Seagrass meadows are one of the most productive ecosystems on earth but ask around and chances are, no one knows what they are! Are they algae? Are they seaweed? Can it be eaten? Is it true you can find mermaids frolicking in seagrass meadows? Dive in and learn more about these underwater forests, what makes them tick and why their disappearance is a big problem for us. Join us and we guarantee that you’ll wanna hug a seagrass today!

About the Speaker: Siti read marine biology as an undergraduate at James Cook University where she dabbled in various aspects of the marine sciences from geology to genetics. Her first encounter with seagrasses started in a marine botany class in second year and when she went back to Singapore during her semester break, she started surveying seagrasses in Singapore just for giggles. Little did she realise that brief dalliances turn into lifelong obsessions – seagrass continued to be a feature when she worked as a Senior Biodiversity Officer with NParks and now as a graduate student at the National University of Singapore. She has since accepted her fate as a seagrass-nerd-extrodinaire and strongly advocates that everyone should hug a seagrass today.

See more amazing photos and videos of Singapore’s sea life first on our Facebook Page!

On Saturday, it was my turn to give a talk at the National Geographic Store at Vivocity. I’m really happy that the store decided to create this marine month for a few of us to share with others our experience of exploring our seas and coastline. Walking around the store, we see a lot of images of forests and land creatures, but the earth is 75% water! That means we still have a lot of exploring to do! Being an island, Singapore is the perfect place for any one to get started.

I’m really glad that so many people turned up to check out the talk. The store informed me that this was one of the best turn outs they have seen at the store for talks! Speaking to some of the audience, I found out that several of them were referred by friends who read about the talks online or through our Facebook page. It’s great to know that people are talking about and sharing information of our activities. We still have two more talks to go! Ria Tan will be giving a talk about Secret Shores of Singapore on Saturday, December 3; and Siti M. Yaakub will be sharing her experience of investigating the Forests of the Sea on December 10. So mark those dates!

Kids, there will also be a colouring session for after the talk that gives kids a fun and easy way to learn about some of Singapore’s curious and colourful marine creatures.

As a part of the National Geographic Store‘s Marine Month, Hantu Blogger Debby Ng will be speaking instead of blowing through her regulator, all in an effort to share her experience of diving and exploring Singapore’s reefs for the past nine years! There’s no better way to spend the weekend! (Apart from an actual dive at Pulau Hantu)

There will also be a colouring session for kids after the talk that gives kids a fun and easy way to learn about some of Singapore’s curious and colourful marine creatures.

See you at the National Geographic Store: 1 Harbourfront Walk, #01-19, Vivocity, at 2.30PM.

Hantu Blog volunteers were a part of the effort to help discover and document the marine life beneath the Marina at Keppel Bay. The Marina has put together a wonderful website for what is now known as the City Reef at Keppel Bay.

It was a very unique experience to explore the myriad of corals and marine life that have colonised the, what I like to call, upside-down world beneath the pontoons of the marina. Usually the reef is in front or below us, but for the dives at Keppel Bay, we had to crane out necks to peek into the reef above us! It was so thrilling!

Volunteers did two dives at the marina, one during the day and another during the night. This octopus encountered during the night dive was certainly a highlight for all of us. Ria Tan recently posted about Keppel Bay winning two awards for its efforts to protect the life in its marina. Congratulations to Keppel Bay! We hope their efforts inspire others in the industry to play an active part in enabling their marinas to burst into life!

Feared to be globally extinct, the discovery of this fabulous sponge is featured in the latest issue of My Green Space published by NParks.

Karenne Tun and Eugene Tay share that ” the Neptune’s Cup sponge was first seen in Singapore waters in 1822. According to historical records, the Neptune’s Cup sponge was common during the time of Sir Stamford Raffles, An account by a British official in 1830 said “those gigantic sponges” were brought to them “in great numbers.” However, the Neptune’s Cup sponge population declined rapidly in our waters, and was last sighted in the 1870s. It seemed to also have disappeared from other coastal waters too – it was last collected off Bantam in West Java, Indonesia, in 1908. This led many scientists to believe that sponge had become extinct globally.”

