What happened at "Let's guide for our Mother Shores" Oct workshop

Grateful and awed by the tremendous turnout for October's talk and workshop! So many amazing people making time to come together to share and learn about our Mother Shores. Glad that they are the first to get the Mother Shores pamphlets!

I had fun and learned a lot. Hope everyone did too! Looking forward to the field sessions in the coming days.

I'm repeating this series in November, with a larger room. More details soon.

Another $135 million injected into coastal protection

Singapore is injecting another $135 million under the Coastal and Flood Resilience (CFR) Funding Initiative. For research for practical solutions in construction efficiency for future coastal works; tidal gates and pumping stations; and enhance digital predictive maintenance and monitoring. 

Authorities will explore how inland flooding facilities can be integrated with green spaces and public use, so that these flood-protection measures are not just a single-purpose infrastructure but ones that people can also enjoy”. One project aims to combine conventional coastal structures with natural habitats such as mangroves and corals – living components that can help protect the shore and provide ecological benefits.

Pilot in 2027 for ash scattering at Southern shores

Families wishing to scatter their loved ones’ ashes at sea will have a new option from the second half of 2027, when the National Environment Agency (NEA) launches a two-year pilot ferry service. The service will run weekly from Pasir Panjang Ferry Terminal under an operator appointed by NEA, and take multiple groups on a single vessel. 

Ash scattering at sea is currently offered by funeral service providers at a designated site about 3.2km east of Raffles Lighthouse. Also just off Pulau Ubin, Chek Jawa via bumboat departing Changi Point Ferry Terminal.

Study into energy infra on Pulau Tekong reclaimed land

A 200ha site on reclaimed land at Pulau Tekong is being studied for a possible energy infrastructure cluster. Comprising hydrogen-ready natural gas-fired power plants, a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal and other low-carbon energy technologies. A consultant is expected to be appointed by mid-2027 for the 2-year study. 

Singapore currently relies on imported natural gas for 93% of its energy needs and produced about 13 gigawatts of electricity in the first half of 2025. The study will look into generating 6 gigawatts of domestic power generation and 2 gigawatts of electricity imports via three designated sea corridors. There are currently 13 electricity import projects in the works, with a combined capacity of more than 9 gigawatts. The projects cover solar, wind and hydropower from Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam and Australia. The study will also look into accommodating nine to 15 telecommunication submarine cables via three to five designated sea corridors connecting to the area within Pulau Tekong.

SGFish: free app to ID Singapore fishes

SGFish by the Ichthyological Society of Singapore (ISS) can identify more than 900 species using an image recognition model. Users snap a photograph of their catch via the app, and the program will identify the species. It will also log down where each find was made.

It includes a pop-up feature that alerts users on what to do if a scanned fish is a protected, rare or harmful species. For example, if an endangered fish is caught, users are advised to release it. ISS co-founder Andriel Cheong hopes the database built from these records can inform environmental impact assessments, giving the authorities a clearer picture of marine biodiversity when planning coastal developments.

Sharing Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal shores with youth leads

An amazing coral reef has naturally settled on the seawalls of Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal with seagrasses in the artificial lagoon. These happened without planting. They are the babies from unseen Mother Shores that lie in the far west.

We shared these with youth leads and hope they will be inspired to bring others to see other East Coast shores too. This shore is now strictly off limits without a permit. But we felt the youth leads should have a chance to see for themselves. The visit was arranged with permission.

This is part of Love Our Mother Shores. And how to Explore, Express and Act for them.

Let's guide for our Mother Shores: Oct workshop

Join a talk about Our Mother Shores, participate in a hands-on workshop, then go on a field session at the coral reefs and seagrass meadows at East Coast Park.

Discover how to have fun being a nature guide. Then start sharing your love for nature! So more can learn about our Mother Shores and their babies that have resettled naturally on artificial shores in East Coast Park.

Places are limited by room size: register here

If there is interest, this can be organised again for November (and even December). So don't stress if you cannot make it for this October series.

You can also visit East Coast Park shores on your own. Here's more details.

More about Love Our Mother Shores. And how to Explore, Express and Act for them.

Semakau fish farm finally to be removed?

Said to be the largest in Singapore, this fish farm near Pulau Semakau is finally going to be dismantled and removed. More than three years after the farm was abandoned.

Photo taken on our last survey in Apr 2026.

