Mega Marine Survey of Singapore

Sungei Api Api (21 Feb 2012)

2012-02-21T05:28:00.001-08:00

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.

Survey digs up 100 species!

2012-01-29T17:53:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Grace Chua of the Straits Times, the Survey is in the news with a report of how we have uncovered 100 species, some are new to Singapore or to science, even though we are only one-third through the project!

Among the featured creatures is this anemone which we found deep into the mudflats of Lim Chu Kang. This bumpy, warty sea anemone so new to science, it does not even have a scientific name yet. We have fondly nicknamed it Bill and we've seen it at other locations in Singapore too.

Some other never-before-seen finds include a nondescript, 2cm-long mangrove goby and a shore shrimp that looks just like its East Asian relatives, but is in fact genetically very different. Others, such as a mangrove stonefish and a hairy mangrove crab, have not been seen in Singapore before.

The other featured creatures include these fascinating finds:

SHORE SHRIMP
This relatively common intertidal rocky shore shrimp has generally been called Palaemon serrifer. Although it looks just like its East Asian relatives, it is genetically very different. -- PHOTO: NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE

HAIRY CRAB
This mangrove crab, found in two locations in Singapore, was previously reported being seen only in Malaysia and Australia. The first year of the three-year Comprehensive Marine Biodiversity Survey has so far yielded 100 species. The next two years will involve two major expeditions and studying as much of Singapore's reefs and seabed as possible. -- PHOTO: NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE

SPOTTED FROG CRAB
Found on one of the beaches near Changi, this frog crab, measuring about 30mm, is notable because members of this family are rarely reported in continental South-east Asia. Most members are oceanic in habitat. Its presence shows that Singapore's waters are still relatively healthy and still hold many important discoveries. -- PHOTO: NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE

STONEFISH
This mangrove stonefish (Leptosynanceia asteroblepa), a highly venomous fish, was never recorded in Singapore waters before. -- PHOTO: NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE

The article also highlights how the findings will help us understand and protect our shores.

Full article on the Straits Times and wildsingapore news.

Grace Chua reports extensively on environmental issues in Singapore and joined us for the anemone survey at Lim Chu Kang with Dr Daphne Fautin, featuring this trip in the article "Anemone haven in waters off Singapore". Thanks Grace for the support!

Come join the Survey and help make a difference for our marine biodiversity!

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.

Sungei Cina (21 Jan 2012)

2012-01-21T03:09:00.000-08:00

It's the Eve of the Eve of the Lunar New Year, but this didn't deter volunteers from making time for another mudflat survey!

We gather at the new Woodlands Waterfront Park. Fortunately surveying is not depicted as one of the suspicious activities that requires a call to the authorities! Haha.

Thus in good spirits, we head down to a nice sandy stretch in front of Sungei Cina which lies next to the Causeway. The tall buildings are those in Johor across the Straits.

A little hop, skip and scuttle down a drain and we are safely on the shore.

Yen-Ling gives us a short briefing about the Survey, in the shade of a shoreside tree.

She demonstrates how we should look carefully for wriggly little creatures that are found here.

Then we're off to the survey site. Thankfully, the ground is not very soft!

Some of us have 'choped' the best spot in the shade of the pier. By the time I get back to photograph them, they have been here a long time and surveyed it 'deeply'!

The rest of us are spread out over the mudflats, working hard in the hot sun!

We leave no log unturned.

We give Helen our finds and she sorts them all neatly into various animal groups.

Among the large finds were huge clams! Bravo!

There was large crab in this bucket!

As I look for anemones on the jetty legs, I came across this pair of insects that look like they are mating. They are so engrossed I even managed to take a photo of them with small sneaky cam!

Oh uh...dark clouds are starting to gather around us.

Anyway, it was time to wrap up the survey. Yen-Ling shares more about what we found.

There were lots of 'pods'. Amphipods, copepods! Also crabs, worms, clams, snails, anemones. And lots of barnacles!

Yen-Ling cuts short her explanations as the heavens opened up above us! We got all wet as we hurried back. But everyone was still in good spirits! What great volunteers!

At the carpark, thunder and lightning crashed and flashed above us! Yikes! Luckily there was shelter nearby. Some of us took advantage of the downpour to wash up!

In the heavy rain, we could hardly see the survey site!

Although the mudflat here may appear unexciting, this is where otters have been sighted! Here's this awesome video clip of a mama otter retrieving one of her naughty babies at the Park in September 2011! More about wild otters in Singapore, which are quite commonly seen in many of our mangroves and shores. If you spot an otter, please share it with Otter Watch.

The more we know about our shores, the better we can understand how to protect them and the awesome animals that live there!

Come join the Survey and help make a difference for our marine biodiversity!

