Singapore urged to rethink economic model for growth

'People for growth' - growth as an end in itself - is not the same as 'growth for people', growth as a means toward greater welfare for people.' said economist Linda Lim.

She said a lot of sensible things including:

"Why aspire to be a second Boston or second London and not a first-rate Singapore?"

Singapore is particularly well-placed for a whole cluster of economic activities 'from finance to forestry and fisheries'

"Where are we? We're next to the biggest forests in the world. Why not be a carbon finance centre? People are doing this in San Francisco! They are doing Indonesian . . . avoiding deforestation . . . out of San Francisco! Why can't we do it from here?"

Linda Lim is professor of strategy at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business and director of its Center for South-east Asian Studies, and was a speaker at the Singapore Economic Policy Conference yesterday.

She also said the growth model that has served Singapore may be out of place in a changed environment.

The 'EDB (Economic Development Board) model of give them a tax break and they will come' - has both tried to do too much and achieved too little in terms of delivering high and secure incomes and living standards.

'We've 40 years of savings and repressed consumption, so do we throw it at UBS and Citigroup and lose 60 per cent of the value, or do we use it for ourselves?'

Singapore, she said, can become a 'global model' for environmentally-friendly buildings and lifestyle.

Full articles about her talk on the wildsingapore news blog.

At the same time, Singapore gets top marks in UN World's Cities Report

Singapore scores high because we have "no slums" and "was singled out as a country that absorbs more carbon dioxide than it emits" BUT this "did not take into consideration the amount of carbon dioxide produced by industry for products and services destined for foreign countries, including oil refineries and aviation."

Other interesting comments include:

The UN said people's consumption and lifestyle patterns, and not urbanization, are to blame for climate change. To solve the problem, cities need to use less fossil fuel, maximise recycling and have a well-planned transport network.

However, experts cautioned that as all cities progress, they will no longer be measured just by their level of economic, social and environmental progress.

Cities like Singapore will also have to look at its inclusiveness and its quality of life. Related to this, the report said cultural assets too should be protected to nurture the soul of the city.

Flood warning issued for East Johor: will Chek Jawa be affected?

In early 2007, there was mass deaths on Chek Jawa following massive flooding in Johor.

Large numbers of carpet anemones, sea cucumbers, sea stars, sponges and other marine life were found dead on the shores.
Chek Jawa lies at the mouth of the Johor River that drains through Johor. Huge inflows of freshwater from the River that lasts for days or weeks can severely impact intertidal marine life on Chek Jawa. Media reports and related blog posts of this event.

Kok Sheng conducted a study of recovery at Chek Jawa following the mass deaths in 2007. See his excellent Chek Jawa project blog for all the details. Chek Jawa is just starting to recover from this event.

A flood warning has just been issued for East Johor due to higher than average rainfall, a result of "hotter sea surface in the region". Let's hope Chek Jawa won't be subjected to another mass flooding this year.

Residents Advised To Be Cautious Of Inter-Monsoon Period
Bernama 24 Oct 08;

Residents staying in flood infested areas and on hill slopes are advised to be cautious of the inter-monsoon period which normally brings heavy rain and thunderstorms in the evening and at night in the west coast states of the peninsula.

Meteorological Department director-general Dr Yap Kok Seng said the inter-monsoon season period was between mid-September to November.

"Since last September, Perlis, Kedah, Penang and northern Perak have been recording rain fall of above the normal level, a condition which caused flash floods, and, sometimes, land slides at hill slopes in the states concerned," he told Bernama here today.

He said there was more rain this year due to the hotter sea surface in the region, causing more rain clouds to be formed.

Yap said the department would monitor the situation and would issue warning on heavy rain, strong winds and rough seas when the need arose.

On the approaching North-East Monsoon season, which begins in mid-November, he said the states which would be affected by the monsoon were Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and East Johor.

Better pain relief with cone snails

A surprising new way to inhibit pain using cone snail venom has been discovered by researchers at the University of Queensland.

