The team survey on a short tide window this submerged reef near the ongoing
reclamation at Pulau Sudong.
Leathery soft corals continue to dominate some parts of this shore! We had a glimpse of a large Yellow lipped sea krait, possibly a Nurse shark, and a sea turtle. Also lots of tiny 'Nemos', a huge cushion star. The Clam team found 3 clams!
This shore has always had many large colonies of
leathery soft corals of various kinds. They seemed to have fully recovered from the
Jun 2024 mass coral bleaching, when about 50% were showing signs of stress (pale patches, more yellow than usual), with about 10% outright bleaching. Today, there were only healthy leathery soft corals, which blend in with the coral rubble so they are less obvious than bleaching or stressed colonies.
Similar to our survey in
May 2025, were still many large colonies of various kinds covering a large area on the south-west corner of the Terumbu. I didn't see any that were bleaching.
We have never seen a lot of hard corals on this shore since we started surveying, even on the reef edge. Some large colonies dot the shore. Most are boulder shaped with a limited variety of commonly seen corals. At the reef edge near our landing point, I did see some mushroom corals. As on our
May 2025 survey, the corals seemed to be doing well, I didn't see any that were bleaching though some were pinkish (a sign of stress). I saw a few small clumps of
Branching montipora corals, but no 'fields'.
Seagrasses seem to be continuing to recover. The sandy area in the middle of the Terumbu had good coverage of
Spoon seagrass with small leaves, but heavily covered in epiphytes. Towards the reef edge in sandy areas among the rocks and rubble, there were Spoon seagrass with large leaves, sprinkles of
Sickle seagrass. And, most encouragingly, many clumps of
Tape seagrass with longish leaves (about 30cm). This situation seems similar to what I saw in
May 2025 and
May 2022. It had worsened a little on our surveys in 2023 and 2024.
Today, I saw one flattened fish trap and remains of 2 other broken fish traps. Zen saw one broken trap too. On our last survey in
May 2025, an active trap was seen with many fishes.
From
Port Marine Notice No. 55 of 2026 "Reclamation at Pulau Sudong" with effect from 08 Apr 2026 to 07 Oct 2026. The works involve the installation of navigational buoys, removal of metallic debris, demolition of abandoned jetty, dredging works, installation of marine staging platforms for soil instrumentation, infilling works, marine vibrocompaction, stone revetment works, and jetty construction to facilitate the reclamation and jetty construction works at Pulau Sudong.
Here is the location of Terumbu Pempang Tengah and other nearby shores in relation to the Sudong reclamation.
From Terumbu Pempang Tengah, the Sudong reclamation site looks humungous. Long with enormous piles of sand.
This shore is also close to Pulau Bukom and Jurong Island. Petrochemical plants on Pulau Bukom still operating and producing emissions as usual.
What is the fate of Terumbu Pempang TengahPulau Hantu and all the terumbus west of it are slated for massive reclamation outlined recently in the
Long-Term Plan Review. Singapore's submerged reefs are often out of sight under the high tide and thus forgotten. Let's hope these terumbu stay safe until we can visit again.
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.
Others on this surveyRichard KuahZen Xuan HeRui Quan OhLester TanTommy TanOthers on the survey: Teresa and Samuel from the Clam Team, Foo Meijuan.
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