Changi Creek shores still starry!

There are living rocky shores and seagrass meadows at the mouth of Changi Creek, where bumboats ply to and from Pulau Ubin. We seldom survey Changi and our last survey here was in Jan 2020!

It was a relief to see many sea stars on the shore, as well as other interesting marine life. Although it was disconcerting to come across bleaching seagrass and sponges with dead tips. 

It is a relief to see many Biscuit sea stars. From large ones, to medium ones to tiny ones. These previously super common sea stars had gone 'missing' on many of our northern shores in recent years. We are starting to see them again. Kok Sheng also saw 3 Knobbly sea stars including 1 medium sized one which suggests new ones are settling here. We also saw young Cake sea star and a Plain sand star. But we didn't see the special stars that we used to here. 

Also relieved to see lots of sea cucumbers as usual. The special sea cucumber find was the Polka dotted sea cucumber and Beige sea cucumber. Pink warty sea cucumbers and Thorny sea cucumbers were the most common. There were many medium to small Garlic bread sea cucumbers. There were also many Ball sea cucumbers mostly buried, sometimes with feeding tentacles extended when submerged. We also saw Orange sea cucumbers, and Rui Quan saw a Big synaptid sea cucumber wrapped around a sponge. We didn't come across any sea urchins.

As usual, the rest of the team make all the special finds. Kok Sheng saw a large Ramose murex, found an Ovulid snail - there were a few sea fans on the shore. Rui Quan saw an otter! Nudis are also commonly seen at Changi and today we saw the Kanga nudi and the Lined chromodoris. There were also many colourful crabs, Noble volute laying eggs, cowries and a tiny octopus! There were also many Haddon's carpet anemones, none were bleaching.

Disconcertingly, almost all the Purple branching sponges had dead tips. These sponges are quite common in the north and I rarely see them in this state. I'm not sure what is happening. There were also a lot of Melted chocolate sponge coating the rocks and they seemed alright. As well as a sprinkling of other kinds of sponges.

There were patches of Needle seagrass (narrow leaf blades) and Spoon seagrass (small leaf blades) all along the shore from the jetty eastwards. And some of the Spoon seagrass were bleaching. Seagrasses appear bleached when they lose their green chlorophyll. This often happens when they are stressed, e.g., from high water temperatures or exposure to pollution. I saw this too in Jan 2020, so perhaps this location is just prone to such stressful situations? But most of the area in the bay in front of the chalets were taken over by a bloom of Scalpel green seaweed, displacing seagrasses. 

How nice though, to see mangrove seedlings settling naturally on the seawalls!

What is the fate of these shores?

In 2013, the plans were 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.

In Jul 2025, it was announced that adjustments were made to protect seagrasses at Changi from Carpark 6 to 7, in a planned 193ha reclamation to develop an aviation park. The original reclamation outlined in the Long-Term Plan, was cut by nearly one-fifth, or 45ha. This adjustment will benefit a seagrass area of about 34ha. But a study found seagrasses off the north of Changi Beach Park, Changi Golf Club and Chek Jawa Wetlands are expected to suffer from a “slight negative impact”, even if measures to blunt the reclamation’s impact are adopted. Corals within the project’s footprint and a surrounding buffer area will be transplanted elsewhere before development works begin. No timeline was given for the reclamation.

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".

Others on this survey

Loh Kok Sheng


Rui Quan Oh


Also at this survey: Kelvin Yong, Rachael Goh