Dr Jani Tanzil alerted us that
mass coral bleaching may have started on our shores since the second week of June. So we are on the look out for this as we check up on Terumbu Pempang Laut. This submerged reef doesn't really have a lot of hard corals.
Today, I didn't see any large corals that were full on bleaching, in fact many seemed to be recovering. About 5% were showing stress (paler than usual or with bleaching portions) or with recently dead patches. I didn't come across many leathery soft corals, most were alright. The situation wasn't as bad as what I saw
during mass coral bleaching in 2016.
Seagrasses are sprinkling almost all the shore that I surveyed. I saw a few dugong feeding trails! And the Giant clam that we usually see here is doing well.
There are not a lot of hard corals on this shore. The large colonies that dotted the shore here and there were mostly nice and brown. Only a few had pale patches or recently dead patches. I didn't come across many leathery soft corals, most were alright.
This is what I saw here
during mass coral bleaching in 2016.
Here's a compilation of some of the hard corals I saw today, with a ruler for further study by others.
The other cnidarians I saw were not bleaching: a few
Giant carpet anemones, several
Frilly anemones,
Sea mat zoanthids and many
Button zoanthids.
The large
Fluted giant clam near the arrival point that we have seen on our past surveys seems alright! We saw it first in
Jun 2014. Giant clams can also suffer from bleaching, so it was a relief to see that this big mama clam is doing alright.
Near the sand bar, I saw lots of
Oval moon snails, a few
Common sea stars, one
Cake sand dollar, a
Strawberry cockle and a
Moon crab.
There were denser patches of
Spoon seagrass in the sandy centre of the reef flat. These were heavily covered in epiphytes. Spoon seagrasses were also the most common elsewhere, in some parts I saw those with large leaves.
Elsewhere to the reef edge, there were sprinkles of various kinds of seagrasses almost everywhere I surveyed. Much was also covered in epihytes.
I saw a variety of seagrasses. Also a few clumps of
Tape seagrass that were cropped. The seagrass situation seems rather similar to what I saw on our last survey in
May 2019.
Today, I saw a few
dugong feeding trails in the thin meadows of Spoon seagrass near the arrival point. We didn't see any on our last survey in
May 2019. We saw many trails in
Dec 2018. Also in
Aug 2016. The first time we noted them was in
May 2012.
Today, there was this large broken abandoned fish trap on the sand bar near our arrival point. We often see fish traps on this shore. Fortunately, we didn't see any working traps in the areas where we surveyed.
Vincent also came across a small piece of fresh fishing net that had entangled and uprooted a sponge.
In the distance, there were two men who seemed to be collecting something from the shore, and putting these into a bright green plastic dinghy. There was a large dark green plastic bag nearby too. Eventually, as I got closer, they moved to the white sampan that they must have arrived in. I saw them transfer the large dark green bag into the sampan.
Terumbu Pempang Laut is one of our largest submerged reefs and located near industrial islands such as Jurong Island and Pulau Bukom.
Terumbu Pempang Laut lies next to a major shipping lane that connects to our container terminals.
What is the fate of Terumbu Pempang Laut?
Terumbu Pempang Laut is one of
the existing natural shores that may be impacted by the
landuse plan by the Ministry of National Development released in Jan 2013 in response to the Populations White Paper with a 6.9 million population target. The dotted margined blue areas are "Possible Future Reclamation".
The other shores impacted by this plan include Pulau Hantu, Terumbu Pempang Darat, Terumbu Pempang Tengah and Pulau Jong and Terumbu Semakau.
Let's hope Terumbu Pempang Laut stays safe until we can visit again.
Posts by others on this surveyVincent Choo Marcus NgJoleen Chan And Russel Low