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.

New lab sessions for sign up: Jan-Jul 2012

2012-01-03T17:41:00.000-08:00

Your help is needed in the laboratory to sort out what we have found on our surveys! You do not need to have any training to join us in these sessions, there will be staff to guide you in the labs.

As Dr Tan Koh Siang showed during a Dialogue Session, we often have to take a much closer look to identify what we have found. So far, only 10% of our finds have been sorted out! Volunteers are needed to sort out invertebrates, fishes and tiny creatures. Here's what happens at a lab session.

Here's more about the upcoming lab sessions from an extract of Jonathan's email. His full email is on the Mega Marine Survey yahoo groups (accessible to registered volunteers).

The following lab sessions are available for sign ups. In the lab sessions, we will be working in the comfort of air conditioned labs either at Tropical Marine Science Institute's facilities at St John's Island or National University of Singapore's Kent Ridge Campus. You do not need to have any training to join us in these sessions, there will be staff to guide you in the labs. If you would like to take a close up look at the animals collected in our surveys, or if you wish to have a feel of what it feels like to be working in a lab environment, do join us for these sessions.

If you are interested in taking part in any of the sessions, please email jonathan_ngiam@nparks.gov.sg, with the session you would like to attend, as well as your full name and mobile number.

Date: 9 January 2012 (Monday)
Time: 8.45am - 6.30pm
Location: St John's Island
No. of volunteers: 5

Additional date (added in this message from Jonathan)
Date: 28 January 2012 (Saturday)
Time: 8.15am - 3.30pm
Location: St John's Island
No. of volunteers: 10

Date: 25 January 2012 (Wednesday)
Time: 8.45am - 6.30pm
Location: St John's Island

Meeting time: 8.45am
No. of volunteers: 3

Date: 26 January 2012 (Thursday)
Time: 8.45am - 6.30pm
Location: St John's Island
No. of volunteers: 3

Date: 27 January 2012 (Friday)
Time: 8.45am - 6.30pm
Location: St John's Island
No. of volunteers: 3

Date: 15 February 2012 (Wednesday)
Time: 8.45am - 6.30pm
Location: St John's Island
No. of volunteers: 3

Date: 16 February 2012 (Thursday)
Time: 8.45am - 6.30pm
Location: St John's Island
No. of volunteers: 3

Date: 17 February 2012 (Friday)
Time: 8.45am - 6.30pm
Location: St John's Island
No. of volunteers: 3

Date: 20 February 2012 (Monday)
Time: 8.45am - 6.30pm
Location: St John's Island
No. of volunteers: 5

Date: 23 February 2012 (Thursday)
Time: 8.45am - 6.30pm
Location: St John's Island
No. of volunteers: 3

Date: 31 March 2012 (Saturday)
Time: 2pm - 6pm
Location: Blk S2S, National University of Singapore

Meeting time: 1.45pm
No. of volunteers: 5

Date: 12 April 2012 (Thursday)
Time: 2pm - 6pm
Location: Blk S2S, National University of Singapore

Meeting time: 1.45pm
No. of volunteers: 5

What happens at a lab session?
See these posts of previous lab sessions.

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.

New survey dates for sign up: Jan-Jun 2012

2011-12-29T03:37:00.000-08:00

Join us for our mudflat surveys at Seletar, Sungei Cina, Pasir Ris and Changi Creek!

Get muddy, have fun and make a difference for our marine biodiversity! Jonathan also says that apart from these sessions, there will be more which will be announced in the following weeks. These will include surveys on offshore islands such as Pulau Semakau and St. John's Island and also indoor lab sessions where you will take a close up look at the marine animals collected.

Latest dates available for sign up:

8 January 2012 (Sunday)
3.30pm – 6pm
Seletar

21 January 2012 (Saturday)
2.30pm – 5pm
Sungei Cina

21 February 2012 (Tuesday)
3.30pm – 6pm
Sungei Api Api (Pasir Ris Park)

31 March 2012 (Saturday)
8.30am - 11am
Punggol

12 April 2012 (Thursday)
7.30am – 10am
Changi Creek

11 May 2012 (Friday)
7.30am – 10am
Pasir Ris Park (Coast)

More details on the Mega Marine Survey mailing list, accessible only to registered volunteers.

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.

Pulau Ubin (11 Nov 2011)

2011-11-11T04:18:00.000-08:00

It poured cats and dogs just as our trip was about to start!

But the rain eased as we headed out for yet another trip to Pulau Ubin. What will we find today?

When we arrived at Pulau Ubin, the rain had stopped and the weather was cool and fresh!

Yen-Ling gives the small team of volunteers gathered today a short briefing on what to do.

And then we were off!

