Other shore surveys in Jun 2026

Rui Quan Oh covered the most ground in the month, checking up on Admiralty, Sungei Buloh, Pasir Ris, Marina East and together with Zen Xuan He, Pulau Ubin. They see all the amazing wildlife that regular shore survey team miss. From owls to mousedeer, snakes and skinks, frogs and weird and beautiful insects. And extortionate cats attempting to intimidate snacks out of innocent passersby.

The rest of the team cover Changi and East Coast PCN. 

Artificial shores at Changi Bay are alive!

Thanks for to the tiny team of our Human Climbing Crabs for taking on the challenge to survey this large artificial shore that is quite hard to get to and slippery and tricky to survey. 

On the seawall, corals have settled naturally, and on the shallow berm, it seems even seagrasses have flourished with what seems to be a dugong feeding trail. An astonishing variety of marine life has settled here from colourful slugs to fishes, crabs and echinoderms.

Other shores surveyed (May 2026)

Besides the main surveys, the team split up on some dates to also guide. To take advantage of the very  few super low tides during daylight! Many team members visited various parts of Changi. Other shores visited on this tide include Pasir Ris and Sentosa Tg. Rimau.

Collage of photos by the team. Links to their albums below.

People don't believe me when I say, Changi is among the best shores to see a wide variety of nudibranchs. No need to dive! Here's photos of recent sightings by the team, mostly by our nudi whisperer Jianlin who visited in April. Love the photo of the big orgy of Jorunna nudis complete with laid egg ribbons and chomped up sponges. Also, a new Singapore record of Limenandra fusiformis, many colourful slugs and flatworms too.

'Garden of sea fans' at Changi growing lush

A tiny team survey this 'reefy' part of Changi. It was a relief to see the 'garden' of sea fans are still present here and seem more lush than on our last survey in Apr 2025. 

Corals, anemones and other cnidarians seemed alright. And the team spot a variety of interesting marine life!

Other intertidal surveys: Apr 2026

Thanks to team members for checking up on other shores in April. Richard Kuah checked out Coney Island and saw beautiful jellyfishes, many carpet anemones, some with small cardinal fishes swimming very close to them - using the anemones for protection? And many other interesting marine life. Rui Quan Oh and friends checked out Sentosa and saw healthy seagrasses, many small creatures including some pretty fish. Marcus Ng checked out Changi Point and shared beautiful photos of octopuses (so glad they are back), many kinds of sea stars and other echinoderms, colourful flatworms and more. See their full albums below.

Links to their albums below.

Rui Quan Oh and friends also checked out Pasir Ris mangroves and Pandan mangroves. So lovely to see snakes, insects, colourful and special crabs. As well as the Mangrove snake-eel and other fishes. Rui Quan also found four pipefishes under a rock! See his albums below.

Links to their albums below.

Changi quickly

A quick solo survey of Changi at Carpark 1 during a rare daylight super low tide. My first time revisiting since Jul 2023.

Seagrasses are doing very well, but the shore was very quiet. I didn't see any sea stars and many of the anemones that I usually encounter.

Other intertidal surveys in Jan 2026

Rui Quan Oh checked up on other shores during the month. From Sembawang, Pasir Ris to Changi. A canal at Pasir Panjang.  And separate trips to Sisters Islands and Marina East. Also to check up on the Sungei Pang Sua site which is along the route for MRT tunneling. Marcus Ng also checked up on Changi shores. 

Collage of photos by Rui Quan Oh and Marcus Ng

Thank you for keeping an eye on our shores!

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. 

Two unrelated pollution events at East Johor Straits (1 Nov 2025)

Two unrelated pollution events occurred on 31 Oct; one in the Johor River caused by sand mining activities, the other a palm oil spill that affected the coastal waters off Kampung Pasir Putih in Johor.

Photos of palm oil spill (above)
and sand mining operations (below)
from Bernama

Singapore agencies were closely monitoring and as at 1 Nov, NParks has not observed any impact at biodiversity-rich sites at Pulau Ubin, Coney Island Park, Pasir Ris Park and Changi Beach Park. Water quality in Singapore is normal and fish farms are unaffected. 

PUB’s Johor River Waterworks have been temporarily suspended, water supply in Singapore remains unaffected as it has stepped up production at local plants to meet demand. Operations will resume when water quality checks show that the Johor River quality is back to normal.

Update: Operations at PUB's Johor River Waterworks resumed on 2 Nov.

Media articles below

Changi still starry

Thanks to Marcus and Adriane for checking on various shores at Changi during the 10-12 Oct low spring tide cycle. From the photos they shared, good to see familiar favourites as well as some northern shore specials that I have not seen for a while.

Our northern shores are home to a wide variety of sea stars. Marcus saw two Knobbly sea stars. Good to know there were still Painted sand stars and Plain sand stars. As well as young Cake sea stars which still have long arms - when they grow up, their arms shorten so they look more pentagonal. I was so glad they saw Biscuit sea stars of various sizes including tiny ones. These previously super common sea stars had gone 'missing' on many of our northern shores in recent years. Good that we are starting to see them again.