How exciting then, that “in March 2011, during a routine survey dive, marine biologists from DHI Water & Environment (S) Pte Ltd encountered a unique-looking sponge off Singapore’s southern islands. It was later identified by Singapore’s sponge expert, Mr Lim Swee Cheng, as a young Neptune’s Cup sponge.”

Above: One of the old photos of the awesome sponge that fires the imagination and search for it in our waters!

Read more about this sponge in the latest issue of My Green Space!

This post was first published in Wild Shore of Singapore.

See more amazing photos and videos of Singapore’s sea life first on our Facebook Page!

What creature of local waters is peeking out from just beneath the sandy seabed? Can you try and guess? We will release a new hint each day till someone guesses what the creature is! Visit our Flickr for details! Post your guesses in the comment fields in our Flickr, Facebook or Blog!

See more amazing photos and videos of Singapore’s sea life first on our Facebook Page!

Latest media reports say that while “the fire at the Shell refinery on Pulau Bukom has been fully extinguished, SCDF is still continuing foaming operations as there are still traces of fuel vapour in the affected areas.” In light of this, I thought it would be useful to find out more about fire fighting foam.

What is fire fighting foam?
Fire fighting foam is a foam used for fire suppression. Its role is to cool the fire and to coat the fuel, preventing its contact with oxygen, resulting in suppression of the combustion. The surfactants used need to produce foam in concentration of less than 1%. Other components of fire retardant foams are organic solvents (e.g. trimethyltrimethylene glycol and hexylene glycol), foam stabilizers (e.g. lauryl alcohol), and corrosion inhibitors. Wikipedia

What are the different types of foam?
Class A foams: developed in mid 1980s for fighting wildfires. Class A foams lower the surface tension of the water which assists in the wetting and saturation of Class A fuels with water.

Class B foams: designed for class B fires — flammable liquids. The use of class A foam on a class B fire may yield unexpected results, as class A foams are not designed to contain the explosive vapors produced by flammable liquids. Class B foams have two major subtypes.

• Synthetic foams are based on synthetic surfactants. Synthetic foams provide better flow, faster knockdown of flames, but limited post-fire security. Two main types of synthetic foams are:

1. Aqueous film forming foams (AFFF) are water-based and frequently contain hydrocarbon-based surfactant such as sodium alkyl sulfate, and fluorosurfactant—such as fluorotelomers, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), or perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS). They have the ability to spread over the surface of hydrocarbon-based liquids.
2. Alcohol-resistant aqueous film forming foams (AR-AFFF) are foams resistant to the action of alcohols, able to form a protective film when they are present.

• Protein foams contain natural proteins as the foaming agents. Unlike synthetic foams, protein foams are bio-degradable. They flow and spread slower, but provide a foam blanket that is more heat resistant and more durable. Protein foams include regular protein foam (P), fluoroprotein foam (FP), film forming fluoroprotein (FFFP), alcohol resistant fluoroprotein foam (AR-FP), and alcohol-resistant film forming fluoroprotein (AR-FFFP).

What is the environmental impact of AFFF?
Fire fighting foams, whether or not they contain fluorinated materials, have acute toxicity towards the aquatic environment as detergents. They also deplete oxygen levels, required for biological degradation. Finished fluorosurfactant foams are generally rather non-toxic; however, it is their polyfluorinated degradation products that are of environmental concern because of unfavourable persistence, bio-accumulation and toxicity (PBT). Bio-accumulation and toxicity depend critically on the chain length and structure of the degradation product. Extreme persistence, however, is a general property shared by all perfluorinated degradation products whether derived from PFOS- or fluorotelomer-based foams. Indeed perfluorocarbon derivatives are some of the most environmentally persistent known – CF4 is estimated as having an atmospheric lifetime of between 10,000 and 20,000 years, and there is no known degradative pathway for trifluoroacetic acid, CF3COOH, in the aqueous environment.

Why use fluorosurfactants when it’s harmful for the environment?
The extreme chemical stability of fluorosurfactants and their degradation products is both a boon and a bane. Their use for fire fighting foam depends on both their excellent stability and efficiency as surface active (wetting) agents. Although very expensive on a weight basis compared to hydrocarbon or silicon-based surfactants, their effectiveness at low concentrations results in a favourable cost per unit volume of finished foam.