Our first find, a big fat sea anemone! Rene later found another one. We saw many of these during our earlier survey at Lim Chu Kang. Its identity has yet to be figured out.

The site is covered in a lush green carpet of Sea lettuce seaweed! Beneath, the muddy sand is a little soft in some parts.

We all soon hunkered down to seriously sample, under a clear cool sky.

This stretch of shore lies just across from mainland Singapore!

Meanwhile, the streams nearby are also sampled. What can we find here?

Lots of transparent shrimps!

Dr Ng found a curious flatworm on a strip of sponge. I've only seen this flatworm once before, at Tanah Merah. How nice to finally get a closer look at it and hopefully figure out what it is.

As usual, Dr Ng shares more about what we found. Among our special finds, a seagrass pipefish. Also many snails, hermit crabs, some worms (but not a lot), big fat tube worms, shrimps, and a whole variety of fishes. My little underwater camera gave up the ghost at the end of the trip, so I didn't take many photos of our finds. But I'm sure Rene will soon share photos of what we found.

Come join us and help make a difference for our marine biodiversity!

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.

Rene shares more about what happened during the field and gives a fascinating close up look at some of our finds on this trip!

Pulau Semakau (10 Nov 2011)

2011-11-10T17:12:00.001-08:00

A small team of volunteers head out to Pulau Semakau on a hazy afternoon to sample another patch of mudflats here.

The team already worked on another part of Semakau on an earlier trip. What can we find in this new location?

Wow, dining set up in a big fancy boat! No we're not taking this one, just passing through to get to our ferry.

Before we begin, a quick briefing on what to do and NOT to do. Safety is important!

Then we carefully walk down the seawall towards a lovely patch of mud between the mangrove trees which have been replanted at Semakau. On the horizon are the refineries of Pulau Bukom.

Thank you Yen-Ling and Helen for setting up the transect line in a shady area.

It's a little tricky to get there. When the mud is very soft, we need to walk on our knees! This helps spread out our weight so we don't sink so much.

Another handy trick is to use our bucket to further spread out our weight. The volunteers cheerfully deal with this.

When you get really stuck, you have to crawl out. As Brian illustrates.

And here's Brian, well coated in mud.

But it's nice and hard in the middle of the stream, as Mark shows.

Everyone is soon well spread out along the transect line to see what we can find in the mud.

We pose with some of our special finds. Ian takes a photo of a Mangrove horseshoe crab that Mark has rescued from an abandoned driftnet tied to the mangrove trees nearby.

There were lots and lots of fishes in the streams. These included the tiny banded Pandaka species, among the world's smallest fishes!

Someone has found little Crown sea stars!

A tiny little Copperband butterflyfish!

Sadly, we also saw a driftnet tied to the mangrove trees and abandoned there. These plastic nets don't biodegrade and will continue to trap and kill marine life until they are removed. So a few of us spent a little time removing them.

Soon it was time to sort out our finds and pack up.

We then enjoyed a slow stroll back to the NEA jetty. On the horizon, the submerged reef of Terumbu Semakau which has awesome marine life too!

Thankfully, we had clear weather. A lovely muted sunset, and the full moon as we headed home.

Pulau Semakau (9 Oct 2011)

2011-10-11T18:48:00.000-07:00

A new 'overseas' destination for the volunteers! This time it's the mudflats of Pulau Semakau! A large group of volunteers head out to find out what's there.

Rene Ong once again shares lots of photos of the muddy happenings there!

Jason Ooi also shared an album of photos of the trip!

Rene says "The mudflat here is rather unpredictable. One moment you were walking on solid sandy ground, the next you can be stepping into a mud hole. Despite this, the volunteers joyfully carried on with the survey with many interesting discoveries"

Rene shares that while there were fewer worms and bivalves, this survey found more fishes, squids, shrimps and crabs.

A special find was this Crown sea star!

Another exciting find, a small Hollow-cheek stonefish! Rene says "NEVER USE YOUR HANDS to catch an unknown fish. The volunteer was just about to use his bare hand to pick the stonefish when I managed to stop him in time." This is very wise advice. The stonefish can give a very painful sting!

Fortunately, the trip went well and everyone came home safely. Here's a nice group photo of everyone when they got back to the mainland.

See more photos and read more about what went on during the session in the facebook albums by Rene and Jason. Thanks for sharing!

Come join us and help make a difference for our marine biodiversity!

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.

Lab session (8 Oct 2011)

2011-10-11T18:32:00.000-07:00

Volunteers are back in the lab, working on the marvellous marine life we discovered on our earlier mudflat surveys!

Thanks once again to Rene Ong, for sharing photos and a glimpse of what happened!

Oh my, a big jar of worms to sort out!

