Despite being next to petrochemical plants on Pulau Bukom and surrounded by heavy vessel parking, this little gem is one of our favourite sites. We skipped Terumbu Hantu last year due to too many shores to check during mass coral bleaching plus Pasir Panjang oil spill.
Today, we made up for it with an all-arms assault. Part of the team set foot for the first time, on the nearby tiny submerged reef Cigar Reef, while the rest checked out Terumbu Hantu. Drones were flown. Relieved that corals are more or less okay, and the rest of team find cushion stars, slugs and more.
Today, for the first time, some of us decided to land on the smaller reef just next to Terumbu Hantu. Called Cigar Reef by the divers. In this photo: Kelvin, Kok Sheng and Russel were checking it out, while the rest of us did Terumbu Hantu. Kelvin and Russel also flew drones. I will update with all team sightings soon.
Thanks to
Kelvin's drone views, we have lots of special perspectives on Terumbu Hantu, Cigar Reef and the other submerged reefs nearby.
Although small, Cigar Reef was rich! Kelvin shared his notes of Cigar Reef. "Lots of blue corals on the western, Terumbu Hantu facing side, lots of mushroom and tongue corals between the blue corals, various hard and soft corals scattered throughout. Lots of Magnificent anemone taking over the dead coral areas. Area looks a bit more beat up compared to
drone footage from before last year's bleaching event (our
Jun 2024 survey of Pulau Hantu). Lots of Diadema sea urchins. 2 cushion stars." From the photos, large colony of Anemone coral, well formed plate corals and some rarely seen corals.
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Collage of photos by Kelvin and Kok Sheng.
Links to their albums below. |
The reef edge opposite Pulau Hantu has denser cover of corals. A colony of Galaxy corals, and some colonies of less commonly seen corals like Anchor corals, Moon corals. Also many kinds of mushroom corals. Although I didn't see any corals that were bleaching, some were very pale and others were dinged with dead patches. Hope they will pull through and recover. At the reef edge, there were also many Diadema sea urchins and I saw a Pizza anemone that was fine. Not sure why, but the water was extremely murky today even with the strong current.
The middle part of this small submerged reef is dotted with small colonies of commonly seen corals. Mostly boulder shaped, but also some commonly seen plate corals. I didn't see any that were bleaching, but many had dinged of dead patches, some with large dead patches already taken over by seaweeds and even sponges.
There was still the usual scattering of medium-sized
leathery soft coral various kinds. I didn't see any that were bleaching, but saw clusters of small ones - suggesting that a larger colony had fragmented - a sign of stress. I also saw some
Giant carpet anemones and zoanthids, all were fine.
As usual, the rest of the team make all the special finds: Lots of colourful crabs, a 'Nemo' clownfish, yet another Cushion star, some nudibranchs and interesting snails. Half a dead Fluted giant clam shell was seen. Sigh RIP.
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Collage of photos by the rest of the team.
Links to their albums below. |
One reason we visit this submerged reef is to check up on the damage when boats strike it. Like this large deep hole gouged out by the
MV Nautica, a large live-aboard dive boat when it
ran aground on Terumbu Hantu on 9 Nov 2014. The hole is still there 10 years later.
Photo of the
MV Nautica when it
ran aground on Terumbu Hantu on 9 Nov 2014 by
Lee Bee Yan.
Here's
Kelvin's drone view of the hole made by the boat strike. With me in the middle of the hole for scale.
Large colonies of
Acropora coral have been seen growing in this boat strike 'hole' since our survey in
Jul 2020. They are still doing well in
Aug 2023. Today, they were mostly stone cold dead heavily covered in epiphytes. But there are still a few small colonies. The water was very murky today compared to the past, so difficult to take photos and check for other corals seen in the 'hole' in the past.
Today, the scattered clumps of
Tape seagrass I saw were still mostly cropped (about 15cm), although some were about 30cm long. Leaves were fresh and green though. This is similar to our survey in
Aug 2023,
Aug 2022 and
Jun 2018.
Especially intriguing among
Kelvin's drone views is this glimpse of Beting Pempang! A tiny reef flat with a sandy middle at the huge beacon in the area! Maybe we should have a look at this the next time we survey Terumbu Hantu.
At end of the survey, we made a quick detour to check on the
planned 31ha reclamation at East Pulau Sudong that was supposed to start end 2024.
We wondered whether the Terumbu Palat Trio were already buried. A small team had indeed surveyed the Trio in
Jul 2024, and found corals and a variety of marine life, including the endangered Merten's carpet anemone.
From a distance today, it seems works are only on Pulau Sudong itself so far. The white sandy strip on the foreground is Terumbu Menalung, which we might check out the next time we survey nearby Terumbu Bemban.
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| Photo by Loh Kok Sheng. |
What is the fate of Terumbu Hantu?Pulau Hantu and all the terumbus west of it are slated for massive reclamation outlined recently in the
Long-Term Plan Review. Singapore's submerged reefs are often out of sight under the high tide and thus forgotten. Let's hope Terumbu Hantu stays safe until we can visit again.
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 survey
Kelvin Yong Kelvin Yong's
drone viewsRichard KuahTammy LimChe Cheng NeoLoh Kok Sheng
Cigar ReefLoh Kok Sheng
Terumbu HantuOthers on this survey: Russel Low
