Beting Bemban Besar after the storm

A small team head through the storm to survey this humungous submerged reef near the ongoing reclamation at Pulau Sudong. 

Photo by Richard Kuah

They make all kinds of special finds including Knobbly sea stars and many colourful marinelife commonly seen on our reefs. The corals and seagrasses seem alright. I had to skip this survey to attend another advocacy event. So much thanks to Richard for making sure the team was safe.

Quek Chui Qing found two Knobbly sea stars! We used to see many of them in the past, like on this 2010 survey but I have not been able to find them recently. The rest of the team saw common sea stars as well as many colourful slugs, flatworms, crabs and fishes commonly seen on our reefs.

Thanks to Zen Xuan He for this great clip of a shark peacefully hunting for fish at the reef edge. We often encounter them on our surveys, especially of the more remote offshores reefs. Our sharks are NOT dangerous to humans. It is perfectly safe to be on the shore with them if we respect their space. We have surveyed shores for decades, often in the dark among sharks, without any harm to people or sharks. Sharks are a sign of a healthy reef. Many sharks means there is enough fish for them to eat. So let's rejoice when we see sharks on our shores! More about our peaceful wild sharks.

It is always exciting to see animals that live in other animals. Today, the team saw anemonefish in Magnificent anemone, and also the rarely seen Merten's anemone. Rui Quan checked out every Cauliflower coral and found in a small one, a snapping shrimp and crab that live only in such corals.

The team saw 3 Fluted giant clams!

The team braved the thickening Sargassum seaweed to check out the reef edge. And they saw some large colonies, some special corals as well as Mushroom corals. There were also common corals, mostly boulder shaped ones. Towards the middle of the reef flat, they also saw one rather dense field of Branching montipora, as well as a few patches of more scattered ones - hopefully they will become more dense.

The team also saw many medium-sized colonies of Leathery soft coral of various kinds. They seemed to be alright.

Thanks to photos by Rui Quan Oh and Zen Xuan He, I sense the seagrass situation is similar to our May 2026 survey. We first observed seagrass recovery on our Jul 2025 survey. Seems like sprinkles of seagrasses evenly covered the shore - the green horizon in the photo Rui Quan took of a Brahminy kite that landed on the shore. There seems to be scattered patches of denser growth. Most seem fresh and green. Tape seagrass remain cropped.

The ongoing reclamation at Pulau Sudong is still very visible from Beting Bemban Besar. Thanks to Zen Xuan He for great close ups of the works. Seems like the sand mountains are getting flattened. But there are still many large vessels and construction equipment on the shore.

From Port Marine Notice No. 55 of 2026 "Reclamation at Pulau Sudong" with effect from 08 Apr 2026 to 07 Oct 2026. The works involve the installation of navigational buoys, removal of metallic debris, demolition of abandoned jetty, dredging works, installation of marine staging platforms for soil instrumentation, infilling works, marine vibrocompaction, stone revetment works, and jetty construction to facilitate the reclamation and jetty construction works at Pulau Sudong.

Here is the location of Beting Bemban Besar and other nearby shores in relation to the Sudong reclamation.

Google Earth does not show the current map of Pulau Sudong (historical imagery stops at 2023). But thanks to some help, I got this Copernicus view of the ongoing reclamation.

What is the fate of Beting Bemban Besar?

Large areas nearby are also slated for massive reclamation outlined recently in the Long-Term Plan Review.

The Singapore Blue Plan 2018

Pulau 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. 

Photo by Richard Kuah

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

Richard Kuah


Lon Voon Ong


Quek Chui Qing


Zen Xuan He


Tammy Lim


Rui Quan Oh


Others on the survey: Zheng Hao, Giant clam team