Reefy Changi with some coral bleaching

A small team check out the delicate 'reefy' garden under the Changi Boardwalk. 

The sea fans and sponges were doing very well! The team spot seahorse, nudibranchs and other interesting marine life. Unfortunately, we noticed some mass coral bleaching. 

As usual, the rest of the team make all the special finds. Kelvin spotted a seahorse! Also, the tiny snails that live on (and eat) sea fans, crabs and fishes. And the Sponge nudibranch and Yellow-foot  nudibranch.

Collage of photos by Kelvin Yong.
Links to his album below.

Today I saw many large healthy colonies of commonly seen sea fans like Candelabra sea fans and Skinny sea fans. Also sea fans less commonly seen on the mainland: Flat branch sea fans and Tree sea fans, I didn't see any Asparagus sea fans though. And I didn't see many healthy Gnarled sea fans. But Kelvin spotted the Lyre sea fan!

I came across some really large sponges today, and there were many well formed sponges along the shores. Although not a wide range of species. It appears the area under the jetty had been scrapped clean of Green mussels, with many shells littered on the ground. And jetty legs were mostly clear of sponges and other encrustations.

Today, the Changi garden seemed super lush and colourful - with many healthy looking sea fans and sponges. Probably the best I've seen in a while. We also saw lots of sea fans at Pulau Ubin earlier this month. This is the first time I surveyed since Jul 2021. Though the team surveyed in Jul 2022 and Jun 2023.

Changi is a great place to see echinoderms. I saw one Blue feather star, many Black sea urchins, some sea cucumbers (Garlic bread, Ball, Synaptid), and in one sponge a lot of brittle stars. But we didn't see any sea stars today. A bit worrisome.

Our shores are currently also being impacted by mass coral bleaching. And it appears even Changi is not spared.  As usual, I saw lots of Zebra corals which were alright. Right next to them, Neat hexa coral were bleaching outright. I saw two small Flowery disk corals which looked alright. This is similar to what we saw at Pulau Ubin earlier this month. 

Other cnidarians can also bleach. But those I saw seemed alright. I only saw one small Pink flowery soft coral which seemed alright. I saw many Haddon's carpet anemones, all seemed alright. While Button zoanthids used to form large 'fields' at the western most part of this shore, today, I only saw small patches, but they seemed alright. I saw a few different kinds of sea pens, they were okay. We didn't see any cerianthids today.

There were sprinkles of Spoon seagrass along the shore, with fresh green blades. At the western most lagoon, seagrasses are no longer dense with only scattered sprinkles.

I first noticed the huge Johor fig in the lagoon has fallen over in May 2021. It appears to be due to some sort of slope failure. At that time, the tree was not completely dead. There were still leafy branches on it and it was still figging. Today, it was completely dead. But fortunately, the small Johor fig treelet growing on a big rock nearby was still alright! The mangrove trees that have settled on the seawall there are growing well and are now quite tall.

As usual, nearer the Boardwalk, especially where there is relentless fishing going on. I saw fishing net and fishing line entangled in the seafans and sponges there. Also litter. Traps had been laid from Changi Beach Club. In fact, there is drop off of sea fans closer to the part of the Boardwalk used by fishermen. With dense growths of sea fans right under the boardwalk.

Segments of the boardwalk over the water are often completely taken over by fishermen who lay fishing rods, traps and lines in dense numbers. This also happens on other boardwalks. Here's some letters from the public about the conflict between fishermen and others on the boardwalks at Berlayar Creek, Changi and Punggol. Read more about how coastal boardwalks can do more harm than good.

Yellow arrows point to lines in the water attached to traps.
These lines are placed on both sides of the boardwalk.

What is the fate of these shores?

There doesn't seem to be a change in 2013 plans to reclaim all of Pasir Ris, all of Changi from Carpark 1 to Carpark 7 and beyond, and reclaim Chek Jawa and Pulau Sekudu. These appear to remain in place in the Long-Term Plan Review. Including plans for a road link that starts at Pasir Ris, crosses to Pulau Ubin, right across Chek Jawa to Pulau Tekong, and back to the mainland at Changi East.

See Changi shores for yourself !

They are easy to get to, and enjoyed by many people. It remains rich in marine life. More details in "Changi - an easy intertidal adventure for the family". 

Photos by others on this survey

Kelvin Yong Part 1


Part 2


Richard Kuah