Rene shares how the volunteers learn that "if the throat (proboscis) and mouth parts are out, it will help ease the ID process". It is also important to have a complete worm. Broken worms with only the head or the tail will be difficult to identify.

Rene had the job of finding the worms living in tubes. This is not an easy task!

Meanwhile, other organisms are also being sorted out. This requires concentration!

Here's a tray of sorted clams. Wow, so many different kinds of clams!

See more photos and read more about what went on during the lab session in Rene's facebook page album. Thanks for sharing the photos Rene, and great to see the volunteers having fun while making a difference for our marine biodiversity!

There's lots more lab sessions ahead. And these are so popular with the volunteers that all slots are already filled! More about the lab sessions.

To join the Mega Marine Survey, 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.

Lab Session (30 Sep 2011)

2011-10-05T18:45:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Rene Ong, we have a glimpse of the fascinating work done at the recent laboratory session of the Survey.

Here's the volunteers all ready to do some serious lab work!

One of the animals they worked on were hermit crabs. Before these can be sorted out, the animals have to first be extracted from their shells! As Rene shared, Helen showed how this is done: "making use of the clamp, the shell is slowly, gently, cracked...taking extreme care not to hurt the hermit crab inside".

Here's what the hermit crabs look like after they have been carefully removed.

Another job highlighted by Rene: "The biggest challenge of all - sorting the worms (Polychaetes)!!!
A microscope is needed to help with the sorting as we are not able to see the details of the polychaetes with our naked eyes". Here's Yen Ling and Edna setting up the impressive equipment to get this delicate job done.

The equipment projects the image on a TV so everyone can learn how to sort out the worms. Rene shares: "On TV, we have an idea how the worms really look like. They actually look kinda beautiful under the scope. Each of them were pretty unique, with distinct features that we have to look out for, in order to sort them out."

The theme for this lab session seems to be 'tiny things'. Rene is sorting out teeny tiny crabs!

Also wee little snails.

The volunteers enjoyed a delicious lunch break before continuing again in the afternoon.

Pulau Ubin (26 Sep 11)

2011-09-26T06:18:00.000-07:00

A large team of volunteers head out for another 'overseas trip'!

Today we are heading for a mudflat on Pulau Ubin near Chek Jawa.

As we gathered for departure, the resident cat at the Jetty, whom we affectionately name 'Tail-Cat', is intrigued by our gear!

There's a bloom of Sea lettuce on the shore and the tide is a little high. But this doesn't deter the volunteers as we get briefed and ready to get muddy!

But first, a nice 'before' group photo when we are still all clean.

The mudflat grades into seagrass meadows in some parts. Other parts are sandy. And it's not very soft. Hurray!

In many parts of the shore though, there is black compacted mud under the sand. Not many animals are found here.

We all quickly spread out along the working site, with Singapore mainland on the horizon, and huge ships passing through the international shipping lanes that lead to shipyards in Singapore and Johor.

On the other side, the mangroves of Pulau Ubin. Today we enjoyed a lovely cool, overcast but dry day, with a slight breeze to keep the bugs away. Hurray!

Here's some of the hardworking volunteers, cheerfully but carefully checking for organisms that might be found in the ground.

Wow, they have a found a very large bristleworm, lots of snapping shrimps and whelk snails and other critters.

There's a stream winding out from the mangroves, handy for sieving.

Meanwhile, a more energetic team has headed out into the waters to check out the fishes there with the seine net. It's hard work!

All too soon, it was time to gather back and have a look at our finds.

Dr Ng has found a Pygmy squid! This little creature doesn't grow much bigger. It has a 'glue-gun' on its butt so that it can stick to seagrass blades where it can rest or lurk for prey. I've seen one catch a shrimp!

Wow, this looks like a spaghetti worm! See the tangle of fine filaments on the head? Cool! However, this site isn't as 'wormy' as other places we have sampled.

And these look like Scintilla clams!

Jonathan showed us a little Spotted green pufferfish he found.

There were lots of little gobies with pretty blue dots in the shallow streams on the shore.

There's also a Yellow-spotted mudskipper! The fishing team also found lots of Eel-tail catfishes and some other interesting fishes. We also got loads of crabs of all kinds, and plenty of little snails.

Before we head back, we have a last hearty group photo. Then it's back to the mainland for a well deserved dinner!

Coming up later in the week, more laboratory sessions to help sort out what we have found so far. It's exciting to be a part of discovering more about Singapore's marine biodiversity!

Come join us and help make a difference for our marine biodiversity!

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.

Mega Marine Survey at the Biodiversity of Singapore Symposium III

2011-09-24T20:49:00.000-07:00

Jonathan shared more about our work during the Biodiversity of Singapore Symposium III.

It was great that the more than 300 people who attended the event learnt more about Singapore's marine biodiversity and the work being done with the Survey!