What's so special about cone snail toxins? These toxins, called conotoxins, are so specifically targeted to their prey that they can be used to study details of nerves. And to develop targeted pain medication that is more effective and has fewer side effects.

From the Cone snails and conotoxins website of the University of Melbourne, which also has lots of info about cone snails, including an animated GIF of a cone snail venom apparatus in operation, a gallery of shells and more links.

Cone snails (Family Conidae) are recorded for Singapore. But so far, in my shore explorations, I haven't seen any live ones. Although I've seen empty shells.

Cone shell toxin offers new hope for chronic pain sufferers
The University of Queensland 22 Oct 08;

Better chronic pain relief could be possible in the future, according to research announced today by scientists at UQ's Queensland Brain Institute.

Neuropathic and chronic pain is typically caused by injury to the nerves, resulting in uncontrolled activation of pain pathways, and affects one in five Australians of working age.

Neuroscientists at QBI have revealed that a toxin produced by a lethal cone snail acts on a newly identified target and cell signalling pathway that may play a critical role in regulating chronic pain.

Professor David Adams and his team have identified specific peptides in the cone shell toxin that may serve as the molecular framework for novel “designer” conotoxins.

“For several years, it's been known that the remarkable properties of cone shell toxins (conotoxins) hold tremendous promise for chronic pain sufferers, and drugs that can combat or alleviate pain are a holy grail in drug discovery,” Professor Adams said.

The venom of Conus snails – marine animals found in several of the world's oceans – is currently the subject of extensive scientific investigation because its powerful analgesic properties are thought to offer several distinct advantages over traditional therapeutic treatments for neuropathic pain.

According to Professor Adams, the prevailing scientific view until now has been that conotoxins only targeted one group of pain receptors.

However, in a paper published in the prestigious Journal of Neuroscience, Professor Adams, along with Professor David Craik (UQ's Institute for Molecular Bioscience) and colleagues have described a surprising new way of inhibiting pain sensors using mini-proteins commonly found in cone snail venoms.

The paper invites scientists around the world to reconsider the conventional model for how conotoxins act on target cells such as sensory neurons, opening up what could be a paradigm shift in the development of conotoxin-based therapeutics and analgesics.

Established in 2003, QBI is dedicated to understanding the molecular basis of brain funcion and applying this knowledge to the development of new therapeutics to treat brain and mental health disorders. QBI was established as part of the Queensland Government's Smart State initiative with the generous support of the Atlantic Philanthropies.

Crane barge to work off Sentosa's natural shore

Sentosa has a stretch of natural shores with seagrasses and amazing marine life. So much so that it is a regular part of TeamSeagrass monitoring and the Naked Hermit Crabs conduct intertidal walks there for the public.

An MPA notice has just announced that work will take place very close to this site, involving a crane barge to install navigational and mooring buoys.

Installation of navigational and mooring buoys off Sentosa
from Port Marine Notice No. 192 of 2008 dated 23 Oct 08

With effect from 27 Oct 08 to 30 Nov 08, 0800 hours to 1900 hours daily, including Sundays and Public Holidays, off Siloso Beach, Sentosa, (see attached plan):

AZ1 01° 15.271’ 103° 48.605' Yellow / Pillar / Fl Y 4s
AZ2 01° 15.034' 103° 48.967' Yellow / Pillar / Fl Y 6s
AZ3 01° 14.989’ 103° 48.937' Yellow / Pillar / Fl Y 8s
AZ4 01° 15.225’ 103° 48.576' Yellow / Pillar / Fl Y 10s
5 01° 15.095’ 103° 48.924'
6 01° 15.082’ 103° 48.909'

Four (4) navigational buoys and two (2) mooring buoys will be installed at the locations as per the attached chartlet. The crane barge will be deployed for the installation works. A safety boat will be deployed to advise all craft to keep clear of the buoy installation locations.

Further enquiries relating to the project, can be directed to Mr Mark Chen, the project co-ordinator, at Tel: 9734 0663, email: sales@wealthmarine.com.sg.

