Terumbu Selegie is still alive

A tiny team survey Terumbu Selegie, a tiny submerged reef that lies just off Sentosa, Pulau Tekukor and near the Sisters Islands and St. John's Island.

Photo by Loh Kok Sheng.

We seldom survey this shore as it is difficult to land due to large waves from the nearby Jong Fairway. We last visited in Jan 2017 and Jun 2011. The team estimates about 5% of corals here were outright bleaching.

The Terumbu has a large sandbar, surrounded by a rocky reef. The team saw Anemonefish! And other colourful marine life.

Collage of photos by the team.
Links to their albums below.

The team also look out for mass coral bleaching which was expected to hit our shores soon and seemed to have arrived. There are not a lot of hard corals on this shore, most are boulder-shaped Pore corals. Most seemed alright, with some that had signs of stress (pale, white spots). Only about 5% was outright full-on bleaching. Cauliflower corals are among the first to bleach, seems most seen were alright with only a few outright bleaching.

Collage of photos by the team.
Links to their albums below.

Other cnidarians can also bleach. The few leathery soft corals seen seemed alright. There were some Giant carpet anemone and Frilly anemones and only a few were a little pale or yellowish. Sea mat zoanthids and Wiggly reef anemone seen were alright.

Collage of photos by the team.
Links to their albums below.

According to Infopedia by the National Library of Singapore, "the word "selegie" is believed to be a Malay word that refers to a wooden spear sharpened and hardened by fire. There is also a Bugis pirate race known as Orang Selegie." Let's hope this little reef flat will stay safe.

Photos by those on the survey

Loh Kok Sheng


Richard Kuah



Mudh Nasry Part 1


Part 2


Tommy Tan


Vincent Choo