Back to the rare seagrass meadows at Kranji for a closer look

I returned to the vast meadows of rare seagrasses that I glimpsed at Kranji a week ago, to take a closer look.

I skirted the prickly high shore growths and plunged through some 'quick mud' to reach the tree line on the Kranji side of Sungei Mandai Besar.

A short stroll to the mangroves at Sungei Jelutong, Pulau Ubin

I have heard much about the mangroves at Sungei Jelutong. We've tried before, but somehow couldn't find a way to reach the mouth of the Sungei.

Today, Chay Hoon and I managed to find a way to get there!

Anti-cancer drugs from a sponge commonly seen on our shores

This yellow prickly branching sponge (Pseudoceratina purpurea) is commonly seen on our southern shores.

This sponge contains the chemical psammaplin A which is reported to be a powerful blocker of several components of the processing machinery in cancer cells, preventing them from growing and dividing. Dr Fuchter and his team from Imperial College London have discovered a new way of making psammaplin A which has the potential to inspire novel anti-cancer drugs.

Not extinct after all: the curious 'Penis' clam

Verpa penis (previously known as Brechites penis) is listed as “presumed nationally extinct” in our latest Red Data Book.

So we get excited whenever we see one of these clams alive on our shores, which we do occasionally. We have seen this at Changi and Pulau Sekudu.

S. K. Tan, S. H. Tan and Martyn E. Y. Low have shared more about their status in a recent paper on Nature in Singapore.

Sliver of mangroves near Punggol Jetty

Near Punggol Jetty, there is a tiny patch of mangroves along a narrow stream that is still connected to the coastline some distance away.

I've been hearing about a tiny patch of mangroves at Punggol from friends at Outward Bound Singapore and other people I've met. Siyang also shared about this mangrove on his trip in Sep 09.Today, I managed to have a quick look at it.

Special seashore trips for kids by Cicada Tree Eco Place this quarter

Cicada Tree Eco-Place has a great series of outdoor seashore learning lessons for kids this quarter! From Chek Jawa to St. John's Island and more!

Pollution at Sungei Api Api?

Lush mangroves next to HDB flats! At Sungei Api Api, mangroves grow along the natural banks besides the apartment blocks there.

Yesterday, I had a quick look at this marvellous place. The water was calm, bluish and seemed clear of pollution.

Marine life on man-made Seringat-Kias

This marvellous assembly of marine life was seen on the very artificial parts of the man-made island of Seringat-Kias.

But I'm getting ahead of myself as we saw this just as we ended the field trip.

Reefs of Lazarus Island

There is a natural reef at the Southern tip of Lazarus Island with some interesting surprises!

Although this shore is partially ringed with man-made seawalls, there are lovely rocky and reefy areas here. My last trip here was in June 09 so I was keen to see how it was doing.

Coastal forest of Lazarus Island

Lazarus Island is cloaked in a coastal forest full of interesting and some special plants.

A natural forest full of textures and colours!

Yesterday, the forest was particularly colourful because of the 'autumn leaves of the Sea almond (Terminalia catappa).

Chek Jawa after the Flood: first impressions

Rene shared on her facebook page Naturely Curious about her first visit to Chek Jawa after the recent floods in Johor.

Rene was guiding at Chek Jawa so she couldn't take many photos. Here's some of her impressions.

Abandoned driftnet on Pulau Semakau

There is a very long abandoned driftnet on Pulau Semakau. After we finished doing our TeamSeagrass monitoring, Andy and I had a closer look at it.

Part of it was draped across a hard coral colony, the rope rubbing and killing the coral.

Hard at work on Cyrene

A small team heads back to Cyrene. Although I was there just the day before, we make this trip to focus on getting some work done.

This amazing reef lies just opposite
the world-class container terminals at Pasir Panjang.

Cyrene is amazing with reefs, seagrass meadows and more! It's great that work is being done to learn more about and to protect this reef.

A Safari to Cyrene with Coastal Parks

A very sporting team from NParks Coastal Parks visited Cyrene Reef yesterday on a gorgeous blue-sky day!

We were surrounded by Knobbly sea stars as soon as we landed!

First look at Sentosa's reefs off Serapong

There is a stretch of shore on Sentosa that I've long wanted to check out.

The large expanse of golden brown Sargassum seaweed (Sargassum sp.) suggests that there are reefs out there!

Flood impact on Changi easing?

The number of mangrove seedlings washing up on Changi seems to be falling.