What does a crane barge look like?From the website of a company that rents crane barges: http://www.hjmerrihue.com/html/Crane_Barges.html

What nature shores are near this work site?The portion in red is the area of seagrasses monitored by TeamSeagrass.
The latest monitoring of this location last week on 17 Oct showed a lush growth of Tape seagrasses (Enhalus acoroides) and Spoon seagrass (Halophila ovalis).The portion in yellow shows about half of the natural shore of reefs, rubble and natural rock shore. This is part of the Sentosa intertidal walk conducted by the Naked Hermit Crabs.

Indonesian seaweed bubble bursts

There is a $14 billion global market for seaweed!
A few months ago, the price for a key type of Indonesian seaweed suddenly more than tripled. Then, just as quickly, the seaweed bubble burst.

The seaweed from Indonesia and other tropical nations is more often a yellowish variety that yields an extract called carrageenan that is used widely by manufacturers as a thickening agent. It's also useful for holding processed meats together and maintaining moisture.

First alert from mongabay.com.

Indonesia Got Soaked When The Seaweed Bubble Burst
Prices Soared as Traders Dived In; Farmers Cancel Pilgrimages to Mecca
The Wall Street Journal 21 Oct 08;

BANTAENG, Indonesia -- Something fishy happened to seaweed last summer on this tropical island.

Easy to grow and prized for an ingredient used in making toothpaste, cosmetics and chicken patties, tropical seaweed has helped poor fishermen to offset the waning fishing industry.

But a few months ago, parts of the $14 billion global seaweed market started soaring. The price for a key type of Indonesian seaweed suddenly more than tripled, to as much as 18,000 rupiah (or $1.80) per kilogram, from about 5,000 rupiah.

Then, just as quickly, the seaweed bubble burst, adding the spindly plant to the long list of the world's assets -- including oil, stocks and houses -- that have tumbled in value. By early September, prices skidded to 12,000 rupiah. By October, they were down to 10,000, and they may be headed lower.

"Nothing like this has ever happened before," says Asu Hasna, a 42-year-old seaweed farmer in this coastal community on the island of Sulawesi, which, along with parts of the Philippines, is a tropical seaweed hot spot. Before, she says, seaweed prices never fell. "These are bad times."

Despite recent declines, prices are still higher than they were a year ago. But the recriminations over what went wrong have begun, complete with calls for more government involvement, efforts to make the industry more transparent and reforms to restore market confidence.

The Indonesian Seaweed Association called a news conference at which its chairman urged farmers to stay calm and focused on growing high-quality weed.

"Seaweed is out of control," says H. Djusdil Akrim, director of a factory in Makassar, Sulawesi's biggest city, that buys seaweed and processes it into a powder and other forms that buyers in Asia, Europe and Latin America can use to thicken foods. "It's a wild, wild market -- and no one is running it," he says. "I think we need more regulation."

What little is known amounts to this: Around the middle of the year, hordes of new traders from across Indonesia and Hong Kong began washing ashore in Sulawesi and elsewhere, cozying up to seaweed farmers and offering extraordinarily high prices.

The seaweed in question is different from the well-known green nori used to make sushi. The seaweed from Indonesia and other tropical nations is more often a yellowish variety that yields an extract called carrageenan that is used widely by manufacturers as a thickening agent. It's also useful for holding processed meats together and maintaining moisture.

Suddenly, traders couldn't get enough of the stuff.

"There were hundreds of them flocking," says Hasan Basri, who works with the chairman of the Indonesian Seaweed Association. But a month or two later, the traders were gone, and the fat profits for farmers and traders went with them.
Responding to Demand

One explanation for the jump in prices is that traders were simply responding to demand from China, with its boost from the Olympics, while supplies from some sources -- notably the Philippines -- weren't available because of bad weather.