Case studies
The Allied Colloids fire in 1992 near Bradford UK resulted in tens of millions of litres of foam and chemically contaminated run-off being discharged into the local river system, since not to have done so would have destroyed the local foul water treatment plant. The immediate effect was to render the river system biologically dead for some 50 km downstream.

What are others doing about this?

• In 2000, 3M Company decided to discontinue the manufacture of PFOS-based fluorosurfactants including AFFF for firefighting on environmental grounds
• The 1979 European Council Directive (80/68/EEC 17 December 1979) – the
  European Groundwater Directive – forbids the discharge of organohalogens or
  degradation products that are organohalogens to groundwater. The Environmental Impact of Fire Fighting Foams: Operational and legal implications

Charles Rowe, the heart and soul behind the Seacil Project, gave a presentation at a public Discussion on “The Seacil Artificial Reef” hosted by the Nature Society (Singapore) on 27 Jul. Read the rest of this entry »

A seacil being ‘launched’ at Sentosa, from an article on the project in Innovation, Vol 7 No. 1

The project was a source of controversy a few years back, the Society adds.

Nature Society (Singapore) hosts this discussion with Charles Rowe, the leader of this project, who will be giving a presentation on the merits of this project. Detractors of this project will also be invited to air their views and concerns. Join us in this discussion to judge for yourselves whether The Seacil Artificial Reef project was more of a boon or a bane to local coral conservation.

This discussion is open to the public.

Time: 8pm
Venue: The Sunflower (NSS office). 510 Geylang Road #02-05,Singapore 389466
Website: http://www.nss.org.sg/
Contact: email contact@nss.org.sg or call 6741 2036.

I hope to attend, and look forward to learning more about the project during the upcoming discussion.

What is the Seacil Project about?
from Artificial Reef Revitalises Marine Life by Kwang Wei Tjan and Lay Leng Tan in Innovation Vol 7 Issue 1, “the Seacil constitutes a concrete structure deliberately placed on the seabed to mimic the characteristics of a natural reef.”

“For waters with thick mud, the builders erect long, recycled plastic pipes on the seabed to support the Seacils. Divers first shift the structure to deeper waters using airbags and buckets, then lower it onto mud sub-sea surfaces (Figure 2). Cement weighs the structure down and anchors it to the upright pipes. High-pressure air pumped down through a hose flushes away the mud from the Seacil, thus allowing the establishment of marine life.”

from an article on the project in Innovation, Vol 7 No. 1

“Team members graft hard coral onto the platform and then introduce anemones and clown fish.”

from an article on the project in Innovation, Vol 7 No. 1

“Perhaps the greatest impact comes from the setting up of artificial reefs and rescue operations of marine life from areas designated for reclamation where the Seacil can serve as a planting or a transfer base. It can replace habitat loss elsewhere or in places where particular substrates are threatened, help preserve endangered sea life, even encourage new growth to revive many threatened underwater ecosystems everywhere.”

“The researchers’ future field surveys will focus on tagging the coral and monitoring the survivability of these underwater organisms.”

Diagrams in Undersea garden takes root S’pore Poly team creates marine site off Labrador for corals to regrow by Shobana Kesava Straits Times 29 Oct 07 outlines the structure of the seacils.

According to this undated online ppt by students of Singapore Polytechnic, they propose putting up seacils along West Coast beach, around the Southern Islands and at Sentosa lagoons.

What are some of the issues regarding the seacils?

Where do the grafted marine life come from?
from Artificial Reef Revitalises Marine Life, “Divers first harvested coral from the affected zones off Sentosa and Labrador. They selected healthy undamaged coral without bleached or dead areas and removed them carefully off the reef.”

How successful have the seacils been?
I am unable to find online results of monitoring of the project. Hopefully, these will be revealed during the discussion.

How will the project avoid damage to existing natural habitats during seacil construction, seacil launch and installation, and from debris resulting from seacil damage and ‘decay’ over time?
Since 2006, large concrete structures were seen on the seagrass meadows on Labrador.

From Large debris on Labrador explained? Oct 2007

From Large debris on Labrador explained? Oct 2007

Large loose plastic tubing and debris were seen on Labrador shore, abrading existing habitats including seagrasses and corals as they moved in the water.

