Mass injury of Knobbly sea stars at Cyrene

Although Cyrene lies in the middle of an industrial triangle, it still has some of Singapore's most amazing shores. A very large team surveys today.

Alarmingly, we found most of the Knobbly sea stars had mysterious injuries. Seagrass cover was very thin, but dugong feeding trails were still seen. The rest of the team as usual make all the special finds. From Giant clams to interesting sea stars and sand dollars. I will update when they have uploaded their photos.

Other intertidal surveys in Jan 2026

Rui Quan Oh checked up on other shores during the month. From Sembawang, Pasir Ris to Changi. A canal at Pasir Panjang.  And separate trips to Sisters Islands and Marina East. Also to check up on the Sungei Pang Sua site which is along the route for MRT tunneling. Marcus Ng also checked up on Changi shores. 

Collage of photos by Rui Quan Oh and Marcus Ng

Thank you for keeping an eye on our shores!

Review of EIA law? To comply with UN High Seas Treaty

EIAs for High Seas activities must be made public on an open-access platform, where affected states and indigenous groups can provide feedback and comments throughout the assessment process.

Reclamation on Pulau Sudong
from Terumbu Bemban, Aug 2025

Singapore’s EIA processes are not coded into law, and not all reports and findings are available online. In these cases, members of the public can access a hardcopy EIA report upon request, but they need to sign non-disclosure agreements.

Reclamation within Singapore’s waters is unlikely to require an EIA because its impact is unlikely to extend into the high seas 200 nautical miles away, said Professor Peter Ng, an adviser at NUS’ Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum.

To protect dolphins and dugong: reduce boat speed and restrict entry at hot spots

NUS scientists urge increased protection for marine mammals in Singapore's waters, identifying hotspots near the Sungei Johor Estuary, the Southern Islands and the Western Islands.

Dugong feeding trails at Chek Jawa, Mar 2024

Research suggests reduced vessel speeds and restricted entry in hotspots can mitigate boat strikes, mirroring protection in Queensland.

MRT tunnels planned under Sg Pang Sua

1km long tunnels will be built underneath Sungei Kadut Avenue, Sungei Kadut Way and Woodlands Road, to a depth of up to 21m. The first new station will be along Sungei Kadut Avenue. Work will start second quarter of 2026 and passenger service for the new stations will start in 2035.

Sg Pang Sua mangroves along Sg Kadut Ave
during our survey in Dec 2025

LTA has conducted an Environmental Impact Assessment and will implement “all the necessary mitigation measures” outlined in the Environmental Monitoring and Management Plan, and will continue its engagement with various stakeholders, including nature groups, throughout the process.

Advisory to shield marine mammals from noise

According to the Straits Times, NParks is drawing up an advisory that informs developers on ways to avoid harming dolphins and dugongs in Singapore’s waters.

Dugong feeding trails on Cyrene opposite
Pasir Panjang Container Terminals, May 2025

Work on the advisory follows an NUS study compiling all reliable records of marine mammals in Singapore from 1820 to 2024 to identify hot spots.

This complements a separate project by NUS researchers that monitored the vocalisations of marine mammals between 2019 and 2022. Funded by NParks, the acoustic project highlighted that both Sisters’ Islands and Kusu Island recorded the highest number of vocal detections of dolphins, "playing a key factor in safeguarding this location as the second marine park,” said Dr Dr Karenne Tun.

She did not mention when the advisory will be ready.