Just minutes from the Central Business District, are the living shores of Small Sisters Island. The two Sisters Islands are now designated as a
Marine Park and managed by NParks. Small Sisters Islands is not open to the public. Our survey today was done with kind permission from NParks.
We return after a two year break and arrive after sunset for a rare super low evening tide. The corals seems to be doing well. The rest of the team saw Cone snail, Anemonefishes and more! I will update with their finds later on.
Sign of a healthy shore, I saw Black-tipped reef sharks peacefully patrolling the reef edge at Small Sisters Island, waiting for the tide to rise so they can hunt for fish on the reef flats. Besides this small one (about 60cm long), I also glimpsed a large one (about 1.5m long) cruising slowly by - failed to get a video clip of it. Our sharks are shy towards humans. The best way to get a good look at a wild shark is to stay still and quietly observe it as goes about its business. Because as soon as the shark detects a human, it will often U-turn and swim away. Glad the Marine Park status of these shores provide protection for these magnificent apex predators.
I checked out the shore starting from the small lagoon heading southward to the jetty and back into the big lagoon. Most of the corals I saw were boulder shaped Pore corals. Also many common plate forming corals. I didn't see a wide variety of corals though, only one mushroom coral. All seemed fine, I didn't see any bleaching corals. Our last survey here was in
Jul 2023 - we were overwhelmed having to survey many other shores following the
Pasir Panjang oil spill in Jun 2024 as well the
global mass coral bleaching which started in Apr 2024.
At the southern tip of the island, I saw several small colonies of
Acropora corals! As well as many medium sized
Cauliflower corals. There were also some small colonies. This is similar to our last survey in
Jul 2023, I managed only a bad shot of what looks like a
Machine gun shrimp that lives in Acropora corals - unlike the usual Snapping shrimp, this shrimp can snap with both claws!
I also saw several small to medium sized colonies of
leathery soft corals. Only one was quite large (more than 1m). I saw two
leathery sea fans, one large cluster of
corallimorphs. There were several
Giant carpet anemones and it seems most of them had
clown anemonefish aka 'Nemos'. I didn't see any that were bleaching.
Today, there was dense growths of
Bryopsis seaweed at southwest tip of the island, but almost nothing on the southeast shore facing Big Sisters Island. In recent years, there has been a perpetual year-round bloom of Bryopsis seaweed on many southern shores, forming dense mats that can cover large areas on the mid-water mark, and wash up in large bundles on the high shore. The annual
Sargassum seaweed bloom is just starting up. Today, I didn't see much growths. When in 'full bloom' they form thick carpets with long strands which can wrap around legs and make surveying the reef edge impossible to do safely. I'm tracking the Sargassum bloom season as we feel that in recent years, it is starting earlier and ending later.
Although Small Sisters is closed to the public, Big Sisters' Island is open to the public 7am to 7pm every day. You can now snorkel or swim in the lagoon. Or if you prefer to stay dry, view marine life from the floating boardwalk, or climb to the hilltop view deck through coastal forest. You can also join the
monthly guided walk at Big Sisters Island.
To get there, take a ferry from Marina South Pier via
Singapore Island Cruise or
Marina South Ferries. Do note expected congestion during the
Kusu Pilgrimage season. More about the Sisters' Islands Marine Park on the
blog and
facebook page.
