Dead fish update: a dead monitor lizard among the fishes

This morning, Victor Tang saw a dead monitor lizard among the dead fishes washing up at Pasir Ris Park. This is worrying. It is becoming increasingly obvious that this recent mass fish death is among the worst to happen in Singapore.

Photo by Victor Tang on facebook.

There doesn't seem to be 'new' dead fishes though.  But even if dead fishes stop floating up in large numbers, the danger to the ecosystem may not be over.

At Sembawang seeking anemones

Sembawang Park has a sandy beach beyond the seawall. It's a great place for kids, kite flying and other beach activities.

My mission was to look for some specific sea anemones. Although the tide wasn't very low, there's lots to explore here!

Permits required for camping at parks from 15 Apr

From April 15, campers need permits for both weekdays and weekends to camp at Changi, East Coast, Pasir Ris, Sembawang and West Coast. Permits are not required for camping at Pulau Ubin.
Camping is very popular on our coastal parks. Last year, more than 12,000 campers used the parks.

Here's more details about the new processes, and about camping on our shores.

Which camping sites are affected?
see the NParks website for detailed maps of these areas.

• Changi Beach Park (between Carpark 1 and Carpark 4; between Carpark 6 and Carpark 7)
• East Coast Park (Area D and Area G)
• Pasir Ris Park (Area 1 and 3)
• Sembawang Park (Area A)
• West Coast Park (Area 3)

Which camping sites are not affected?

Camping is also allowed at Jelutong, Noordin and Mamam Beaches at Pulau Ubin. Permits are not required to camp at these sites. However, campers are advised to inform the officers at the Pulau Ubin Police Post on the day that they are camping for safety reasons.

What are the permit details?

Camping permits will be required on weekdays and weekends, including public holidays and school holidays. A permit is valid for one day. Each camper will be able to apply for a maximum of 8 days per month.

Currently, the same identity card cannot be used to register for more than one permit a day, and for more than five consecutive days.

How to apply for a permit?

Apply from any of the 500 over AXS machines island-wide.

AXS machines are also located in Changi Beach Park (i-kiosk near Carpark 1), East Coast Park (Area C3), Pasir Ris Park (Carpark E), Sembawang Park (Carpark 1), and West Coast Park (McDonald's restaurant in Area 3).

Campers can also apply online via www.axs.com.sg (at least one day in advance).

In view of the current economic downturn, NParks will cover the cost of transaction over AXS by absorbing the administrative fee of $1 per permit per day.

What about the number of permits issued?

The number of permits issued is dependent on the size of the camping area at each park. For example, the quota for East Coast Park is 100 on weekdays and 200 for weekends.

Why are permits required on weekdays?

Permits were introduced in November 2005 to further prevent people from living at the parks in tents for months or even years. At that time, 70 “overstayers” were asked to leave during a two-month period.

What about camping on our Southern Islands?

Camping is permitted on Sisters Islands and Pulau Hantu. These islands are managed by Sentosa. For more details see the Sentosa website or wildsingapore's fact sheets on Sisters Islands and Pulau Hantu.

Overnight trips can also be arranged on Pulau Semakau under NEA's Educational/Recreational Outing programme. The educational visit consists of a briefing on the solid waste management in Singapore and design and operation of Semakau followed by a tour of the landfill. After the educational programme, visitors have the option of taking part in relaxing recreational activities, including fishing, cycling, barbecuing and camping. More details on this NEA PDF file.

Camping is not allowed on our other islands.

Full articles about the NParks camping permits and NParks press release on the wildsingapore news blog.

Related links on wildsingapore

• NParks relaxes rules on camping permits Channel NewsAsia, 26 Nov 04
• The great escape The Straits Times, 5 Dec 04 with highlights of camping at the different parks.
• Campers complain of overcrowding, littering after lifting of camping permits Ken Teh Channel NewsAsia, 18 Dec 04
• Weekday campers at 5 parks must now get permits: NParks Pearl Forss, Channel NewsAsia 4 Nov 05

Stars on Sembawang Beach?

Are there sea stars on Sembawang Beach? It has been more than a year since I last visited Sembawang.
Even at this moderate low tide, quite an expanse of sandy shore was exposed. And shore seems quite shallow as people were fishing just off the sandy shore.

The shore was firm but silty. There was no seagrass, no seaweeds. It appeared lifeless. But in the worst of shores, you can almost always count on some anemone to eke out a living.But you need to look closely as many of them are transparent or very small.I'm not sure if this darker one is a just another colour form of the more commonly seen transparent ones.In pools of water, there were clusters of tiny ones.Silty shores are usually home to the pretty-in-pajamas Mangrove anemones, with fine white lines on its body column.This anemone has petal-shaped structures around its mouth. There were many of the Mangrove sea anemones on the shore, and some came in strange patterns. We still don't know the identity of these animals.One little whelk wandered slowly in a pool, carrying a pair of hitch-hiking sea anemones.Near the open water were schools of nervous little fishes.

But there was hardly any other life. No snails, no little crabs (although there were several moults of crabs).There were lots of people out on the shore. They included families and working people, all enjoying a Sunday outing. I could hear tongues of many continents on the shore, all seemed happy and relaxed.

But where are the sea stars?As the sun set, the stars soon came out of hiding! They twinkled in the waves of the incoming tide. Popped out from the silty sand like cartoon cut outs.And soon I saw lots of these Plain sand stars (Astropecten sp.)!They were all quite tiny, about 2-3cm in diameter. As usual, some had missing arms. It was nice to see so many stars on the shores, even if they were very small. I didn't see any of the more patterned Painted sand stars (Astropecten sp.) though.

What happens around Sembawang shore?

Sembawang beach lies right next to Sembawang shipyards: a 86-hectare site handling tankers, bulk carriers, container and cargo vessels, chemical tankers, LNG carriers and navy ships.While I was there, a huge RORO (Roll-on/roll-off) ship was being slowly brought to the shipyard by several tug boats. These large ships are designed to carry vehicles. Although the ship was moving very slowly, huge waves soon crashed on the shore after it passed by.Opposite Sembawang beach is Johor, a very short distance across the narrow Johor Straits.
From Sembawang, I could see a hill being stripped on Johor.With more land clearance nearby.And in the distance, a heavy industrial area on the Johor shore.
What is the future of Sembawang shore?

In the 2003 Master Plan, there were indications that reclamation was planned for Sembawang beach. The habitatnews Sembawang homepage has more details on these plans, responses to the plans and other stories of the laid-back kampung life and heritage of Sembawang.

There doesn't seem to have been any further developments on the plans for reclamation at Sembawang.
Today, I saw a section of the shore cordoned off, with a small work site on street level. But there was no signage explaining what work was going on.

More about Sembawang shore

The beach is part of Sembawang Park which is run by NParks. Facilities in the Park include barbecue pits (which were well used this evening), children's playground, fitness corner/ stations and (the ubiquitous) foot reflexology footpath.