How much plastic might fishes eat?

About 12,000 to 24,000 tons per year, for fish in the intermediate ocean depths of the North Pacific.

Floating plastic trash is common on all our shores.

A study of the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" found plastic waste in more than 9% of the stomachs of fish collected there.

'Plastic' spill on Tanah Merah

Large piles of plastic litter have appeared on Tanah Merah.

Today, I did my monthly visit to these shores that were hit by an oil spill a little more than a year ago. Alas, oil spills are not the only pollution that can drift up on a shore.

Large star and stargazer at Changi

An adult, full-sized Knobbly sea star! It's the first time I've seen one on Changi!

Jerome Pang found it just as we started our trip. Which turned out to be quite adventuresome with lots of other interesting observations too.

Driftnet at Changi Beach

Several large fishes and many crabs were caught in a driftnet that we saw at Changi this morning.

We quickly got to work to document the animals trapped in the net and release the ones that were still alive.

Floating sea seeds suggest new non-toxic ship skins

It's amazing what can be learnt from seeds floating in the sea! Biofouling is a big problem for shipping. All kinds of marine life quickly settle on any hard surface left in the sea for some time. These growths make the ships less streamlined and affect speed and energy consumption, not to mention eventually corroding the surface.

All kinds of floating seeds seen on Changi Beach.

Biofouling is usually kept at bay by painting surfaces with toxic paints. But scientists are recently developing a non-toxic surface based on seeds which float in the sea, free of fouling for long periods.

Marine talks this weekend: 9-10 Jul

I'll be giving a talk about our shores this Sunday!

There are also other exciting talks about our marine life and efforts to conserve them!

Back to the stunning reefs of Sentosa, Serapong

A special predawn trip to have a closer look at the amazing Serapong reef.

Thanks to the kind arrangements by Shao Wei, Xi Lin, Sheila and Sylvester who came at 5.30am for this predawn low spring tide! The ladies very sportingly decided to come along with us.

Final anemone hunt at Chek Jawa

It's Dr Daphne's last day in Singapore! Although she leaves early tomorrow, she still made time to make a final field trip with the Anemone Army!

We join the TeamSeagrass predawn monitoring trip at Chek Jawa to learn more about the sea anemones there from Dr Daphne.

Quick Chek Jawa check up with otters and dugong!

Just after sunrise, we encounter smooth otters on Chek Jawa! There were three of them, trotting along the edge of the mangroves!

I was out on the TeamSeagrass monitoring trip and with Dr Daphne to look at the sea anemones there.

Anemone hunt at Seringat-Kias

Another successful anemone hunt with Dr Daphne with a glorious sunrise!

We find intriguing sea anemones in the man-made lagoon of Seringat-Kias, while the rest of the team also explored the natural reefs that remain on the adjoining Lazarus Island.

Anemone hunt at Punggol

Dr Daphne is still in Singapore! So the Anemone Army seizes the opportunity to hunt for anemones with her.

It's well before dawn, and we're already busy on Punggol Beach with the lights of the port facilities on Johor in the background. We found lots of anemones, and I also learnt from Dr Daphne about a sea anemone that creates a shell for a hermit crab!