Another theory is that Chinese food-ingredient companies were engaged in a vicious turf war, with some colluding to drive up the cost of seaweed in order to knock competitors out of the business. Yet another view is that speculators and traders saw the midyear surge in crude oil and other commodity prices and figured seaweed would follow, so they filled their warehouses in hopes prices would keep climbing.

Whatever the reason, high prices emboldened farmers to rush immature or low-quality seaweed to market, flooding buyers with too much supply.

Many farmers say greedy traders made matters worse by mixing raw seaweed with sand or cement to increase the product's weight, and hence its selling price, upsetting buyers in China and sending prices into a death spiral. Sand, dirt and other contaminants add no value to the seaweed and must be removed to get the carrageenan.

No one knows when the market will hit bottom. Some traders are sitting on stockpiles they bought when the market was hot, and if global growth slows further, as expected, demand could weaken.

Whatever happens, the latest volatility is a wake-up call for the seaweed industry, which has been growing steadily for years. Although the plant has been used for centuries in some foods, it took off in the 1960s, when big food companies started using it more widely to add texture to ice cream and other products.

By the 1970s, demand was growing faster than supply. Traders enlisted small farmers, especially in Indonesia and the Philippines, which have warm weather, cheap labor and lots of underdeveloped coastline.

To grow the seaweed, farmers stretch out lines of cord in the shallow waters along the shore. Then they tie small pieces of seaweed -- often collected from local coral -- to the rope. The plant then just grows on its own. After 45 days or so, farmers haul in their lines and untie the bigger pieces, which they then leave out to dry.

Thus the traders came to Bantaeng, a quiet coastal town of pastel-colored houses. Its Muslim seafaring residents had long lived off fishing. But in recent decades, the catch has declined. Locals were more than happy to switch to seaweed, which takes little start-up capital and yields steady profits, year after year.

"We were excited" by seaweed, says Ms. Hasna, the Bantaeng farmer. If it isn't storming, she says, some farmers could earn as much as $2,000 a month, and prices never went down.

One farmer says he bought a $1,300 Yamaha motorbike when seaweed prices spiked this year. Others planned new additions to their houses, or signed up to go to Saudi Arabia for pilgrimages to Mecca.

"I simply took it as a blessing," says 43-year-old Jamaluddin, who, like many Indonesians, uses only one name. He was found one recent evening wearing a blue plastic helmet as he hauled in a seaweed harvest and untied it on the beach at Bantaeng. "I thought it would go even higher."

But as prices started to retreat, bad feelings spread. Some people had to cancel their pilgrimages and curtail their spending.

Sauk den Rate, a 36-year-old trader who lives in Bantaeng, says his own neighbors accused him of adulterating seaweed to bulk up his profits when prices soared.

He doesn't deny some traders have done that -- but says he hasn't. He says he merely takes orders from a Chinese buyer in Makassar.

Just Taking Orders

Contacted by phone, that buyer, a man named Bago, said he wasn't to blame either. He said he takes his orders from buyers in Jakarta, whom he refused to name. He then asked a reporter if the reporter was interested in buying any seaweed; Bago has 20 tons sitting in a warehouse.

As with the U.S. financial meltdown, there's no shortage of ideas floating around to restore confidence to the market. Safari Azis, chairman of the Indonesian Seaweed Association, says he has been pressing to create a certificate-of-origin program designed to force farmers to maintain minimum quality standards.

Many others believe the industry needs to do what Wall Street is doing: Consolidate. Iain Neish, an Indonesian-based seaweed consultant, says that process is already under way, with international aid agencies, nongovernmental groups and consultants such as himself advising farmers on how to organize and make a more transparent industry.

"This boom-and-bust type of thing happens," Mr. Neish says. But in the long run, he says, don't worry: Seaweed is "as good as gold."

—Yayu Yuniar contributed to this article.

The Bajo: Sea nomads of Malaysia and Indonesia

A glimpse into the history of sea nomads of Sulawesi who are believed to have originated from Johor.

