Pasir Ris rare mangrove tree still okay

A tiny team surveys Pasir Ris, an accessible and well visited shore. But it remains rich in a variety of marine life and is home to the last large specimen of a rare mangrove tree on the mainland.

A small team finds the tree still standing! The seagrasses and shores are also well.

Chek Jawa North is alive!

It seems to rain every time we survey Chek Jawa! This year, it was just a drizzle as we surveyed the vast northern sand bar. 

Seagrasses are still doing well, carpet anemones are back on the seaward side. Kelvin spotted some dugong feeding trails, and we saw favourites like Button snails and Common sea stars. Thanks to NParks for permission to survey.

100k Coral Initiative plus new coral facility at St John's Island

100k Corals Initiative announced: to plant the corals in Singapore over the next 10 years and beyond. A new facility at the Marine Park Outreach and Education Centre, St. John's Island will grow corals for this effort. Corals will be cultivated by coral restoration experts and researchers from the National University of Singapore at the St John’s Island National Marine Laboratory. 

A volunteer programme will also be developed by NParks, St John’s Island National Marine Laboratory and Friends of Marine Park for citizen science monitoring of the transplanted corals. Volunteers will help with coral husbandry and underwater monitoring techniques. More details of volunteer training opportunities will be shared when ready.

You can visit the St John's Island facility by joining the guided tour of St John's Island held on the first Sunday of every month. Or do a self-guided tour with the Trail Guide - free for download from the NParks website.

Singapore-Malaysia joint effort to protect Johor Strait marine ecology

Singapore and Malaysia agreed to continue sharing information to conserve the Johor Straits marine biodiversity, and continue joint efforts in water quality monitoring there.

The annual meeting between the environment ministries this year, focused on pressure on the Johor Strait ecosystem from aquaculture farms and land reclamation.

Exporting fish still a key component of local fish production?

A sweeping plan was announced to boost Singapore's fish production while safeguarding the marine environment. While it is good that authorities acknowledge: “The higher the nutrient load in the water, the less the amount of fish (that) can be farmed in the water. So for fish farmers, protecting the environment is akin to looking after their rice bowl.” And that a new metric will additionally assess the environmental impact of fish farms from nutrients (nitrates, sulphates and phosphorus) released into the water.

Unfortunately, exporting locally produced fish appear to remain a key component of this plan: the new initiatives include "facilitating the export of six species of locally farmed fish to China: fourfinger threadfin, red snapper, golden snapper, pompano, golden trevally and Asian seabass." 

Which leads to my long standing question: Why is Singapore producing fish to export?  Basically, if these plans to expand fish production is meant to improve Singapore's food security: Wouldn't it make more sense to first ensure all the fish currently produced are actually eaten by Singapore residents? Before we risk our marine biodiversity to produce MORE fish just for export?

Exporting the bulk of their fish production didn't appear to help keep Baramundi Asia afloat: Video taken on 16 Nov 2024 - Singapore's largest fish farm now lies abandoned with decaying equipment off Pulau Semakau.

Oiled East Coast Park (Sailing Centre): life remains

A small team surveyed East Coast Park (Sailing Centre) to check for impact from the 400tonne Pasir Panjang oil spill on 14 Jun 2024. This shore was cleaned of that oil spill. It was also probably impacted by the recent 5tonne Changi East oil overspill 28 Oct 2024.

The tide was not super low but low enough that we could see the seagrasses seemed well. The team found many animals commonly seen here. Hopefully, this means life is returning.