From Large debris on Labrador explained? Oct 2007

From Large debris on Labrador explained? Oct 2007

In Nov 2007, the Straits Times reported that NParks said “The project is not harming the environment, since the artificial reef and garden sit on the sea floor, away from the natural coral reef zone of the nature reserve.” NParks added the debris “on the beach could have come loose and been washed ashore” and “that NParks had asked the SP team to remove them.”

In late Dec 2007, it seemed the large structures had been partially dismantled and lighter portions removed, although the concrete slabs remained on the shore (and began disintegrating). Portions of the concrete structure continued to be seen in Mar 2008 and Jun 2008 and Apr 2010

In Dec 2010, a triangular concrete slab was still seen on the high shore, from sgbeachbum.

seacil@labrador (HD) from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.

Other updates on Labrador

In Jun 2009, access to Labrador shore was permanently closed by NParks.

The natural seagrass meadows, reefs and coastal habitats on Labrador, our last mainland reef-rocky shore are bearing the brunt of the nearby long-term massive reclamation for a new Pasir Panjang Container Terminal which also includes underwater blasting.

My past interaction with Singapore Polytechnic on the issue in 2007:

On 30 Oct, I sent an email to Singapore Polytechnic Corp Comms informing them that I had posted photos of large debris on Labrador and asking two questions:

(a) Are the equipment depicted in my photos related to any projects by Singapore Polytechnic?

(b) What steps have been put in place to ensure that Cpt Francis’ project as outlined in the ST article does not result in damage to Labrador? (Undersea garden takes root S’pore Poly team creates marine site off Labrador for corals to regrow by Shobana Kesava Straits Times 29 Oct 07)

On 7 Nov, Singapore Polytechnic suggested a meeting to discuss the issue. I replied that I would only attend if I was not required to agree to non-disclosure of the meeting’s discussions.

On 21 Nov, when I asked about the meeting, I was informed that it was decided not to have the meeting and that the issues I raised had been addressed in the interview by Straits Times with Cpt Francis.

On 21 Nov, I also offered to give Singapore Polytechnic a free public talk about our shores to SP staff and students. I was informed that I would first have to submit my presentation materials for submission to SP management to review. I have offered them a CD of the entire presentation.

On 26 Nov, I also emailed Singapore Polytechnic about the issues mentioned in this blog entry.

I did not hear from Singapore Polytechnic about the 26 Nov email nor to my offer to give a talk about our shores to staff and students at Singapore Polytechnic.

Related articles

• Artificial Reef Revitalises Marine Life by Kwang Wei Tjan and Lay Leng Tan in Innovation Vol 7 Issue 1
• Seas get breath of new life in Riot, a magazine of Singapore Polytechnic
• Undersea garden takes root S’pore Poly team creates marine site off Labrador for corals to regrow by Shobana Kesava Straits Times 29 Oct 07
• Labrador Beach: Nature lovers fear coral project will cause damage But NParks says it is not true that artificial reef structures harm the environment Shobana Kesava, Straits Times 26 Nov 07;

Related blog posts
see also links on these posts for more blog posts on the issue

on wild shores of singapore

• Checking up on Labrador Apr 2010

on wildfilms

• Labrador Nature Reserve: after the construction Mar 2008
• Can Labrador Survive Dec 2007
• Labrador Nature Reserve: trashed Dec 2007
• Updates on large concrete slabs on Labrador shore Nov 2007
• Large debris on Labrador explained Oct 2007

This article was first published in WILD Shores of Singapore.

Are any of these special corals found on Singapore shores?

Yes! The Mushroom coral (Heliofungia actiniformis) is among the top 10 EDGE corals.

According to the EDGE blog, the mushroom coral is home to at least 15 shrimp species and to a pipefish which lives exclusively on mushroom coral. Unfortunately, this species is popular in the aquarium trade but the effect of this harvest on the population is unknown and needs reviewing.

In Singapore, this mushroom coral can still be seen at Pulau Semakau and Pulau Hantu. They were previously seen at Beting Bronok but were no longer seen there on our most recent trips. More about our mushroom corals.

MORE Singapore corals in the EDGE list

The following are some corals found on our shores which though not on the top 10, have been selected as EDGE species that are extremely evolutionarily distinct and threatened, and are currently receiving little or no conservation attention from other organisations.