Tracing the origins of Bone's sea nomads
Jakarta Post 22 Oct 08;

The Bajo community in Bone, South Sulawesi, has thrived in the area for more than a century. According to Bajo oral history, they lived aboard boats anchored along the shore of Bone bay. Their boats served at the same time as a means of fishing for their livelihood, earning them the nickname "sea nomads".

In their early years in Bone, the Bajo, known also as members of the Sama or Same tribe, moored their boats along the bay to form a line about five kilometers long.

The numerous boats served as a bastion of defense, protecting the shoreline for the Bone kingdom whenever Dutch troops tried to attack. During the reign of La Pawawoi Karaeng Segeri, the kingdom was finally subdued but it was done through other means.

As Roso, a Bajo community leader, recounted, the Bone administration allowed Bajo nomads to settle near the bay following the Bone war in 1904-1905 to show appreciation for their resistance against Dutch colonial forces.

"Based on stories from our elders, when Bajos first settled on land, they built small homes with single pillars. Gradually the model was changed to adapt to today's Bone community dwellings. The shift was especially noticeable after the 1950s," Roso said.

The Bajo settlement later became Bajoe subdistrict. A port in the area was named Bajoe port. This village has become a tourist destination for Bone regency.

Nobody knows for sure the origins of the Bajos.

Roso said one tale affirmed the Bajo in Bone came from Ussu, Luwu regency, in South Sulawesi.

As described in the South Sulawesi epic La Galigo, the Bajos first appeared in Bone after a flood hit Ussu, causing a boat to come unmoored from a tree and drift away.

Sitti Manurung, a young woman from Ussu, got washed ashore in Gowa, south of Bone. Owing to her beauty, Gowa community chief Manurungnga promptly married her.

Another narrative maintains the Bajo came from Johor, Malaysia. That origin story is backed up by shipwrecks found on one of the islands in the region, estimated to be 300 years old and believed to be linked with Bajo heritage. Some Malaysian parliamentarians claiming to be of Bajo descent once visited Bone to meet with Bajo leaders in the regency.

"We have no idea which story is correct about Bajo origins, either Ussu or Johor. But the early Bajo language combined four tongues: Buginese, Makassarese, Javanese and Malay," Roso said.

The Bajo are in fact not found only in several parts of Indonesia but are spread out as far as Malaysia and several other countries.

The Bajo population in Bone has drawn the attention of overseas researchers. A number of experts from Germany, Malaysia and Singapore have conducted research in Bone.

Bajo seamanship, which helps them survive under adverse conditions for many days at sea, is their unique cultural capacity that researchers come to study.

Though they no longer live aboard their boats, their fishing skills are incomparable. Equipped only with simple boats with outboard motors, they face high waves and strong winds, sometimes diving without modern equipment. Some of them use spears to catch fish; others set off homemade bombs.

Roso talked about how they picked up bomb-making skills during the Japanese occupation.

"But we only use explosives under certain circumstances. For daily use, we fish with lines, spears and trawl nets. But now it's getting even more difficult to fish, so we've got to sail a long way out to sea," he said.

Unlike the Bajo living in other countries, the Bone Bajo have not completely modernized. Their children are apparently destined to continue living as seafarers.

Bajo children are taught to sail and fish at an early age. For Bajo parents, teaching their kids fishing skills is more important than sending them to school.

No wonder Bajo descendants have so far remained tied to the sea. Only a few Bajo children enjoy formal education, and only a smattering of them finish high school. In comparison, some Malaysian Bajo have become members of parliament.
-- JP/Andi Hajramurni

Avoiding extinction: Kinky coral sex

Rare corals vulnerable to extinction have been found to cross-breed with certain other coral species.

“Hybridising with another species actually makes a lot of genetic sense if you are rare and the next colony of your species may be hundreds of kilometres away."

"Rather than being the dying remnants of once-common species, rare corals may actually be coral pioneers pushing into new environments and developing new traits by virtue of the interbreeding"

Corals have sex to survive
ScienceAlert 22 Oct 08;
ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies

Rare corals may be smarter than we thought. Faced with a dire shortage of mates of their own kind, new research suggests they may be able to cross-breed with certain other coral species to breed themselves out of a one-way trip to extinction.