His presentation covered much of the fascinating findings and processes that have been covered in the recent Dialogue Session. Jonathan also introduced the efforts by a separate group of volunteers who have been documenting the amazing seabirds that travel through Singapore waters! More about this effort on wild shores of singapore blog and keep up with recent sightings on Con Foley's blog.

More about what happened at the Symposium on the wild shores of singapore blog.

Mandai mangroves (9 Sep 2011)

2011-09-09T04:20:00.000-07:00

A large team of volunteers headed out today for another muddy Survey!

We're back in the lovely mangroves of Mandai to find out what lives in the mudflats there.

As we head to our start point I realise that not only have the railway tracks been removed, the gravel has been removed too!

Before we start the Survey, Dr Ng gives a short briefing on what to do and look out for.

We then literally plunge right in to take a closer look at the mudflats!

Today, the transect line is laid perpendicular to the big stream. We had already done this big stream during an earlier survey.

Oh wow, Ivan Ong and Jason Ooi found a snake! It's the harmless Dog-faced watersnake, a small one. Jason is taking a photo of it. Earlier on, another pair of volunteers also found another small snake of the same kind.

While we were mucking about in the mud, another team helps Dr Ng to find out what fishes lives in the bigger stream.

There were many little gobies in the small stream too! In the big stream, lots of other larger fishes, shrimps and clams.

Even the ladies try out the heavy net. It's hard work!

Mandai is quite scenic and is one of my favourite mangroves!

Today, a brave team of video folks came by to film the team at work for Shell.

They plunged into the soft mud to take good closeups of what we do.

We highlighted the horseshoe crab that we found.

As usual, after the Survey, Dr Ng shares a little bit more about what we have found. We have found lots of worms, also many mangrove flatworms, many bivalves, some snails, many crabs of all kinds, and lots of fishes including a Blue-spotted mudskipper found by Elizabeth and Kavita.

And just as we were about to leave, Helen found more of the little yellow horseshoe crab eggs that we saw here on our last survey!

I totally forgot to take a group shot while we were in the mangroves. So here's a team photo on the former railway line outside the mangroves after our Survey. It was muddy but we sure had fun!

Jason Ooi shared MORE about today's exciting trip!

Come join us for lots of muddy fun and help make a difference for our marine biodiversity!

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.

First lab session (5 Sep 2011)

2011-09-05T06:46:00.000-07:00

A very small team arrive on St. John's Island to participate in the first laboratory session of the Survey!

We are very excited to get started!

A short pleasant walk up the wooded hill and we soon arrive at the idyllic site of the Tropical Marine Science Institute. Safety is a priority in lab work. So NO slippers or sandals. Covered shoes are a MUST.

Wow, we also get to wear lab coats! Don't we look very sciency? Also gloves and masks against inhaling the fumes of the preservatives.

Today, we are going to sort out some fishes that have been caught during past surveys. Some of those well before the Mega Marine Survey started. Yen Ling gives us a very thorough briefing on what we are to do. Seems doable.

Dr Ng Heok Hee drops by to give us more pointers about sorting out the fishies. This is very helpful and we feel encouraged that we can do it.

First we take out all the fishes from the jar of preserving alcohol. And put them all out on the orange sorting tray.

Ah, now it's time to do "one of these things is not like the other". We put the fishes that look alike together on the white sorting tray.

This is fun and easy!

For some fishes, we sort them out very quickly.

Uh oh. Here's a pile of fishes that look very similar.

Dr Ng to the rescue! He taught us how to note smaller details such as the structure of the mouth. After his explanation, it was a breeze to get the sorting done!

As we sorted, we also had a chance to take a closer look at some of the fishes. Such as the 'half a beak' of the halfbeaks. Also a puffed up pufferfish. And some stingrays. Wow.

Dr Tan Koh Siang drops by to have a look at how we are doing. Phew. It seems we are doing ok.

After sorting out the fishes, they are packed into smaller bags and labels have to be added to the bags. Rene has very neat handwriting!

Then we have to put all the small bags back into the big jar. This has to be done gently so as not to damage the specimens. It's not as easy as it first seems to be!

But eventually, success!

We had so much fun that time slipped by. Just as we got into the swing of it, it was time to leave! We could have worked all day! After the lab session, the volunteers got a tour of the fascinating work going on at TMSI.

Rene shared more photos about today's lab session on facebook, and says: "It was really fun for me as not only do I get to observe the fishes up close (they are always swimming away from me!), I also learnt to tell them apart. First you see the shape, then the scales, the eyes and the mouth...The time is simply too short. Just as we were enjoying our work, we have to leave to catch the ride back."

There's lots more lab sessions ahead. And these are so popular with the volunteers that all slots are already filled! More about the lab sessions.

