Oiled East Coast shore: seagrasses still there, corals mostly dead

A tiny team do the monthly check on this shore which was not cleaned after it was impacted by the 400tonne Pasir Panjang oil spill on 14 Jun 2024. It was also probably impacted by the recent 5 tonnes Changi East oil overspill 28 Oct 2024.

Oil is still present in the canal, seagrasses are still growing lush, corals remain mostly dead. But there are still signs of life everywhere on the shore.

Oil under the bridge in the canal is still seen on the walls and bridge legs, as well as the blue drum security barrier. Although they no longer glisten. And blackish sand still seen on the high shore and inside the canal. We saw a few tar balls on the sand and some floating creating sheen. Oil also seen in footprints. The trash at the high and low shore are gone. For the first time, there was enough daylight to see to the other side of the bridge, there seems to be oiled litter stuck to the security grating there.

Still there, the long stripes of thick oil pancakes on the sand which we first observed in Oct 2024. Kelvin pointed out that these probably came from the stretch of canal wall that is stripped clean of oil - opposite where the stripes are location. Signs of an abandoned attempt to clear the canal wall of oil?

I noticed orange stuff is starting to grow under the oil drips on the canal wall under the bridge! I didn't see much of these in June just after the oil spill.

A closer look at the orange stuff - some kind of encrusting organism, maybe sponges? There were still plenty of signs of life on the oiled wall. Above the oil zone, many tiny periwinkles. Below the oiled zone, drills and their eggs. Also many small Onch slugs, small crabs, several small Blue-striped hermit crabs and many limpets.

One of the nicest patch of seagrasses in Singapore is at the mouth of this canal. Almost all the seagrass species for Singapore can be found here. They are still growing lush at the mouth of the canal. The seagrasses still seemed healthy, leaves long and not cropped. Most seemed fresh and green, I didn't see any bleaching seagrasses and there was no sign of oil anywhere among the seagrasses. I also didn't see piles of dead Jania red seaweeds or Halimeda seaweeds as was seen on our previous surveys.

Seagrasses still grow well inside the canal to the bridge. And also at the mouth of the canal. There were still Tape seagrass with long leaves - I saw 3 with male flowersa nd 1 with female flowers. As in the past, there was lots of Spoon seagrass (large and small leaves); Needle seagrass (broad and narrow leaves). There was also lots of Smooth ribbon seagrass at the mouth of the canal. The water was rather murky and tide not really low so couldn't get for other species.

Today, the tide wasn't really low enough to have a good look at the corals. The situation seems similar to our last survey in Oct 2024. Most of the corals I saw were stone cold dead, I didn't see any that were bleaching or recently dying. Some colonies had a thin layer of live corals at the bottom-most portion, with the bulk of the upper colony dead. In July 2024 we estimated 90% were bleaching or highly stressed, and about 50% already have dying/dead portions. This was the period of peak mass coral bleaching on all our shores.

There is still life on the shores. Signs of crabs in the sand, and lots of Bazillion snails on the sand and among the seagrass. I saw one small Haddon's carpet anemone, many small hermit crabs. There were a few people cast netting in the water, and we came across a small group of Silversides that were probably caught by them. I spoke to one of them and he said there was still fish, but fewer in number and variety and smaller. 

Kelvin and CQ did a more thorough check of the life on the seawall and found cowries and other interesting marine life. Here is a collage of their photos. Links to their albums below.

What is the fate of these shores?

These shores lie west of Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal and are slated for massive reclamation outlined recently in the Long-Term Plan Review.

Technical studies for 'Long Island' 800ha reclamation off the East Coast were recently announced to begin.

Natural regeneration on Singapore's artificial shores and structures is already happening now. Unintentionally, with zero replanting. Can we plan coastal works to allow reefs, mangroves and seagrasses to naturally regenerate? Naturalise canals leading to the sea for a continuum of freshwater wetlands to mangroves? Imagine what's possible! Reefs and natural marine ecosystems at our doorstep, for all in the City to enjoy. More about this idea in my feedback to the Draft Master Plan 2013.

The Singapore Blue Plan 2018

Check out the Sinapore Blue Plan 2018 which outlines community recommendations for all these shores. DOWNLOAD the Plan, SUPPORT the Plan! More on the Singapore Blue Plan 2018 site.

See these and other East Coast shores for yourself!

It's fun and easy to explore these shores. More details in East Coast Park - Surprising intertidal adventures for the family.

Photos by others on this survey

CQ


Kelvin Yong