This finding, released by scientists at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, has raised hopes for the ability of the world’s corals to withstand the rigors of changing climates and human impacts, says lead author Zoe Richards.

“Coral reefs worldwide face a variety of marine and land-based threats and hundreds of corals are now on the red list of threatened species. It is often assumed that rare coral species face higher risks of extinction than common species because they have very small effective population sizes, which implies that they may have limited genetic diversity and high levels of inbreeding and therefore be unable to adapt to changing conditions,” Zoe says.

“When we studied some particularly rare species of Acropora (staghorn corals), which you might expect to be highly vulnerable to extinction, we found some of them were actually hybrids – in other words they had cross-bred with other Acropora species. This breaks all the traditional rules about what a species is.” By hybridising with other species, these rare corals draw on genetic variation in other species, increasing their own potential to adapt to changing conditions.

“At this stage how it came about and who the breeding partners are isn’t entirely clear, but what is evident is that rare corals previously thought vulnerable to extinction may have more ability to adapt than initially expected” she explains.

Acropora are the main reef-builders throughout the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and so of critical importance to the ability of reefs to cope with changing conditions. However, till now, very few clear cut examples of hybridisiation were known, and some people did not even accept that corals can cross-breed, Zoe says.

The common Acropora corals occur mainly on reef crests, flats and slopes, whereas several of the rare species occupy more marginal habitats, such as the deeper or extremely shallow water zones where the common species do not grow.

“When we looked at the genetic history of rare corals, we found that they exhibited unexpected patterns of genetic diversity. This suggests that, rather than being the dying remnants of once-common species, they may actually be coral pioneers pushing into new environments and developing new traits by virtue of the interbreeding that has enabled them to survive there.

“This is good news, to the extent that it suggests that corals may have evolved genetic strategies for survival in unusual niches – and may prove tougher to exterminate than many people feared. With such tricks up their sleeve, it is even possible that the rare corals of today could become the common corals of the future.”

Corresponding author Professor David Miller of CoECRS and James Cook University says the discovery is a refreshing piece of good news amid the frequently gloomy reportage about corals nowadays. “One would expect that rare corals would be especially at risk, but we’ve found that some appear to have developed mechanisms for coping with rarity,” he says.

“Hybridising with another species actually makes a lot of genetic sense if you are rare and the next colony of your species may be hundreds of kilometres away. It suggests these creatures are far more resilient that we thought, based on what we know from the behavior of land animals.”

The paper Some Rare Indo-Pacific Coral Species Are Probable Hybrids was published by a team of researchers from CoECRS, James Cook University, the Museum of Tropical Queensland and the Australian Institute of Marine Science in the September issue of the journal PloS One.

Fish or jellyfish? Pomfret mimicks jellyfish

The Chinese pomfret (Pampus chinensis) is among our favourite seafood. Its juveniles are rarely encountered. A recent paper on the Nature in Singapore website shares some insights into this situation.

from "Apparent mimicry of jellyfish by juvenile pomfret, Pampus chinensis (Teleostei: Stromateidae)". H. H. Tan. Pp. 139-142. [PDF, 431 KB]

One juvenile was observed swimming in an erratic manner somewhat like a jellyfish!

There's a video clip of a swimming juvenile pomfret (24.5 MB)

In colouration, juvenile fish also resembles a jellyfish.

Photo from the article.

In addition, when it was caught, the fish produced "copious quantities of clear mucus".

The article also shares other examples of juvenile fishes mimicking poisonous animals.

Moons on Changi

When I saw this flurry of paddles rolling about in the waves, I thought it was some kind of new creature.
It turned out to be a pair of Moon crabs attempting to mate. Or rather, I think it was the male doing the attempting while the female didn't seem to be in the mood.

