Sheng recced the area before a small team visited it for the first time in May 2015.

Arjun spotted lots of interesting marine life today, taught me about the birds in the forest and pointed out many things I would have missed. I'm glad I got to chance to meet him and give him copies of the marine guidesheets. Thank you Arjun!

Posts by others on this trip

Those on this trip include Lisa Lim, Arjun Sai Krishnan, Ywee Chieh Tay, Jonathan Tan, Dayna Cheah, Nicholas Yap.

Dredging near Raffles Lighthouse Jan-Mar 2016

Chek Jawa with families

Wild dolphin sightings in March 2016

Guiding at Pulau Semakau with lots of sea stars!

Checking out the reefs on St John's Island

Coral overload at Terumbu Bemban

East Coast Park: corals, seagrasses and otters!

Wild 'Nemos' on Sentosa's natural shores

Sunny at Chek Jawa!

What impacts of massive fire at Jurong Island?

Pulau Semakau North in a purple sunrise

Mass coral spawning in Singapore 2016

Come for Pesta Ubin 14 May to 12 Jun!

Coastal works at rich Changi shore (1 May to 31 Oct 2016)

Oil spill at Pulau Busing on 30 Apr 2016

Chek Jawa check-up with net

Kusu bleach check with net

Marine deaths in the Johor Straits (Mar - May 2016)

How are magical reefs of Sentosa Serapong doing?

Reefy East Coast Park with seagrasses and mangroves too!