The beautiful Moon coral (Diploastrea heliopora) is sometimes seen on our shores.

This one was seen on Pulau Jong which lies near the Semakau Landfill and near Pulau Bukom with major petrochemical plants, as well as Pulau Sebarok which houses the bunkering facilities for our port. Here’s more about recent trips to Pulau Jong.

Another coral considered special and which is widely found on our shores is Zebra coral (Oulastra crispata). How nice to see that Jeffrey Low’s photo has been used in the fact sheet on this coral.

This coral is sometimes seen encrusting even litter such as bottles! It also remains common on the oil-slicked reefs at Tanah Merah.

What a surprise to see my photo being used for the fact sheet on Cabbage coral (Trachyphyllia geoffroyi)! This photo was taken in 2005 at Beting Bronok and sadly, we have not seen this coral on our recent trips there. Fortunately, the Cabbage coral has also been seen on some of our other shores.

Here’s a closer look at the Cabbage coral.

Check out the corals on the EDGE of Existence programme for more about reefs and the threats to them. The programme also has a blog which featured the launch of the EDGE coral reefs today.

This article was first published on Wild Shores of Singapore.

Thank you for your support in 2010! Next year, we hope to make more new discoveries and to continue to share news of our beautiful reefs with hundreds of divers and citizens of Singapore!

Here’s the email:

SWiMMS, funded by the Wildlife Reserves Singapore Conservation Fund, aims to monitor the dolphin, porpoise and dugong populations in Singapore waters by establishing a volunteer network and reporting system. The SWiMMS research team needs your help.

If you should see a marine mammal in Singapore or regional waters, please let us know. Email us or fill in our on-line reporting form with as much information as you can. You can find more information on the different types of marine mammal that can be seen in Singapore waters and the work done by the Marine Mammal Research Laboratory (National University of Singapore) at www.tmsi.nus.edu.sg/mmrl.

Pilot studies by the Tropical Marine Science Institute (TMSI), National University of Singapore (NUS) have shown that several species of coastal dolphins, the finless porpoise and dugong are sighted in Singapore waters.

It appears likely that Singapore and neighbouring waters are important for coastal and riverine marine mammals in that together they form a habitat for these animals, all of which are listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendix I (species threatened with extinction) or II (species not necessarily threatened with extinction, but in which trade must be controlled in order to avoid utilization incompatible with their survival).

However, more information is required to strengthen this concept of an extended habitat. With increasing coastal development and climate change, continued monitoring of marine mammals is essential to ensure their long-term survival.

We would greatly appreciate if you can help us publicise SWiMMS by helping us distribute some of our materials on SWiMMS. For more information, email swimms@nus.edu.sg

More about Singapore’s dolphins and dugongs on Wildsingapore.

Photo: wildshores.blogspot.com

Ria Tan and Loh Kok Sheng visited Pulau Hantu early on Sunday to check out the island’s intertidal reef is responding to the widespread coral bleaching in the region, that’s been observed since May 2010.

Ria wrote in her post that it was, “disconcerting to see for the first time, bleaching in some kinds of animals that we have not seen before.”

Photo: wildshores.blogspot.com

Both bloggers reported bleaching amongst zoanthids for the first time.

Photo: Loh Kok Sheng

Kok Sheng raised some interesting questions when he came across the path of bleached leathery corals (above). He writes,

This is puzzling, why would corals at the edge respond worse than those in the lagoon? Shouldn’t they be in the deeper waters and thus more shading from the sun? Or is it because those in the lagoon are already very tough in nature since these corals have to endure more physical stress in normal times?

Photo: wildshores.blogspot.com

Ria came across the bleached flowery soft coral (above). She blogs, “I noticed the tiny little filefish that was hiding among the ‘branches’. Bleaching probably makes such animals more visible to predators.”

Photo: Loh Kok Sheng

Though the situation looks dismal, Kok Sheng reports, “Interestingly, many colonies of the Lettuce coral (Pavona sp.) seem to show up as one of the toughest species, a phenomenon that is similar to that of Tanah Merah’s reef.”