The female has a broad V-shaped section on her underside.
This is actually the 'tail' which is folded under the hard body and holds the eggs. The male has a narrow version of this structure which is used to fertilise the female. I couldn't get a photo of him upside down and I didn't want to disturb the proceedings.Here's a view of both the crabs before the more yellowish female made her escape. The one with the darker spots on the legs is the male. They both disappeared with the next wave.Here's a closer look at the crabs. They are quite different from the kind that is more usually encountered. I'm not sure what kind of moon crab they are. Chay Hoon saw another one with a more reticulated pattern on the body which is probably Matuta planipes.Here is the more commonly encountered moon crab (Ashtoret lunaris). Moon crabs have all their walking legs modified into paddles. These are not so much for swimming but for digging. With four pairs of little spades, the Moon crab disappears instantly into the sand.
Moon crabs are scavengers and this one was having a nibble at a recently dead, much larger crab.
Here's a closer look at the Moon crab.

Wow, the shores of Changi are very much alive!

Somewhat low on Changi

Often dismissed as reclaimed land, Changi has among our more delightful mainland shores.Although the tide didn't go as low as expected, we still encountered colourful creatures such as psychedelic peacock anemones (Order Ceriantharia) .

When the tide isn't low, the water is murky as waves splash onto the shore.
Nevertheless, a careful look will turn up tiny little flatfishes, like this spotted one which may be a Tongue-sole (Family Cynoglossidae). And another tiny one lurking in the sand, which may be a young Commerson's sole (Synaptura commersoniana).A Kite butterflyfish (Parachaetodon ocellatus) glides by in the murky water.

As the tide finally falls, the sandy areas are the first to have clearer water.This is not a sea anemone! It's the feeding tentacles of the buried Ball sea cucumber (Phyllophorus sp.).How nice to see lots of sea pens (Order Pennatulacea) on Changi. This sea pen looks more like a pencil so we've dubbed it the 'sea pencil'.

A sea pen is a colony of separate and different kinds of animals that live together. Here is another kind of sea pen, probably a member of Family Veretillidae.One of the colony members is the polyp that looks like a tube topped with tentacles. This gathers food for the colony.Like other soft corals, sea pens have eight tentacles which are branched (the hair-like projections from the tentacles).Sand stars (Astropecten sp.) are of course often found on sandy areas. There were also lots of sand dollars (Arachnoides placenta) and Chay Hoon spotted a patch of Button shell snails (Umbonium vestiarum).

Changi also has seagrass meadows, mainly full of Spoon seagrass (Halophila ovalis) and Fern seagrass (Halophila spinulosa). We noticed the patches of Needle seagrass (Halodule sp.) have grown more extensive.
Among the seagrasses are all kinds of other animals such as this tiny Biscuit sea star (Goniodiscaster scaber).Tiny sea anemones also settle on seagrasses. This might be Stichodactyla tapetum and not a tiny version of Haddon's carpet anemone (Stichodactyla haddoni).Like prickly tennis-balls, the large White sea urchin (Salmacis sp.) is still seen all over the seagrass meadows, although the skeletons of many were also seen washed ashore.

There were also large clumps of green Mexican seaweed (Caulerpa mexicana).This green mini-forest provides shelter for all kinds of animals.These include tiny snails and tiny beachfleas.
Tiny hermit crabs in tiny snail shells.Tiny baby swimming crabs that might grow up to become our seafood dinner.
Tiny shrimps that blend in with the seaweeds. Chay Hoon saw lots of wooly Elysia slugs, but I couldn't find any :-(More colourful thorny sea cucumbers (Colochirus quadrangularis) cling to seaweeds and seagrasses.These tiny animals are in turn eaten by large ones. Indeed, several busy mantis shrimps (possibly Harpiosquilla sp.) were hunting through this mini-forest. Thus the seaweeds and seagrasses support a food chain that includes the seafood that we eat.

At the same time, Kok Sheng, Chee Kong and friends were working on another part of Changi and saw more stuff! Our Changi shores are truly amazing.

