Stress and more stress on Kusu Island

Just one day before our scheduled trip to Kusu Island, we received news of two marine collisions that resulted in an oil spill. Having experienced the devastating and long drawn effects of oil spill at Tanah Merah and East Coast, we were worried that marine life in the South would be affected.

Upon landing on the island, we went straight to the nearest lagoon facing northeast and we were greeted with lots of signs of the oil that hit Kusu Island. The arrows show the oil stains on the high shore, intertidal area and also created a thick dark band on the seawall facing inwards.

Any Impact on Chek Jawa from Dec flood at Johor?

Every year towards December and January, it is likely to come across news on floods in Johor and other parts of Malaysia. It was the flood of Dec 2006 and Jan 2007 that lead to a mass mortality of marine invertebrates in Chek Jawa. To find out more on what happened back then, you may read my blog post on What caused the mass death here.

On Dec 2013, we read news of yet more flood in Johor and therefore it is imperative for us to do a check on whether the outflow of freshwater into the Johor Straits have any impact on Chek Jawa.

With special permission from National Parks Board, a small team of us were able to survey the intertidal shore of Chek Jawa on an evening. And we were relieved to not experience any sight of mass mortality on the shore.

Pasir Ris mangroves briefly with Naked Hermit Crabs

In mid-December, I was out with the Naked Hermit Crabs and my two student councillors, Clarabelle and Kai Sing, from Dunman High School to guide at Pasir Ris Mangrove boardwalk.

It's always amazing to show participants what one can find in close proximity to the housing estate at Pasir Ris. The mangroves here are alive! Here is Alyce sharing some of the nature facts and stories with the rest.

Cyrene Reef with Teamseagrass

Our last Teamseagrass monitoring of the year was held on the first week of December at Cyrene Reef! Our December trips are more tricky because of the rainy season.

Nevertheless, the scary rainclouds and not-so-positive weather forecast did not deter the intrepid seagrass troopers from launching out to the reef through amphibious landing.

A change of Punggol shore?

It's been a while since I last checked out the tiny shores of Punggol. My last visit was at the start of the year. How is the shore doing now?

It was an evening tide where Ron, Marcus and I had a look at what lies out there as the tide recedes. The sunset glow was gorgeous against the jetty.

Seahorse fiesta at Changi

Ron and I had a great trip at Changi shore with lots of seahorse sightings during early November this year! 

Here's a pair of seahorse that was spotted on this trip. Yes, seahorses can be found on our Singapore shores during low tide on seagrass beds and reefy areas.

Chek Jawa Boardwalk with NHC (Nov 2013)

November marked that start of the school holidays and on the first Saturday morning, I was back at Chek Jawa Boardwalk with student councillors on the free guided tour conducted by Naked Hermit Crabs.

The turnout was great and it was awesome to have many groups of families with us on that day!