Low shore on 15 Feb

I've been visiting Changi almost daily for the last few days. And noticed less and less mangrove seedlings and plant debris on the shore.

Sky lanterns at Chingay: deliberately released debris

4,000 sky lanterns were released at the recent Chingay parade. The release was among the highlights listed for the parade on the Chingay website.

What goes up eventually comes down. So there's 4,000 sky lanterns somewhere out there. [Updates: It seems the sky lanterns weren't intended for release after all. Which is a relief to know. But nevertheless, many were released. See comments below.]

We know mass balloon releases add to the enormous problem of marine debris, and balloons can be eaten by marine life which choke and kill them. What about sky lanterns?

Vast meadows of rare seagrasses at Kranji

There is a vast meadow of the Critically Endangered Beccari's seagrass (Halophila beccarii) at the end of yet another stretch of Kranji shore!

A green carpet of Beccari's seagrass with Mandai mangroves
and the Johor Baru skyline in the background.

This is probably the meadow that Andy Dinesh first highlighted in Dec 10. It certainly seems much much bigger than the meadows I saw at Kranji Nature Trail.

Celebrating the Submerged Forest at Sungei Buloh

Sungei Buloh had a special mangrove exhibition yesterday to celebrate World Wetlands Day as well as International Year of Forests 2011.

Rushing back after the very muddy Mega Marine Survey on Pulau Ubin, I managed to get a glimpse of some of the many fun happenings at Sungei Buloh yesterday.

Gifts of the Flood: mangrove seedlings on Changi!

I've been checking Changi for the last four days. Yes, even though the tide was not low.

With every tide, a new load of mangrove seedlings are left on the shore!

Another side of Kranji: mangroves, trash and horseshoe crab shells

I had a quick look at a small patch of mangroves on the other side of the Kranji Dam.

A surprise: many trees growing densely in a small area, behind the industrial sites that line this shore.

Rare seagrass at Kranji Nature Trail

Wei Ling spotted large meadows of the rare Beccari's seagrass on Kranji Nature Trail at a recent Mega Marine Survey there. And yesterday, Jerome and I saw more of them.

I head back to Kranji this evening to find out just how extensive these meadows are at Kranji.

Why is this seagrass so special?

Horseshoe crabs at Kranji: what are they up to?

Jerome spotted this pair of Mangrove horseshoe crabs (Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda) at Kranji on Sunday. Males often 'hitch a ride' on top of the females. This pair was stuck among the pneumatophores (breathing roots). Perhaps stranded by the outgoing tide?
Were these horseshoe crabs getting ready to mate and lay eggs? What do our horseshoe crabs get up to? The Nature Society (Singapore) (NSS) recently published an article about their efforts to find out.

Desalination plant at Tuas may have "a slight negative impact" on marine life

Singapore's second desalination plant at Tuas may have "a slight negative impact" on marine life, in particular, fish, reported Today Online.

The first desalination plant at Tuas, from Water Technology.

Desalination, the process of removing salt and other minerals from water to make it drinkable, is set to grow by 10 times and meet 30% of Singapore's water demand by 2060.

Kranji mangroves: cool spiders and colourful crabs

Decided to check out Kranji mangroves again as it was such a bright sunny day!

Oops, the tide is really high when I arrive!

Snaily at Little Sisters

We're back on Little Sisters Island, which is tiny compared to its Big Sister.

We haven't been here since Jan 10!

Special mangroves at St. John's Island

St. John's Island has some tiny patches of mangroves, including some rare mangrove trees. It is probably the only place where I can take a photo of mangrove trees with the Singapore business district in the background!

I haven't looked at the mangroves here since Aug 09 and another trip also in the same month.

Rocky shores of St. John's Island

Besides mangroves, St. John's also has a tiny stretch of reefs. And it is just off Singapore's main business district!

We seem to seldom visit St. John's. Our last trip here was in May 10.

Signs of the Johor flood on Changi?

With news of massive flooding in Johor, we worry about a repeat of the mass deaths at Chek Jawa. So a few of us visited our northern mainland shores to see if there were any signs of the Johor floods there.

On Changi, we saw lots of fresh mangrove debris, including some rare mangroves, and some dead fishes.

A quick look at Pulau Semakau

A small team heads out to set up data loggers at Pulau Semakau for TeamSeagrass.

Although it was a lovely rain-free day, the trip there on a super fast boat was splashy and windy, flapping boat-mops and people alike.