Super high at Chek Jawa

The tide was really high at the Chek Jawa boardwalk on Sunday morning!
What happens during such times?

I was out for a morning stroll with Tsun-Thai Chai who writes the excellent Chai's Marine Life blog. A kindred spirit from Perth, Australia, Chai also visits his local shore regularly and posts his discoveries just like some of us do. So it was delightful to hear from him. He wrote about visiting our shores during his brief 8-hour stopover in Singapore on his way to Europe. What a great opportunity to share Chek Jawa with him.Chai is a delightful companion and was game for everything. After a short stop to snarffle up the last serving of special Ubin lontong (Only on Ubin! Only on Sunday! and quite endangered), we headed off to Chek Jawa. Here he is taking photos of the green green forest surrounding the Chek Jawa shores.It was a glorious blue sky day and for a change, and I actually climbed all the way up the Jejawi Tower (I usually skip this even during walks that I guide, due to cranky knees). And was rewarded by this stunning panorama of Johor, Pulau Tekong and the surrounding mangroves, forests and coastal forests of Chek Jawa and Pulau Ubin. Peeping through the trees, we could even see mainland Singapore on the other side!Unfortunately, the view was marred by this message defacing of the Tower railing. Sigh.

Exploring the back mangroves, the mudskippers were quite lively. This is seldom so during a mid-day trip.The elusive Blue-spotted mudskipper (Boleophthalmus boddarti) was busy in the shallow water, flicking up its flamboyant dorsal fin.

As we walked further on, we realised the water was rushing into the back mangroves!Like a little tsunami, waves were washing in near the sluice gate at the prawn pond, inundating the areas which are usually bone dry.

The rushing water gushed through the pools among the mudlobster mounds. And all kinds of mudskippers came out play!
Giant mudskippers (Periophthalmodon schlosseri) were splashing about in the incoming water. This handsome large fish with dark racing stripes along the body is unfortunately listed among Singapore's threatened animals due to habitat loss.
This could be the Yellow-spotted mudskipper (Periophthalmus walailake) or a juvenile Giant mudskipper. There were also lots of little mudskippers flipping about above the rapidly rising water line.In the water, there were countless little fishes in schools, busily nibbling on the ground surface. Probably on the yummy algae that has been growing thickly in between these flushes of high spring tide.

The tide was whoosing in as we rounded to the front mangroves (haha, I don't think that's a valid term, but there's 'back mangroves' so there should be 'front mangroves' right?)Among the mangrove tree roots, all the little snails were huddled well above the usual height, to stay out of the especially high tide and keep safe from aquatic predators. Here's an article about the amazing ability of such snails to creep up to the correct height.
As we headed out to the Coastal loop of the boardwalk, the water was really high! Boulders that ordinarily still stick out of the water at high tide were submerged.
Even the big boulder near the entrance to the floating pontoon!
In fact, the water line was just beneath the boardwalk!

During our short walk, we also saw other stuff like the little Cotton stainer bugs feeding on the seeds of the Sea hibiscus. And as we waited for the van to take us home, we saw several wild boar in the forest!

On the way home, we stopped by at Ubin Green House, run by the Green Volunteers Network. Here's more about Green House on a separate visit there. Alas, the sisters' restaurant was closed so I couldn't show Chai all the old photos of Ubin that are displayed there.

As Chai still had a long journey ahead of him, we left Ubin before lunch and not a moment too soon as it started to pour after that.

I'm so glad to have a chance to share a little bit of wild Singapore, so that at least one more person will experience Singapore as more than just concrete and shopping centres. Yes, we have mangroves, and real primary rainforests, and even living reefs!

I think Chai said it best when he shared that he would rather go to a natural place and see nothing, than to go to a zoo or aquarium.

Thank you Chai for being such a great companion. Through your eyes, I saw our wild places with a fresh perspective and have gained new inspiration! Hope you have a safe journey. And thank you also for the wonderful calendar of Australia's magnificent marine life.