Guides of Singapore shores: Sandy shores and seagrass meadows

Yesterday, I spent another great evening with a fantastic bunch of volunteer guides at the fourth Guides of Singapore shores workshop.
And finally we remembered to take a group photo. What a fabulous crowd!

As usual, the event would not have been possible without the support of so many volunteers who turned up early to help with registration. Jun put together a series of great video clips including of a snappy snapping shrimp for the prelude, and many experienced guides turned up to help facilitate the workshops. And of course all the volunteers who made time to participate!
Here's November of the Leafmonkey Workshop giving the introductions. For this session, Abby from the Blue Water Volunteers is sharing about sandy shores, while I covered seagrasses and seaweeds.
There's discussions even during the talks. For example, we wonder why the sand bubbler crabs in the video clip wave their arms about as they spit out sand balls ...
Then it was time to do the workshops where we learn, share and do! This week, we focus on how to put together a coherent story, tailored to the likes and dislikes of different kinds of visitors. As a prelude, we share this hilarious Monty Python video clip of how to (and not to) share about seemingly boring marine creatures such as molluscs ....

As usual, the participants are really great at the role play! After sharing what they discussed about what various kinds of visitors might like or dislike, we try out some stories about various animals we might find on the sandy shores and seagrass meadows.

Sharing carpet anemones with older folks in slow motion ...
Visitors often want to take a group photo before they begin ...
How to share about tubeworms with cliquish teenage girls, with a school bitch ... being pointed out here. It was awesome role play, especially considering the dearth of actual teenage girls in this team.
I had a quick peek at the other group and they seem to be having fun too!
I'm looking forward to next week's session on mangroves by Zeehan. And then a field assessment session to end off this intensive series of workshops.

I've learnt quite a lot from the sessions, and it was inspiring to meet so many enthusiastic volunteers!

More about the Guides of Singapore shores workshop on the Leafmonkey Workshop.

The "Guides of Singapore Shores Workshop" is a collaboration among the Blue Water Volunteers, The Leafmonkey Workshop and wildsingapore with Supporting Partner, The Singapore Scout Association.