Apart from documenting the impact of coral bleaching, Ria and Kok Sheng also came across some usual and not-so-usual lifeforms on Hantu’s reefs!

Photo: Loh Kok Sheng

The Orange-edged black flatworm (Pseudobiceros uniarborensis) is commonly spotted by divers at Hantu.

Photo: Loh Kok Sheng

This Arabian cowrie (Cypraea arabica) however, is a rare encounter in our Southern Shores. Great to know that it can be spotted at Hantu!

Photo: Loh Kok Sheng

Another rare find was this Feathery filefish (Chaetodermis penicilligerus) which Kok Sheng reported to be a rather large specimen!

Thanks to Ria Tan and Koh Kok Sheng for working so hard (read: waking up in the wee hours and having the energy to post these blogs within such a short time and probably on a red-eye!) More about bleaching on Bleach Watch Singapore

It was heartbreaking to be away from the oil spill affected areas the last three days.

But we were committed well before the spill to trips to our Deep South. Alas, another tragedy seems to be unfolding there.

Our Southern shores include many submerged reefs. We visited three southern reefs over the last three days and observed coral bleaching on all of them. In some parts of these reefs, only one or two colonies were bleached, while the others seemed fine.

Read the rest of this post

Summarising recent local media reports (with my snarky comments in brackets, I blame sleep deprivation): Out at sea, efforts were ramped up to clean up the initial 4 sq km area of oil slick from spreading inland. As part of the containment efforts, some 19 craft and 120 personnel used bio-degradable dispersants to break up the oil slick into smaller globules and some 3,300 metres of containment booms used to contain the spill.

Satellite image taken from above Changi Naval Base (rectangular shaped structure) by CRISP. The bright dots are ships and the oil slick is the patches of black around the coast. — PHOTO: NUS

Unpredictable wind and tide conditions had made containment difficult, even though the weather was fine, said MPA. (I thought tides and currents are quite predictable?).

By 26 May evening, the oil slick had spread, first making landfall between Changi Naval Base and Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal, then spreading to a 7.2 km stretch of the East Coast beach from NSRCC to the Goldkist Beach Resort chalets near Marine Vista.

What is being done to clean up the beach?

Some 80 cleaners, armed with spades to scoop up contaminated sand, and 36 officers from NEA were involved in a massive clean-up effort along the affected beaches. Efforts will resume this morning (27 May).

“Our NEA officers are working now at the beach areas to clean up the contaminated sand. Those sand that have been contaminated by the oil sludge, we actually clear up the sand, then dispose of the sand.”

NEA has closed the affected beaches and put up signs advising the public not to swim.

What about the smell?
NEA again said no traces of toxic substances were found in air samples taken yesterday. The foul odour smelled in some places on Tuesday might have been from the volatile parts of the oil sludge evaporating more quickly than the heavier parts.

Mr S. Satish Appoo, NEA’s director of environmental health, added that those affected were probably more sensitive to strong smells. “Durian could have the same effect on some people,” he quipped. (I fail to find this remark amusing, I could hardly breathe during the three hours on the oil-stained shores of Tanah Merah today. My eyes were tearing, and not just because I was sad).

Will the slick spread further?
Professor Pavel Tkalich, an oceanographer at the Tropical Marine Science Institute, said if the slick continues spreading, it could eventually reach the Southern Islands and even Pulau Ubin and Pulau Tekong over the next few days.

‘The slick will move back and forth and can gradually spread beyond to the southern islands in the next four days.’

He added that environmental damage to corals and mangroves in these parts would be unavoidable, but unlikely to be significant.

How long will this situation last?
There is no indication how long the slick will last. The MPA said the weather, tide and wind conditions will play an important role in the containment of the oil slick.

In his email today (May 27), the STOMPer said:

“I was running at East Coast Park earlier today when I saw 2 cleaners doing damage control to clear the oil slick on the beach, outside the East Coast Park Sports Planet.

“The smell of the oil filled the air.

“Hopefully the smell will go off soon, best by this Saturday evening, because the route for the Adidas Sundown Ultra Marathon includes Changi and Fort Roads.”

This marine handbook is a testament to to Sungai Pulai’s intriguing biodiversity, and the Hantu Blog is proud to have been able to contribute photos of marine life from Singapore for this effort!

