We land at first light in the light of the full moon, surveying the shore facing Pulau Sudong where
reclamation is on going. We encounter Giant clams and other colourful reef life. Terumbu Raya was the first shore we visited at the start of last year's
mass coral bleaching. At that time, we estimate about 2-5% of corals hard and soft were outright bleaching. Today, it was relief that we didn't see extensive bleaching.
Today, the team saw 2 F
luted giant clams and 1
Burrowing giant clam, plus the shells of one large dead Fluted giant clam. In comparison, in
Feb 2023, we saw 8 giant clams. I also saw the usual colourful crabs, and many
White-rumped sea cucumbers which are usually common on our reefs. I will update with what the rest of the team saw.
In
May 2024, I noticed some bleaching: all
Cauliflower corals,
Acropora corals were bleaching. Some
disk corals were bleaching, but
Sandpaper corals were alright. Today, most of the corals I saw were alright, although many colonies had large dead patches. At the reef edge, there was a medium cluster of
Anemone corals. I also saw a large healthy colony of
Brain anchor corals - not commonly encountered. Also some
horn coral, and some
Tongue mushroom corals (but couldn't get a good photo of them).
In
May 2024, I saw two small patches of
Branching montipora corals that were showing signs of stress. Today, I saw very small patches of these corals - they seemed healthy. Hope they will recover fully and form 'fields' as we often see on our terumbus.
The most common corals on this reef flat are boulder shaped ones. In
May 2024, I saw some stressed and a few bleaching. Today, most seemed alright though many, especially the larger colonies had large dead portions. I only saw one pale one and one other with small bleaching patches.
At the reef edge, there are a variety of medium sized
leathery soft corals. And a few larger gatherings here and there. I didn't see any that were bleaching or stressed.
Broad Feathery soft corals remain abundant in the middle of the reef flat and were alright. There were a few
Giant carpet anemones and they were okay. I only saw one
Asparagus flowery soft corals and some
Frilly anemones - all okay.
I sense there was more coverage of seagrass compared to our last survey in
May 2025. There were sprinkles of seagrass on almost the entire reef flat from the reef edge to the centre. With fewer completely bare sandy patches. Most of the seagrasses were covered in epiphytes. The most common were
Spoon seagrass (mostly small leaves), and I also saw some
Serrated ribbon seagrass and
Sickle seagrass. I saw some clumps of
Tape seagrass with longish leaves (about 15cm).
I saw a few round holes dug out at intervals across the middle of the flats. They were uniform in size about 40cm in diameter and about 15cm deep. Done by people for a project?
At the reef edge, there are signs of a boat strike - large areas of bare sand surrounded by upturned rocks.
Hope the reef stays safe and will recover more fully the next time we survey.
Future of Terumbu RayaTerumbu Raya lies close to the ongoing
31ha reclamation at Eastern tip of Pulau Sudong. Other shores near the impact zone include Terumbu Bemban and Beting Bemban Besar.
Large areas nearby are also slated for massive reclamation outlined recently in the
Long-Term Plan Review.
The Singapore Blue Plan 2018Pulau Semakau and nearby islands and submerged reefs have been recommended by the Singapore Blue Plan 2018 for Immediate Conservation Priority. The Blue Plan recommends the intertidal and subtidal marine areas of Pulau Semakau and adjacent Pulau Hantu, and Pulau Jong to be designated Marine Reserve.
The Blue Plan highlights that Pulau Semakau and its associated patch reefs comprise many ecosystems: coral reefs, mangrove areas, intertidal sandflats, seagrass meadows, and coral reefs. The subtidal area of Pulau Jong is larger than the terrestrial area. Pulau Hantu is a popular dive site has seen increasing interest in the past decade due to biodiversity awareness. If protection is accorded to these three islands, zonation plans for use can be implemented to manage tourism and human impacts.
DOWNLOAD the Plan, SUPPORT the Plan! More on the
Singapore Blue Plan 2018 site.
Photos by others on this surveyChee Cheng NeoOthers on this survey: Kelvin Yong, Marcus Ng, Tammy Lim, Lon, Jayden
