Rare seagrass at Kranji Nature Trail

Wei Ling spotted large meadows of the rare Beccari's seagrass on Kranji Nature Trail at a recent Mega Marine Survey there. And yesterday, Jerome and I saw more of them.

I head back to Kranji this evening to find out just how extensive these meadows are at Kranji.

Why is this seagrass so special?

Horseshoe crabs at Kranji: what are they up to?

Jerome spotted this pair of Mangrove horseshoe crabs (Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda) at Kranji on Sunday. Males often 'hitch a ride' on top of the females. This pair was stuck among the pneumatophores (breathing roots). Perhaps stranded by the outgoing tide?
Were these horseshoe crabs getting ready to mate and lay eggs? What do our horseshoe crabs get up to? The Nature Society (Singapore) (NSS) recently published an article about their efforts to find out.

Desalination plant at Tuas may have "a slight negative impact" on marine life

Singapore's second desalination plant at Tuas may have "a slight negative impact" on marine life, in particular, fish, reported Today Online.

The first desalination plant at Tuas, from Water Technology.

Desalination, the process of removing salt and other minerals from water to make it drinkable, is set to grow by 10 times and meet 30% of Singapore's water demand by 2060.

Kranji mangroves: cool spiders and colourful crabs

Decided to check out Kranji mangroves again as it was such a bright sunny day!

Oops, the tide is really high when I arrive!

Snaily at Little Sisters

We're back on Little Sisters Island, which is tiny compared to its Big Sister.

We haven't been here since Jan 10!

Special mangroves at St. John's Island

St. John's Island has some tiny patches of mangroves, including some rare mangrove trees. It is probably the only place where I can take a photo of mangrove trees with the Singapore business district in the background!

I haven't looked at the mangroves here since Aug 09 and another trip also in the same month.

Rocky shores of St. John's Island

Besides mangroves, St. John's also has a tiny stretch of reefs. And it is just off Singapore's main business district!

We seem to seldom visit St. John's. Our last trip here was in May 10.

Signs of the Johor flood on Changi?

With news of massive flooding in Johor, we worry about a repeat of the mass deaths at Chek Jawa. So a few of us visited our northern mainland shores to see if there were any signs of the Johor floods there.

On Changi, we saw lots of fresh mangrove debris, including some rare mangroves, and some dead fishes.

A quick look at Pulau Semakau

A small team heads out to set up data loggers at Pulau Semakau for TeamSeagrass.

Although it was a lovely rain-free day, the trip there on a super fast boat was splashy and windy, flapping boat-mops and people alike.