19 March 2017

Hot fun with kids at Chek Jawa

An awesome day out at Chek Jawa with families during the school holidays! For the free monthly walk by the Naked Hermit Crabs.
Chek Jawa boardwalk tour with the Naked Hermit Crabs
It was a hot hot day but we saw jellyfishes, monitor lizards, lots of crabs and mudskippers and more!


For the first time, I started our walk from the Coastal Boardwalk. It was a hot morning!
Chek Jawa boardwalk tour with the Naked Hermit Crabs
The Coastal Boardwalk gives us a good look at the coastal forest and rocky shore. As well as at the Chek Jawa Beacon, which comes in two parts - the Front Beacon and Rear Beacon.
Chek Jawa boardwalk tour with the Naked Hermit Crabs
The seagrass meadows were lush and looking well, and the sand bar out at the low tide. With several herons hunting in the low water.
Chek Jawa boardwalk tour with the Naked Hermit Crabs
Along the boardwalk I notice a layer of 'crispy' vegetation at the coastal forest. The area affected by the East Johor oil spill that happened in Jan 2017? See my recent oil spill survey at Changi a week earlier.
Chek Jawa boardwalk tour with the Naked Hermit Crabs
It was lovely to get back under the shade of the mangrove trees! Besides cool shade, mangrove trees also provide a lot of other ecosystem services such as supporting a population of bats that pollinates our durian trees!
Chek Jawa boardwalk tour with the Naked Hermit Crabs
As we get to the back mangroves, we get a closer look at wildlife among the dense growths of mangrove plants such as the Nipah palm. A young Water monitor lizard is a bit hit!
Chek Jawa boardwalk tour with the Naked Hermit Crabs
All too soon, we are back at House No. 1, also the Chek Jawa Visitor Centre. Where participants share what they saw in lovely drawings.

Thanks to Dayna for bringing her fellow students along to learn about Chek Jawa so they could do a guided walk for Secondary students.
Chek Jawa boardwalk tour with the Naked Hermit Crabs
Although my groups missed seeing this, other groups saw a bloom of mangrove jellyfishes. I had seen a similar bloom at Pasir Ris mangroves a few days earlier.

One of my favourite drawings is of the Ant-house plant that we often see during our walks.

More photos of our walk by Mohammad Juhari on facebook.

On the way home, I noticed the water is tea-coloured. A sign of a plankton bloom.
Tea-coloured water, sign of plankton bloom, off Changi Creek
The area next to the Ferry Terminal at Changi is still well used by fish farmers and people at Pulau Ubin for loading and unloading.
Changi Creek Jetty used by fish farmers
This area is not provided with industrial trash collection. They appear to use a small NParks bin for the trash.
Changi Creek Jetty used by fish farmers
To get updates on the next free monthly guided walk at Chek Jawa, subscribe to the Naked Hermit Crab blog.

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