To join the Mega Marine Survey, 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.

Learn more about Singapore's biodiversity!

2011-09-01T17:14:00.000-07:00

20 speakers, 50 posters, all major ecosystems in Singapore! Only once every four years! A great event for those who want to learn more and do more for Singapore's biodiversity from those who are working on the issues!
Registration now open!

Singapore has amazing biodiversity in all major tropical ecosystems: rainforest, freshwater and marine. There's a great deal going on all the time, from research, management to outreach and education.

This one-day event showcases the tip of the spear, a glimpse of the enormous efforts ongoing, and a chance to meet the Real People who do Real Work for our biodiversity.

20 speakers will make 10-minute presentations each, in five sessions from 8am to 6pm. There will also be two special updates about the new natural history museum and the national biodiversity sustainability and action plan.

Among the speakers is our very own Jonathan Ngiam who will be sharing about the Mega Marine Survey!

There will be two long and sumptuous tea sessions, giving everyone a chance to chat and view the expected 50 posters featuring the many interesting work going on for our biodiversity.

More about the Symposium and online registration on the BoSS blog.

Date: 24 Sep (Sat)
Time: 8am-6pm
Venue: Lecture Theatre 27, National University of Singapore map

Sign up for lab sessions at St John's Island

2011-08-18T06:02:00.000-07:00

Your help is needed in the laboratory to sort out what we have found on our surveys!As Dr Tan Koh Siang showed during the recent Dialogue Session, we often have to take a much closer look to identify what we have found.

So far, only 10% of our finds have been sorted out! Volunteers are needed to sort out invertebrates, fishes and tiny creatures. Each lab session will last about 2-3 hours. If there is interest, volunteers can also learn to help in specimen preparation. For example, to identify worms, their tiny hairs have to be prepared. For snails, their teeth.

Here's more about the lab sessions in Jonathan's email.

Dear volunteers,
As mentioned during the Mega Marine Survey Volunteers' Dialogue, indoor laboratory sessions at the Tropical Marine Science Institute's lab at St. John's Island are now up for sign ups. In these lab sessions, you will be able to have a close-up look at the different animals collected at the mudflats under microscopes. You will be able to learn much more about the different mudflat animals and be able to help sort and identify the animals, all in the comfort of air conditioned labs within the premises of the Tropical Marine Science Institute on the idyllic St John's Island.

Everyone is welcome to join us in these sessions, including those who have not had the chance to join us for our outdoor mudflat surveys. You do not have to pay for the boat ride to St John's Island, however, boat spaces are limited hence we can only accept a maximum of 5 volunteers for each session.

The dates for the lab sessions are:
5 September 2011 (Monday)
30 September 2011 (Friday)
8 October 2011 (Saturday)
29 October 2011 (Saturday)
19 November 2011 (Saturday)
25 November 2011 (Friday)

Meeting time for all of the sessions: 8.45am
Meeting place for all of the sessions: Pasir Panjang Ferry Terminal (map on streetdirectory.com)

Itinerary for lab sessions:
8.45am Meet at Pasir Panjang Ferry Terminal (PPFT)
9.00am Boat leaves PPFT for St John's Island
9.20am Reach St John's Island9.20am Introduction / Briefing
10.00am Lab hands-on
11.45am Clean up
12.15pm Proceed to Jetty
12.30pm Take boat from St John's Island to PPFT
1.00pm Reach PPFT

Please take note that participants will have to wear covered shoes and preferably long pants as safety precautions when working in a lab environment. Also bring drinking water and some food/snacks.

If you are interested in joining any of the sessions, please email me at jonathan_ngiam@nparks.gov.sg, indicating your full name and also which date you would like to come for.

Please note that the signups for these lab sessions will not be put up on the yahoogroup database. In the event that more than 5 volunteers register their intent to attend any particular session, only the first 5 who registered will be accepted.

Thanks.

Regards,Jonathan

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.

Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve (18 Aug 2011)

2011-08-18T05:48:00.000-07:00

A very small team head out to Sungei Buloh to survey the mudflats early this bright sunny morning.

It's the same stretch of mudflats that we did on our very first Mega Marine Survey. But this time at a much lower tide.

The survey site is very quickly set up in the middle of the stream. Nice for 'washing' the sieves of mud, but squishy and soft!

Today, I noticed some new techniques and tools at being used. David and I are impressed by the Yabby Pump! It's an instrument used to suck up deeply burrowing animals.

Meanwhile, Dr Ng heads out with a net to see what fishes live here.

But the usual methods continue to be employed to check out the mudflats. Here's some of the team hard at work with those sieves.

Today we are also joined by Bee Yan and her team who are surveying the crabs found in the mangroves of Singapore.

