On a hot morning, we survey Pulau Semakau next to the Semakau Landfill and near petrochemical plants on Pulau Bukom.
Despite its location, this shore has living reefs with giant soft corals, giant sea anemones and we saw 1 Giant clam!
Here's a brief video of the amazing reef that has settled near petrochemical plants on Pulau Bukom.
Kelvin also flew the drone which gave us some awesome new perspectives!
Hurray, James found the
Giant clam that Che Cheng found on the last survey here in
Apr 2022. Chay Hoon saw a Yellowfin blenny, our first sighting. A Black-tipped reef shark bumped against me! I managed a blurry photo, but stayed still and the fish eventually got to deeper water. The rest of the team also saw octopus, flatworms, special corals and I saw the usual nudibranchs.
Dominating much of the shore were large colonies of
Leathery soft corals of various kinds. They drape over the seawalls at the Landfill, and all over the reef flat. I saw a few colonies that seem a little pale and were breaking up, but most that I saw seemed healthy. There were also many large healthy
Asparagus flowery soft corals.
There remain many huge clusters of
Magnificent anemones all along the reef edge. I also saw two
Bubble tip anemones and a
Pizza anemone. There were also the usual commonly seen
Giant carpet anemones,
Haddon's carpet anemone,
Frilly anemone,
Fire anemone. As usual,
zoanthids dominate parts of the shore. Today I saw some patches of pale zoanthids.
Kelvin's drone shot shows one cluster of Magnificent anemones - quite large. And there were many such clusters.
Most of the corals here are boulder shaped. Many commonly seen corals were and most seemed to be alright.
Some corals were forming large patches. A field of
Branching montipora corals is forming near the seawall. Along the reef edge, I came across large patches of
Galaxy corals,
Anemone corals and
Trumpet corals.
There is not a lot of seagrass on this part of Pulau Semakau. There are small clumps of
Tape seagrass scattered everywhere on the shore from the seawall to the reef edge. Most I saw had long leaf blades.
More about Pulau SemakauJust as Changi Airport and Changi Beach are not the same even though they are near one another and share a name, Pulau Semakau is NOT the same as the Semakau Landfill. The Landfill was created by destroying all of Pulau Saking, and about half of the original Pulau Semakau by building a very long seawall. Fortunately, the landfill was constructed and is managed in such a way that the original mangroves, seagrass meadows and reefs on Pulau Semakau were allowed to remain. It is NOT true that the construction of the Landfill created the marine life found on Pulau Semakau. The marine life was there long before the Landfill was built.
What is the fate of Pulau Semakau (East)?Pulau Semakau (East), Terumbu Semakau and even Pulau Jong and Pulau Sebarok are slated for massive reclamation outlined recently in the
Long-Term Plan Review.
The Singapore Blue Plan 2018Pulau Semakau and nearby islands and submerged reefs have been recommended by the Singapore Blue Plan 2018 for Immediate Conservation Priority. The Blue Plan recommends the intertidal and subtidal marine areas of Pulau Semakau and adjacent Pulau Hantu, and Pulau Jong to be designated Marine Reserve.
The Blue Plan highlights that Pulau Semakau and its associated patch reefs comprise many ecosystems: coral reefs, mangrove areas, intertidal sandflats, seagrass meadows, and coral reefs. The subtidal area of Pulau Jong is larger than the terrestrial area. Pulau Hantu is a popular dive site has seen increasing interest in the past decade due to biodiversity awareness. If protection is accorded to these three islands, zonation plans for use can be implemented to manage tourism and human impacts.
DOWNLOAD the Plan, SUPPORT the Plan! More on the
Singapore Blue Plan 2018 site.
Photos by others on this surveyKelvin Yong's drone footageKelvin YongJames KohChe Cheng NeoChay HoonTammy Lim
