Sungei Api Api (21 Feb 2012)

The lovely mangroves that line Sungei Api Api at Pasir Ris Park is the site of our survey today!

It's really soft and squishy here! But as usual, this didn't stop the volunteers!

As usual, Yen-ling of the Tropical Marine Science Institute starts us off with a briefing. Safety is important!

 Then we carefully make our way down to the mudflats.

The banks of Sungei Api Api are a little steep. But this means we can get close to the water! Unfortunately, the mud is very very soft. So most of us were crawling around on our knees and got very muddy.

In the midst of our work, how nice of the Pasir Ris NParks team to drop by to say hello!

 I got fascinated with the mangrove roots because I noticed sea anemones growing on them!

On the other side of the stream bank, we noticed two people dilligently throwing nets. Later on Dr Ng suggested that they were probably trying to catch shrimps.

And here is a vision of beauty in the midst of the mudflats! Demurely on her knees, she looks like a mermaid, half woman and half mud. A mudmaid? She was very kind to pose for this photo and put up with my lame jokes.

Here's a view of the team still hard at work, after I gave up. My trusty red bucket helps me get around in the soft mud.

At the end of the trip, Yen-ling tells us more about what we have found. Even an old dead clam shell is useful as it is encrusted with all kinds of animals. Today, we found lots of worms, some peanut worms, some fishes, crabs, and several anemones!

We sure had a very muddy trip! Here's everyone before cleaning up. Bravo to the volunteers for another successful survey. Rene shared lots of great photos of what we found today.

Sungei Api Api is a special example of how mangroves were allowed to grow into a waterway. All the way up to where the HDB flats are!

The mangroves lining Sungei Api Api were part of a conscious decision by NParks to re- establish the original mangrove habitat there after reclamation at Pasir Ris and works to deepen the Sungei. The experience in this experiment was not only applied to Sungei Tampines which lies nearby, but also to mangrove restoration at Pulau Semakau!

Come join the Mega Marine Survey to help us learn more about our shores!

To join us, register your interest in this form and you'll be invited to join the mailing list to receive updates on the Survey and sign up for Survey activities.

Also check out our FAQs for more about the Survey.

To find out more about our common mangrove wildlife, check out the online Guide to the Mangroves of Singapore and the wildsingapore wild fact sheets.