The mud is rather soft, and I'm looking with envy at the tiny little bird prints on the mud. These mud flats obviously provide food for a wide range of animals. Unfortunately, today we didn't see much in the mud. Mostly worms, some razor clams, and other tiny creatures.

But the 'fishing' team did much better. With some interesting fishes.

Including lots of Spotted green pufferfishes.

As usual, time was spent sorting and packing up the finds, then washing up ourselves and the gear.

Although it was a very small team, we still managed to do a good survey. And the company was great! I had lots of fun!

Just announced, opportunities to help out with laboratory work to learn more about what we found on our Surveys! More field trips will also be announced shortly.

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.

Exciting plans for the Mega Marine Survey!

2011-08-13T02:29:00.000-07:00

Today, we learnt more about discoveries at the Survey. And exciting new activities such as more 'exotic' locations to survey and opportunities to help in the laboratory. Volunteers will also be needed in the upcoming surveys of the seabed, reefs (SCUBA and low tide reef walks) and workshops of international experts.

Mr Wong Tuan Wah on behalf of NParks National Biodiversity Centre kicked off the Dialogue Session with volunteers of the Survey this Saturday morning.

This was followed by a fascinating presentation by Dr Tan Koh Siang of the Tropical Marine Science Institute (TMSI) who outlined many of the amazing life we have found in the last months of mudflat surveys!

For example, we have found a goby that is new to science, possibly a new genus and species! This was found at Lim Chu Kang.

Also these strange anemones which we also found at Lim Chu Kang. Prof Daphne Fautin, world authority on sea anemones who recently conducted a workshop in Singapore under the Survey, is in the midst of studying this more closely. To be more certain of the identity of an animal, often we need more than one specimen as there are natural variations among animals.

Even something that looks common like a snapping shrimp remains unidentified as we need to have an expert look at the specimen more closely.

Out on the mudflats, icky worms may look alike. But they look so different when they are all cleaned up in the lab, and viewed through a microscope! Indeed, details of hairs, tendrils and other tiny bits need to be preserved and studied for proper identification of these worms. This is why we need to take specimens of these worms.

Among them were some strange worms like the Bamboo worm. It's important to collect worms unbroken for proper identification. This is hard to do in the field! So bravo to the volunteers for successfully collecting so many worms properly.

Other special animals highlighted in the talk included the octopus found, and the mantis shrimp lost, at Pulau Ubin. Dr Tan explains that while we may need to collect animals for identification, we do not collect animals that are readily identified in the field, such as horseshoe crabs and large common molluscs. Animals that are collected will be stored with the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research where they will be available for study by current and future researchers from Singapore and around the world. These painstakingly collected and prepared specimens of Singapore's biodiversity will continue to add to our understanding and protection of our natural heritage for many decades to come!

The Survey, Dr Tan highlighted, has shown that every mudflat we visit is different, although they may look and feel (and smell) the same! It also shows that we never know what to find until we look. Since November 2010, the Survey has covered 31 sites in 15 location. In addition to the surveys done with volunteers, the TMSI team also surveyed some additional sites on their own.

There are plans to revisit some of these sites with volunteers, AND to visit more areas in future including Labrador/Pasir Panjang, the Southern Islands live firing islands, Western Catchment, Simpang, Pulau Punggol, Pulau Ketam and Pulau Tekong.

So far, the target has been to gather qualitative data, i.e., to answer the question "What lifeforms can be found here?". We have yet to consider answering quantitative questions like "How common are they?". The Survey may consider gathering quantitative data for selected sites and for specific animals. It's not possible to count everything!

Seine net surveys are hard work!

So far, the Survey has used sieves to sample buried animals larger than 1-2mm. The TMSI team has also done surveys by seine net. In future, we may sample for tinier animals that live among the sediment grains that are smaller than 1mm! Called meiofauna, they sure look fascinating, through a microscope! Thus the sorting of these teeny tiny critters will have to done in the lab!

So one of the upcoming volunteer opportunities are to help in lab sessions! Volunteers can help sort out the many many samples already collected (only 10% has been sorted out so far!). Help is needed to sort out invertebrates, fishes and meiofauna. Each lab session will last about 2-3 hours. If there is interest, volunteers can also learn to help in specimen preparation. For example, to identify worms, their tiny hairs have to be prepared. For snails, their teeth.

The plans are to hold lab session at TMSI at St. John's Island on these dates and times (to be confirmed)
Time: 0900-1300hrs, depart Pasir Panjang Ferry Terminal 0845hrs
5 volunteers on weekdays and up to 10 volunteers on weekends.

