There is small reefy patch on Beting Bronok that I call the 'sponge garden'.
The Stars are Back at BB! The rest of the team saw a wide variety of sea stars including the Bordered sea star, which we only regularly see on Beting Bronok. We also saw many Red scaly sea stars - also usually only common on this shore. It was a relief to see large Biscuit sea stars which had been 'missing' for some years on Pulau Sekudu. There were also large Cake sea stars, Spiny sea stars and Painted and Plain sand stars. What is most encouraging was to see many tiny sea stars of these species - suggesting that the shore is once again a good place for young sea stars to settle and grow up in.
Today, we saw 5 seahorses! This is the most number that we have seen on this shore. Seahorses are usually found in pairs, so once we find one, we look out for its partner. Seahorses eat tiny little animals in the water, so once again, suggesting the shore is able to support these endearingly odd fishes.
Kelvin found a frogfish, and Jianlin a small Alligator pipefish! I was also relieved to see the Brown-spotted moray eel - commonly seen here many years ago, the last time I saw one here was in 2013. This one had a large crab sharing a burrow - if the crab was much smaller it would probably be eaten by the fish! We also saw some Estuarine moray eels which remain common here and our other northern shores. We also saw colourful butterflyfishes, many kinds of filefishes large and small and I saw a young grouper.
Nudis galore at BB! The diversity of sponges at Beting Bronok unsurprisingly supports lots of these tiny colourful sponge predators. The team finds all our usual favourites - from the enormous Sponge nudibranch that looks like an encrusted rock, to smaller ones. While Jianlin finds super tiny ones including a wormy one that eats stinging hydroids, and Doto nudibranchs more commonly seen by divers. Some of the nudibranchs were seen in pairs, perhaps about to make new nudis? Nudibranchs are simultaneous hermaphrodites, that is, each animal has both male and female reproductive organs at the same time. So when two nudis mate, they exchange sperm and then each goes off to lay their own eggs.
Other tiny predators were also abundant. We all saw many many large Spangled flatworms - some also in pairs. As well as a lot of Purple spotted flatworms and the more commonly seen Blue dot margined flatworms. Flatworms prey on animals that can't move, like ascidians. The team also saw a variety of small octopuses - suggesting there is enough prey to support them on the shore.
The team spot interesting crabs, like tiny Velcro crabs who decorated themselves with colourful sponge! Also Paddler crabs clinging onto flotsam washing up onto the shore. They are actually freshwater crabs, but adults return to the sea to hatch their eggs. We often see this even on our Southern shores. There were also many swimming crabs, some getting ready to mate. Two Spearer mantis shrimps were seen as well.
The soft silty ground is perfect for burrowing animals like sea pens. We saw an extraordinarily large number of Spiky sea pens - and the well camouflaged porcelain crabs that live in them. Other kinds of sea pens were less abundant. Not sure why. There were also many Glass anemones - glad to see them here, we have not seen them some time. There were a few large Haddon's carpet anemones as well as many small ones. Also one Snaky sea anemone which unfortunately was bleaching.
The most abundant cnidarian remains Button zoanthids which still cover large areas of the flat, very densely in some parts. They form thick mats with bare pebbly pools in between. The 2024 mass coral bleaching didn't seem to impact them, and they were all fine today. I looked out for some of organisms that grow among the zoanthids. These include some kind of pink ascidian, various seaweeds, some seagrass and some sponges - though it is possible that the zoanthids settled around the sponge
Seagrasses continue to grow on large areas of the southern tip of Beting Bronok. All Spoon seagrasses (with most large leaf blades but also some small) grow lush and fresh and green (no epiphytes). I have seen this since Jun 2018. Since ou last survey in Jun 2024, I noticed more of them in the lagoon in the middle of the reef flat. Today, there was an explosion of tiny Swimming anemones among the seagrasses on the southern tip. Almost every seagrass blade had one or more anemones stuck to it. We have observed this kind of explosion on most of our northern shores: from Changi to Chek Jawa. I also noticed that the anemones were not attaching to any of the seaweeds growing in the same area.
Over the years, I sense that Beting Bronok has gradually become larger. With 'new' soft silty areas growing on the south-west edge, where seagrasses have started to grow. Today, the 'stingray' lagoon to the north-west has become shallower. A look at Google Earth suggest this indeed in happening.
Over the years, the reefy patch on Beting Bronok seems to wax and wane. Beting Bronok remains a pale shadow of itself. Here's what Beting Bronok looked like twenty years ago in 2003.
There used to be a wondrous variety of sea fans.
Here's more old photos of marine life at Beting Bronok. Lost forever probably are the wonderful Sunflower mushroom corals and other corals that we used to see here.
Where is Beting Bronok? What is its status and future?
When the 2030 landuse plan by the Ministry of National Development was announced, it was also announced that Beting Bronok and Pulau Unum have been granted 'Nature Area' status. As I understand it, this status means the area "will be kept for as long as possible until required for development". Here's an earlier about 'Nature Area' status seem to mean.
To me, Beting Bronok seems to be in steady decline since the reclamation started at nearby Pulau Tekong. It has since also been affected by the flooding that led to mass deaths at Chek Jawa in 2007, and the coral bleaching in 2010 and a ferry ran aground on Beting Bronok in Jul 2011. Development of Pengerang Johor for a petrochemical complex that was rejected in Taiwan for environmental and health reasons can also impact Beting Bronok. Today, we started our survey before dawn. And throughout, there was massive flaring at petrochemical plants at Penggerang, Johor. This has been going on for years now. The oil leak from Langsat, Johor about 2 months ago probably didn't help - Changi and other shores in the East Johor Straits were impacted.
We will continue to keep watch over this special little reef and hope for the best.
Photos by others on this survey
Kelvin Yong
Richard Kuah
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| Collage of photos by the team. Links to their albums below. |
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| Collage of photos by the team. Links to their albums below. |
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| Collage of photos by the team. Links to their albums below. |
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| Collage of photos by the team. Links to their albums below. |
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| Collage of photos by the team. Links to their albums below. |
Our last survey was in Jun 2024 at the height of mass coral bleaching. Beting Bronok was not spared. One thing 'good' about coral bleaching is that all the corals become very visible, and last year I saw about 40 coral. Practically 100% were bleaching. Today, as in the past, I saw only about 20 corals, all Boulder pore corals. About half were all right: brown and well formed. The rest were stressed or had large dead portions and even a bit of bleaching. I noticed many of the colonies were surrounded by stakes, not sure they are still being studied.
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| Beting Bronok in 2003. |
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| Beting Bronok in 2003. |
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| Sea fans on Beting Bronok in 2004. |
Where is Beting Bronok? What is its status and future?
When the 2030 landuse plan by the Ministry of National Development was announced, it was also announced that Beting Bronok and Pulau Unum have been granted 'Nature Area' status. As I understand it, this status means the area "will be kept for as long as possible until required for development". Here's an earlier about 'Nature Area' status seem to mean.
Photos by others on this survey
Kelvin Yong
Richard Kuah
Jianlin Liu
Adriane Lee
Che Cheng Neo
Tommy Tan
Isaac Ong
Amy Woon
Dayna Cheah
Vincent Choo
Others on this survey: Muhd Nasry
