Today, a small team returns to survey the amazing coral reef that has settled naturally on the seawalls of Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal. There were lush seagrasses on the shore next to the Ferry terminal. I saw otters, while the rest of the team saw a shark, a large puffer and other large fishes.
We restarted surveying this shore in
Jun 2022 after a break of nearly ten years. This shore is now strictly off limits without a permit. We surveyed with permission from agencies kindly arranged by NParks and support from the Ferry Terminal.
Some of the team explore the tricky seawall in front of the Ferry Terminal. A diverse range of healthy corals have settled naturally on the artificial seawall. Here's just one of Kelvin Yong's awesome photos, check out
his album for more.
Kok Sheng surveyed extensively and encountered large, healthy, well formed corals. Including some less commonly encountered species. He also saw an anemonefish! For more photos, check out
his album.
Meanwhile, I checked the lagoon behind the seawall next to the Ferry Terminal. Even here, many corals have settled on the seawall, especially where pools of water are retained even at low tide. Most are boulder shaped species, but there were also many branch and plate-forming species. Most were well formed without any dead patches. I did see a few pale colonies and a handful that were bleaching.
At sunrise, I heard splashing in the bigger pool of water left behind at low tide. It was a pair of otters hunting! They quickly caught some fish, attracting birds who were probably hoping to get some scraps. Later on, the team saw a small shark, a large pufferfish, a needlefish and a stingray in the same pool!
The rest of the team spot the interesting animals here, after they are done surveying the corals. Kelvin Yong spotted special animals like a very large
pufferfish! Also the
Forskal's sidegill slug, lots of
Spider conch, an
Spotted orange hermit crab,
Orange spotted rabbitfish, the Snaky anemone, Fire anemone and lots of squids. And many more, see
Kelvin's full album.
As usual, I only see common and obvious animals. There are a lot of large
Fan shell clams in a large area - more obvious at dawn. I saw a few
Common sea stars scattered in sparse groups, the team found
Knobbly sea stars. There were many
Cake sand dollars and
Oval moon snails. I also saw several
Pink moon snails. I saw a few
Giant carpet anemones, one
Frilly anemone.
Green gum drop ascidians covered a large area of seagrasses and other hard surfaces.
Similar to our survey in
Jun 2022, I saw many patches of
Tape seagrass, most of them with long or very long leaf blades. There were a few large clumps especially in the pools that remain at low tide. There were smaller clumps on the higher shore and even among the seawall boulders. A few had female flowers that appear to be about to bloom. Some clumps appear to have cropped leaves, but not very short. In the past, there was only one, but large, Tape seagrass clump.
The big patch of
Smooth ribbon seagrass has grown even bigger than what I saw in
Jun 2022. It is now about 15m wide and grows from the low water mark to the seawall. There are also a few small patches of this seagrass nearer the ferry terminal. There are now many large patches of
Sickle seagrass with fresh leaves. Some were cropped but most were alright. In the past, there was only one small patch of this seagrass.
Spoon seagrass remains the most abundant species, growing almost throughout the shore.
There was a light load of floating marine trash on the high shore.
Where did all these corals come from?The babies of these corals are from Singapore reefs! This chart shared in the
Long-Term Plan Review shows coral larvae (babies) dispersal in our waters from mass coral spawning. This highlights the importance of protecting our 'mother reefs' so that they can continue to produce babies that settle all along our shoreline.
What is the fate of this shore?Massive reclamation is planned near the area we surveyed today as outlined recently in the
Long-Term Plan Review.
Photos by others on this surveyKelvin Yong's photos of reefs at the seawall
Kelvin Yong's photos of the seagrassy area
Loh Kok ShengChe Cheng NeoVincent ChooTommy Arden
