An evening survey of Big Sisters Island, now part of the Sisters' Islands Marine Park.
Alas, the tidal predictions were way off and the waters didn't receed. It was also very windy, making photo taking a challenge. But I had a glimpse of some corals and marine life.
My last survey here was at the height of mass coral bleaching in
Jun 2016. Today, I didn't see any bleaching corals at the jetty. Some boulder corals peeked out above the not-falling tide.
Most of the corals I saw were not bleaching.
There was one colony that was still bleaching and mostly dead. And some colonies with large dead patches.
I was surprised to see several
Giant carpet anemones near the high shore. As usual, there are
Haddon's carpet anemones on the sandy areas. And the anemone researchers saw many
Peachia anemones. I saw a few
Frilly sea anemones, and one small
leathery soft coral. I also saw some I also
Button zoanthids, and
Fine feathery soft corals. None of them were bleaching.
The small patch of
Tape seagrass in the small lagoon is still cropped short! I saw a sprinkling of
Spoon seagrass with tiny leaf blades in the big lagoon.
On the sandy shores, I saw many moon snails but didn't see any Common sea stars. I also saw few sponges. The shore appeared quiet to me. I hope to survey it again at a lower tide.
On the way to the Sisters Islands, we saw this humungous structure.
It was set up close to Pulau Tekukor. This must be what the notice below is referring to. It appears this will also be set up off western St John's Island. I have no idea what is going on.
PORT MARINE NOTICE NO. 02 OF 2017 dated 03 Jan 2017
Soil investigation works at South of Pulau Tekukor and West of St John’s Island
Date : With effect from 05 Jan 2017 to 27 May 2017.
Location : South of Pulau Tekukor and West of St John’s Island, at the following coordinates
(see attached chartlet)
Soil investigation work will be carried out by drilling and sampling using a jack-up barge. Tug boats will be used to move the jack-up barges. The safety zone is a circular area of 30m radius centred at the borehole. Safety boats will be deployed in the vicinity to warn other craft about the work. Further enquires relating to the project can be directed to Mr John Chai, Project Director at Tel: +65 8223-2929 (email: john@kwangsing.com.sg).
Big Sisters Island is now a marine park! You can visit it any time like any other park. But it's best to visit with the volunteer guides of the Sisters' Islands Marine Park!
More about guided walks at the Sisters' Islands Marine Park on the
NParks website.
More about what to expect at a
guided walk.
Why should I visit with an experienced and trained guide? Why are places limited on a public walk? Which other shores are accessible to the public? and more in
this wildsingapore page.
Catch up with all the happenings at the Marine Park through the
Sisters' Islands Marine Park facebook page. You can share your encounters, ideas and thoughts for the Marine Park here.
Photos by others on this trip
Others on this trip: Toh Chay Hoon, Choo Yi Feng.
