10 August 2019

Fish Expedition Day 10

Second last day of the Fish Expedition and there's a flurry of activity!
Singapore Marine Fishes Expedition 2019
Photo by Toh Chay Hoon
The intertidal team are the first to sample, this time at Kusu Island at high tide. The dive team did a morning and night dive. While the angling team sampled at Changi.


The intertidal team samples Kusu Island at high tide. Here's a video clip of the net laying thanks to Liz Lim.
Singapore Marine Fishes Expedition 2019
Video by Liz Lim
They pulled the net six times but got few fishes. There was a lot of seaweed in the water.
Photos by Liz Lim.
Today, the intertidal finds are not so numerous in variety or number. But they are still interesting to the experts and important additions to the fish library.
Singapore Marine Fishes Expedition 2019
The dive team return with some impressive finds. We learn about their ID from the experts. The whole Expedition has been a great learning experience for the young people involved as volunteers and interns.
Singapore Marine Fishes Expedition 2019
The angling team return with more fishes. With the support of volunteers from Marine Stewards Singapore, they sampled Changi waters and got some interesting large fishes. We learn from Dr Tan Heok Hui about their ID.
Singapore Marine Fishes Expedition 2019
As the fishes come in, the team swings into action to process the fishes for the Singapore fish library. The DNA experts take tissue samples of the fishes.
Singapore Marine Fishes Expedition 2019
The fishes are then sent for pinning, to fan out their fins for phototaking. Many fishes are identified by the number of fin rays and other features of the fins, so for scientific photos, it is important that all these features are captured. Volunteers get tips from the experts about how to this delicate task.
Singapore Marine Fishes Expedition 2019
Tiny fishes are particularly challenging. We learn from the Japanese experts who are superb at this, using pins that are so tiny that they are barely visible. We call them Ninja pins!
Singapore Marine Fishes Expedition 2019
High resolution scientific photos are then taken of these fishes.
Singapore Marine Fishes Expedition 2019
Tomorrow is the last day of sampling for the Expedition. I'm going to miss the fellowship and learning during these hectic days.

More about the Singapore Marine Fishes Expedition 2019 with daily and other updates are posted here.

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