Starry morning at Changi!

A tiny team check up a stretch of Changi that we have not surveyed since May 2021. Almost of all of last year, there was seawall works on the shore. 

How delightful to come across lots and lots of sea stars! The seagrasses also seem to be doing well in the less disturbed parts of the shore.

Aviation Park reclamation to spare seagrass meadows at Changi

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".

Oiled East Coast shore: Corals recovering!

A small team surveys the lagoon on the other side of Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal next to the East Coast PCN. This shore was clearly impacted by 2024 mass coral bleaching that affected all our shores, plus the 400tonne Pasir Panjang oil spill on 14 Jun 2024. It was also probably impacted by the 5tonne Changi East oil overspill 28 Oct 2024. 

Today, it was a relief to see much signs of corals recovering on the shore. Seagrasses continue to do well. We also checked out the shore opposite NSRCC briefly and encounter a very friendly otter!

Update: On the same day, Adriane Lee also checked up on Changi Carpark 6. He shares: Changi carpark 6 has been traditionally an area rich in biodiversity. Based on records of past visits dating back to 2021, today’s visit saw a drop in what are normally common. Missing Sea stars, warty sea cucumbers etc, and even the Hardon anemones are smaller in size than usual. Wonder what is the reason for this change?

Oil on Changi with stressed anemones

A tiny team surveys Changi Carpark 7 at a super low tide. About 2 months ago, Changi and other shores in the East Johor Straits were impacted by an oil leak from Langsat, Johor. 

Today, we saw puddles of oil on the high shore. The shore was also eeriely quiet, with no sea stars, and some stressed carpet anemones. But seagrasses were doing well, horse mussels seem gone and I saw what looks like dugong feeding trails. Meanwhile, some of the team checked out the Changi shore at the mouth of Changi Creek and saw more of what we normally see at Changi - sea stars, sea cucumbers. And no signs of oil spill.

Expansion of aquaculture in East Johor Strait from 2026

The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) is planning to release farming spaces off Pasir Ris, Pulau Ubin and Pulau Tekong. These spaces are now occupied by more than 30 open-cage fish farms. 

Little dots around P. Ubin and off Pasir Ris
are locations of current fish farms.

SFA said it would review the environmental impact assessment’s findings and feedback received from the public, and work with relevant stakeholders to minimise any potential environmental impacts of aquaculture development in the East Johor Strait.

'Reefy' Changi after the oil spill

A tiny team survey this 'reefy' part of Changi. During our our last survey in Jul 2024, we saw mass coral bleaching. And about 3 weeks ago, Changi and other shores in the East Johor Straits were impacted by an oil leak from Langsat, Johor.

It was a relief to see the 'garden' of sea fans are still present here, although it is no longer as lush as before. Corals, anemones and other cnidarians seemed alright. And the team spot a variety of interesting marine life!

East Johor Straits oil patch from Langsat Terminal, Johor (3 Apr 2025)

An oil patch was sighted in the eastern Johor Strait off the northeastern coast of Pulau Ubin on 3 Apr 2025 at around 7pm. Johor Port Authority confirmed an oil spill incident within Langsat Terminal, located near the mouth of the Johor River.

The Malaysian Environment department said low sulfur fuel oil was being transferred to a vessel at the Tanjung Langsat Port Terminal’s jetty when the leak occurred. Approximately 1.6m³ of oil spilled into the sea". From Free Malaysia Today 04 Apr 2025, 05:57 PM

For the latest updates, visit https://go.gov.sg/nparksnoticeboard

For daily updates on facebook, see this album on wildsingapore FB

5 tonnes of oil spilled at Changi on 28 Oct 2024

About 5 tonnes of oil was reported to have overflowed during bunkering operation at Changi from the receiving Bahamas-flagged Bulk Carrier, INES CORRADO.

Screen shot from reel on Lifein_Sea

The incident was reported to occur at about 5.40pm on 28 October and the bunkering operations ceased immediately. As at 8am 29 Oct 2024, MPA reports there is no oil sighted at sea in the vicinity of the incident and ashore.

Lost Coast with signs of dugong despite reclamation

This vast sandy shore is a habitat that is now rare in Singapore (thus 'lost') and home to animals that we seldom see on our other shores. This reclaimed shore in Changi East was in the past, remote and difficult to reach; thus 'lost' in yet another sense. In 2022, it was announced that this entire area will be totally reclaimed again; so it will likely be permanently lost forever. This area is strictly off limits without a permit. We surveyed with permission from various agencies kindly arranged by NParks. 

Today, we saw lots of dugong feeding trails on both the southern and northern corner of this vast shore. The shore seems less lively compared to our last survey in Jun 2023, and we saw what seems to some small signs of impact from the Pasir Panjang oil spill last month.

Reefy Changi with some coral bleaching

A small team check out the delicate 'reefy' garden under the Changi Boardwalk. 

The sea fans and sponges were doing very well! The team spot seahorse, nudibranchs and other interesting marine life. Unfortunately, we noticed some mass coral bleaching.