On National Day, the team works extra hard on Singapore's fish library!
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| Photo by Liz Lim |
The intertidal team pulls the net FIVE times at Seringat Kias, and find many fishes including some huge ones. The dive team return with very interesting finds. To celebrate National Day, everyone gets treated to durians! A different kind of smelly from fish.
The intertidal team surveys the artificial lagoons of Seringat Kias next to Lazarus. In the big lagoon, seagrasses are growing on the sandy bottom, while corals grow on the seawall. In the smaller lagoon, there are mangroves and seagrasses. The team has netted some big fishes! A few jump out of the net as it is being pulled back.
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| Photo by Liz Lim |
This 'sock' part of the net helps to make sure the big fishes don't all jump out of the net!
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| Photo by Liz Lim |
But the 'sock' is also tricky to clear for fishes. This doesn't stop the intrepid ladies from doing a thorough job of it.
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| Photo by Liz Lim |
Here's a video of the team at work, with big fishes in the (and out) of the net. Thanks to Liz Lim for the videos and photos as I didn't come for this survey.
It's back breaking work not only to lay and pull the net, but also to carry it. The team surveyed TWO lagoons today. And laid the next FIVE times.
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| Photo by Liz Lim |
Washing the net can be fun and exciting!
Then it's back to the lab for a closer look at the fishes found.
We count the number of fishes found by the intertidal team. This important data helps scientists study the ecosystem. Common fishes small and large form the base of the food chain. It's important to know more about them.
There are a lot of fishes to count!
The dive team arrives shortly with their finds and the lab is a hive of activity again.
It's a chance to learn from the experts about the fishes that the divers have found.
Dr Jeffrey Low shares more about how to identify the fishes that the divers found.
Some very interesting gobies have been found by the divers!
Dr Zeehan Jaafar is particularly intrigued by this one. It takes a lot of work before we can be sure that a fish is something new, but when the experts who know a lot about the fish family are intrigued, it's quite exciting!
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| Photo by Dr Jeffrey Low |
The fishes are also inspected for parasites by experts. These tiny parasites can seriously impact the health and quality of aquacultured fish, so data about them is vital. This is another area where the Singapore fish library can help humans.
We also admire photos and videos taken by the dive team.
In celebration of National Day, we enjoy a durian treat!
Jeff is astounded that Bee Yan eats durians with chopsticks. An innovation to avoid having smelly fingers.
More about the
Singapore Marine Fishes Expedition 2019 with daily and other updates are
posted here.