The book is authored by Choo Chee Kuang, Serina Rahman, and Khor Hui Min.

As I was browsing through the stash of old theses in the lab, I came across one entitled “Human Impacts on Coral reefs in Singapore”. After reading through, I became inspired to compare the survey data obtained by William Ho (author of the thesis) with present-day data. Over a span of almost 20 years, will there be any change to the divers’ perception on Singapore’s coral reefs? Land scarcity in Singapore is the major driving force for the intensive coastal development and land reclamation, resulting in an estimated loss of up to 60% coral reefs in Singapore. In the process, most of the affected areas were either buried or destroyed; leaving the remaining reefs exposed to long-term impacts of high sedimentation and hence leading to weaker light penetration.

We pause here and ask some questions:

• How will these long-term man-made activities affect our reefs?
• What do the local divers know of the reefs’ conditions?
• How can divers help in conserving these local reefs?
• Does setting up a marine park help in conservation of reefs in Singapore?

With some of these questions to answer, Zeehan and I (together with feedback and inputs from various individuals), we came up with this “Singapore’s Diver Perception”. This survey not only comprise of overlapping questions from the old thesis to make comparisons, new questions have been added to aid in future conservation considerations. These data serve as important baseline information necessary for publication and a tool to help in planning effectively, for example, incorporating feedback into the Blue Plan. The outcome of this project will go a long way and we hope that it will help conserve our reefs.

Feel free to contact myself, Mei Lin or Zeehan to make any enquiries or clarifications with respect to the survey. Please help spread the word of the survey too. Thank you!

Increasing urbanisation in Singapore has resulted in extensive replacement of natural habitats with man-made habitats. A good example is the artificial seawall, that has becomes a ubiquitous feature of the coastline. Being vertically very steep, and structurally quite simple, this compressed intertidal region represents a very stressful habitat that does not support the kind of diversity expected at the seashore. One explanation for the paucity of life on seawalls is the absence of a wide range of microhabitats. The aim of this study is to test whether complex concrete tiles attached to seawalls can enhance their biodiversity. Understanding how to improve the value of seawalls as surrogates of natural habitats is important for intertidal biodiversity conservation on modified shorelines.

The tiles are arranged in blocks of three that comprise a “simple” tile (all sizes, spacing, and depths equal), a “complex” tile (sizes, spacing and depths variable, but with the same mean values as the simple tile), and a “control” (the same material as the seawall: granite). The blocks are attached to steel frames that in turn are fixed to the seawall or substrate. Eight frames have been arranged at 1.3m below the high tide mark (the “intertidal” set), there are also another eight frames fixed to the substrate at the foot of the seawall (the “subtidal” set). They will now be left in place for a few months while colonisation is monitored. At the end of the experiment, all the tiles and frames will be removed.

This project is funded by the Singapore-Delft Water Alliance (SDWA) and is part of a larger endeavor to improve biodiversity on Singapore’s seawalls. The Principle Investigators are Dr Peter A. Todd, Marine Biology Laboratory, Department of Biological Sciences, NUS and Dr. Tjeerd J. Bouma, Netherlands Institute of Ecology, Centre for Estuarine and Marine Ecology. This particular stage is being led by one of Peter’s Honours students, Lynette Loke, who designed the tiles and played a major role in their construction and deployment. The frames were fixed in place from land at very low tide and involved a lot of lugging materials and tools from the jetty to the site (e.g. each tile weighs about 15kg and there are 48 of them)!

The study is a good example of how much fun (!), and interdisciplinary, marine biology can be; from the ecological underpinnings (simple vs complex habitats), the use of algorithms to design the tiles, converting those designs into CAD/CAM drawings that were then used to CNC mill the “master” tiles, which in turn were used to make rubber molds that the concrete tiles were cast from. Sourcing the materials and building the granite control tiles; designing the steel backing plates and frames and their mountings; and organising the permissions, workforce, boats and all the other logistics of the deployment. Of course, there is also a strong experimental design and statistical foundation to the study; there are a number of reasons why there are 48 tiles, each further divided into four designs, and why they are fixed to the seawall in the way they are. Finally, back to the biology, there will be plenty of identification and quantification of the organisms that come and inhabit the tiles.