06 September 2015

Sharing at Sentosa and Pasir Ris

I had a great time sharing about our shores with a lovely group of people who made the effort to come to Sentosa.
After which I rushed off to Pasir Ris for more nature sharing.


Thanks to Grace Lee and Sarah Chin of Sentosa Development Corporation for not only inviting me to speak, and also using my photos in their new displays about Sentosa's marine life.
The Sentosa Nature Discovery Centre is a lovely hidden sanctuary of quiet and calm including an aerial walkway that takes you among the trees. It was repurposed from the old tram line and tram station. It has interactive displays that are sure to appeal to kids. It is certainly worth a visit!
After the talk, I rushed to Pasir Ris to share about mangrove identification with a small group of enthusiastic volunteers who are keen to survey the Punggol mangroves which might be affected by development.
Dr John Yong's awesome 'blue mangrove ID sheets' were most helpful in explaining the distinguishing characteristics of some common and uncommon mangrove trees. A higher res version of his guidesheets are on wildsingapore flickr with kind permission from Dr Yong. You can download and print them from here https://flic.kr/p/7DrRAg and here https://flic.kr/p/7DrSjX
Two hours of meandering among mangroves flew by! It was then time to guide at the Naked Hermit Crabs' free evening tour of the Pasir Ris mangrove boardwalk. We are so touched that more than 100 kids and families came to share about the mangroves
Among the more intriguing finds was a nest of leaves created by Weaver ants. As usual, we spot lots of crabs, mudskippers, tiny bugs and critters.
How nice towards the end of the walk to meet with Andy who points out the Buffy fish owl well hidden among the trees. It helps to first have a look at the photo of the bird.
A small Malayan water monitor crawling up a tree is a great hit as we approach the jetty over Sungei Tampines.
Here's a look at the lizard.
At the jetty, we look at archerfishes and other fishes as well as jellyfishes!
Our favourite activity at the end of the walk is a drawing session where kids share what they have seen.
It appears the jellyfishes are a big hit!
More about the awesome sightings and other happenings during the trip on the Naked Hermit Crabs. The Crabs plan to this walk again at the next school holidays in December. More details will be posted on their blog.
The Pasir Ris mangroves are just 10 minutes from Pasir Ris MRT and just next to DownTown East. It has educational and interesting panels so you can explore it on your own. It is the only mangrove boardwalk that is open 24/7. A night trip to here can be quite amazing. And here's more about why Pair Ris mangroves are so awesome.