Return to Buran bravely

Terumbu Buran is surrounded by strong currents. The last time we surveyed was in 2010, and I was so traumatised by landing and departure that I refused to ever go again. 

16 years later, Kok Sheng persuaded a few of us to return. I was still too scared to join them - the photo of them landing today still frightens me. But they saw corals hard and soft, a lot of corallimorphs and the usual marine life common on our rocky shores. Here's a compilation of their sightings.

This tiny C-shaped terumbu that lies just at the doorstep of Sentosa Cove. A sliver of rocks stick out above the water, with most of the shore submerged.

All our shores, no matter how barren they might look from afar, have life! The team were visited by a Great billed heron. The Marine spider which breathes air and can only forage at low tide, is suprisingly found on all the shores we survey. The team saw various fishes, the usual snails, crabs and colourful marine life seen on our southern rocky shores. They also saw a large shark cruising by, no photos unfortunately.

There were a lot of corallimorphs of various kinds. As well as Giant carpet anemones, some with 'Nemo' and anemone shrimps! There were also many Frilly anemones and a Wriggly reef anemone was also seen.

There are not a lot of hard corals on the shore. The team saw the usual boulder shaped corals commonly seen. As well as common disk-shaped and branching corals too. They also saw a small cluster of bright orange Cave corals that grow in dark places.

There were also some Leathery soft corals, zoanthids of various kinds and feathery soft corals and hydroids.

It will be a while before we revisit this rather treacherous shore. So we hope it stays safe until then.

Photos by the team

Loh Kok Sheng


Che Cheng Neo


Rui Quan Oh


Richard Kuah


Others on this survey: Ian Mun, Yan Le Su, Anya