Barramundi Group's abandoned fish farm is located very close to natural mangroves, reefs and seagrass meadows at Pulau Semakau North. We have checked it out every time we survey there. On our last survey in Apr 2026, the farm remains totally abandoned and in a state of decay. Since our Apr 2025 survey, the big barge with equipment and supplies, and floating dorm for workers were gone. Cages were falling apart and derelict small boats nearby. 

Sharing Marina East mangroves with youth leads

A patch of wild mangroves has settled naturally on the Marine East seawall! We shared these with youth leads and hope they will be inspired to bring others to see it too. This is part of Love our Mother Shores: visit baby mangroves in the East!

We went at a high tide (about 2m) and it was still possible to see a lot of things. Thanks to Nasry for sharing about the mangrove plants and their ecology. 

Photo by Jayden Kang.

Thanks to Jayden for organising the event, and special thanks for flying the drone and giving us awesome views of these mangroves with MBS and the Central Business District. WOW!

Love Our Mother Shores: Help make nudibranchs!

These handmade nudibranchs are given out as prizes and gifts during Love our Mother Shores events: talks, walks, exhibitions.

I need help making lots of them as we try to share with as many people as possible about Our Mother Shores.

You are the person to help us if

• You Love Our Mother Shores and her Babies.
• You can thread a needle and knot it in 30secs.
• You love hand sewing (these nudis cannot be made by machine sewing)
• Have time to produce at least 60 nudibranchs a month.

Sign up here!

All materials will be provided.

I will arrange a few group sessions at a central location for volunteers to learn how to do this. But will leave it to you to make them on your own. I will pick up your nudis when you have a good quantity completed.

More about Love Our Mother Shores
https://www.wildsingapore.com/mothershores/index.html

Any questions, please contact me, Ria Tan
hello@wildsingapore.com
or FB messenger https://www.facebook.com/wildsingapore/

Nudibranch Factory is launched

Yesterday, with more than 20 volunteers. Coming together to learn how to make nudis and seastars. Braving the hazardous haze levels, to work in an open air site, they came bringing family and friends. Despite my very bad training effort, most achieved good standards! Better than my previous teaching attempts. They took home kits to make nudis and seastars. Thank you everyone!

Special thanks to Wai Mei and Nicole and other who were there early, to help set up. And super special thanks to Shawn for taking photos and coming up with a How-To-Guide! I am too lazy to do one and prefer to shout at people on the spot (sorry). Thanks also to Ivy who offered to come to the next group session to help me teach.


There will be more sessions in November. I cannot take anymore people for group sessions in October. Mainly because I have run our of materials and it takes time for these to be delivered.

Once again, thank you for showing up for Our Mother Shores!

For more about the different kinds of marine animals I have made from socks over the years, see this Flickr album

Love Our Mother Shores: EXPLORE!

Visit and see for yourself. Bring your family and friends! 

The survey team's Family Day at Pulau Hantu.

Choose from leisurely island visits for the family, to low tide walks and dives. On Mother Shores and her babies on the East Coast. 

Community organised visits are happening spontaneously! 

Established companies are offering low-tide walks to Pulau Hantu.

You can visit some East Coast shores on your own. 

More details on all these below.

More about Love Our Mother Shores. And how to Explore, Express and Act for them.

Love Our Mother Shores: EXPRESS

Share about Our Mother Shores. Especially after your visit. Your friends trust you more than any other source, you have the power to influence them! 

Sharing after Family Day at Pulau Hantu.

Speak up for our shores. Agencies now actively seek your feedback online and at in-person engagements. Make time to attend and share your thoughts and hopes.

Latest agency engagement opportunities will be listed here.

More about Love Our Mother Shores. And how to Explore, Express and Act for them.

Love Our Mother Shores: ACT!

Here are the latest ways you CAN make a difference for Love Our Mother Shores.

Join the October guiding workshops to start guiding! more 

Volunteer to be a nature guide. Help to monitor shores. Contribute your time and talent in any and all ways!

Be a leader! Community organisers needed to initiate walks, talks, exhibitions, booths.

Support by hosting such events. Volunteer to help out.

Have an idea but don't know how to start?
I will gladly try to help you out. Contact Ria hello@wildsingapore.com or on Facebook messenger.

Want to list your activity?
Glad to do so. Contact Ria hello@wildsingapore.com or on Facebook messenger.

List of latest opportunities below.

More about Love Our Mother Shores. And how to Explore, Express and Act for them.

Love Our Mother Shores pamphlets

10,000 copies coming soon! One side of the pamphlet showcases the amazing corals, seagrasses and mangroves that have settled naturally on the East Coast. Even at the doorstep of condos.  

New shores at East Coast Park
click on image for larger view

The other side of the pamphlet highlights Our Mother Shores, the vast unseen natural shores in the west. And how they continuously seed new life in our southern waters. From Tuas, East Coast Park to Tanah Merah, and the smaller Southern islands in between.

Mother Shores and how their babies seed the southern waters.
click on image for larger view.

The pamphlets will be given out free at talks, walks, exhibitions. Hoping they will be ready for the talk and guiding workshops I am planning in October!

If you would like copies to give out, do contact Ria Tan hello@wildsingapore.com. 

More about Love Our Mother Shores. And how to Explore, Express and Act for them.

$60m NIMOS to help “make good decisions supported by science”

NIMOS director Huang Danwei hopes the institute can help decision-makers weigh the value and services that ecosystems provide, especially for the upcoming Long Island and western island developments.

Minister for National Development Chee Hong Tat, said NIMOS will help Singapore “make good decisions supported by science”. Said Chee: “I think members of the marine research and conservation community would agree with me that this is something that we need to do our best, to preserve as much as possible to minimise the impact as far as we can.”

Love Our Mother Shores: visit baby mangroves in the East!

In the shadow of Marina Bay Sands, a small patch of wild mangrove has settled on top of the seawall. With animals commonly seen in mature mangroves.  As well as some rare mangrove plants.

These are the babies of vast unseen Mother Shores in the west. Anyone can visit this amazing mangrove at almost any tide! Even at 2m high. Where and what will you see? More details below.

Preparatory Works for Long Island: Update by HDB

HDB updated its environmental study with more data on fish communities, horseshoe crabs and sea turtles. The impact on these 'unlikely to be significant'. Agencies will work closely with experts to explore measures to minimise harm to nesting turtles during the preparatory works.

Works will be conducted at least 130m away from the shoreline. Infill materials, which include sand, will be placed in a controlled manner using a pipeline system, minimising disturbance to shallow shoreline habitats. A timeline for when the works will commence has not been revealed.

HDB will explore creating suitable habitats along the future coastline to support turtle nesting, as well as future recruitment of coral larvae and seagrass fragments. It will also assess early transplantation of coral or seagrass communities ahead of the long-term plans for Long Island to allow more time for marine biodiversity to grow and thrive.

While the formal consultation period has closed, the public is welcomed to continue sharing feedback at this website. The next phase of public engagement is planned to start from end-2026.

Corals in murky waters could produce heat-tolerant babies

Coral reefs around the world are in decline, with many reef areas shrinking as increasingly frequent marine heatwaves leave them less time to recover in between. But a new report found that reefs in the East Asian Seas, which includes Singapore, are bucking the global trend, with coral cover holding steady over the past four decades. 

Marine biologist Huang Danwei, deputy head of NUS’ Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, said corals which thrive even in harsh environments, such as those that live in the murky waters around Singapore, often have a higher degree of tolerance against marine heatwaves. 

Such corals could produce offspring that are naturally resilient to warmer sea surface temperatures. When these coral babies disperse and settle in neighbouring reefs, it could confer them greater resilience against heat waves, he added.

Rare bowmouth guitarfish recorded in Singapore waters

“Observations of angler catches over the years tell us that Singapore’s nearshore waters house a rich diversity of threatened marine taxa (a group of animals), including sharks and rays.” said Maryam Kolakkodan, a research assistant at the National University of Singapore’s department of biological sciences.

This observation was documented by Kolakkodan along with her co-authors, marine biologist Zeehan Jaafar and Lin Jiayuan, co-founder of the Ichthyological Society of Singapore.

Members of the public who come across large marine animals in Singapore, such as dolphins, dugongs, turtles, sharks and rays, can report their sightings at public submission database MegMaLS at this website.

Singapore in prep for Phase 1 of nuclear power

In looking at possible pathways to meet its long-term climate and energy goals, Singapore is studying whether nuclear energy could be viable and is building its capabilities to assess advanced nuclear technologies, including small modular reactors.

"The INIR mission is not a commitment to adopt nuclear energy. But it is a way to help determine whether Singapore has the expertise, institutions, and frameworks to make an informed decision,"