Dates (to be confirmed)
5 Sep (Mon), 30 Sep (Fri)
8 Oct (Sat), 29 Oct (Sat)
19 Nov (Sat), 25 Nov (Sat)

Looking well ahead, in 2012 to 2014, part II of the Survey will include sampling of the seabed within Singapore Port Limits using a scientific research vessel. Volunteers can also help onboard the vessel as well as at the laboratory in sorting and identifying animals.

Also in 2012-2014, part III of the Survey will involve sampling of intertidal and subtidal reefs in Singapore Strait via SCUBA supplemented by reef walks during low tide. Volunteers are needed both in and out of water for sampling invertebrates and fish.

There are also plans to hold two international workshops where local and international experts will be invited to work on Singapore's marine life for 3 weeks. Volunteers will also be needed to help these experts look for marine life and to process the finds. The plan is to hold a Johor Strait workshop in October 2012 and a Singapore Strait workshop in May 2013.

Here's my photos of all of Dr Tan's slides (apologies for the poor photo quality).

13 Aug 2011 Dialogue Session - slideshow dvd

After the exciting session the volunteers enjoyed a lovely lunch prepared by NParks! It was great to catch up with everyone, and to learn about the plans ahead for the Survey.

Registered volunteers, look out for details from Jonathan about these activities via our mailing list!

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.

New survey dates for sign up: Aug-Nov 2011

2011-08-04T15:52:00.000-07:00

Join us for our mudflat surveys at Sungei Buloh, Sungei Cina, Mandai mangroves and Pulau Ubin!

Get muddy, have fun and make a difference for our marine biodiversity!

Latest dates available for sign up:

18 August 2011 (Thursday)
7.30am – 9.30am
Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve

29 August 2011 (Monday)
4pm – 6pm
Sungei Cina rivermouth

9 September 2011 (Friday)
3pm - 5pm
Mandai mangroves

26 September 2011 (Monday)
2pm – 5pm
Pulau Ubin

11 November 2011 (Friday)
3pm – 6pm
Pulau Ubin

24 November 2011 (Thursday)
4pm – 6pm
Mandai mangroves

More details on the Mega Marine Survey mailing list, accessible only to registered volunteers.

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, come for the Mega Marine Survey Dialogue session on 13 Aug (Sat) 11am – 1.30pm at the Singapore Botanic Gardens, Botany Centre, Function Room (map).

13 Aug (Sat): Mega Marine Survey Dialogue Session

2011-07-31T05:55:00.000-07:00

Want to find out more about the Mega Marine Survey?

What are the results of our past mudflat surveys? What are the future plans for the Survey? Find out at this upcoming dialogue session! RSVP by 6 Aug.

Here's the details from Jonathan...

Dear volunteers,

We will be having a dialogue session for all of you, volunteers of the Mega Marine Survey on the 13 August 2011, Saturday. This dialogue will allow us to:

1) Provide updates on the mudflat survey especially regarding the interesting findings.

2) Explain and clarify method (in the field and in the laboratory) that has been used for the mudflat survey and why it is sufficient to meet our needs.

3) Inform on upcoming plans and activities for volunteers to participate in (eg. Laboratory sessions, expedition, upcoming subtidal and seabed surveys).

4) Seek feedback and comments from volunteers.

Everyone is invited for this session, even for those who have not had the chance to join us for our surveys. This session will provide a better idea of why we do the things the way we do them. This will also be an excellent opportunity for all who have comments (we welcome constructive criticisms) to voice them out to us. If you have friends or family who are interested in joining us as volunteers, please do invite them as well.
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Details of the dialogue session:

Date: 13 August 2011 (Saturday)
Time: 11am – 1.30pm (Buffet lunch will be served at 12.30pm)
Venue: Singapore Botanic Gardens, Botany Centre, Function Room (map)

Buffet lunch will be served. Please RSVP by the 6 August 2011 to me at jonathan_ngiam@nparks.gov.sg if you would be attending.

Thank you.
Regards,
Jonathan

Mega Marine Survey featured in the Good Paper

2011-07-22T06:50:00.000-07:00

Our efforts at learning more about Singapore's amazing marine biodiversity has been featured in the Good Paper!

Jonathan's wonderful article "Singapore's marine biodiversity - you have a hand in it" shares lots of details!

Singapore is one of the world's smallest countries, and despite a "tremendous level of coastal and marine modification" it is still home to an amazing diversity of marine life. Among those highlighted by Jonathan: Singapore has 12 of the 23 species of Indo-Pacific seagrass, 31 true mangrove plant species (two-thirds of that in Asia), over 250 species of hard corals (a quarter of the world’s 800 species), over 200 species of sponges, over 60 species of echinoderms. And thanks to Prof Daphne Fautin's recent Anemone Workshop in Singapore, over 50 species of sea anemones (twice that found along the entire western coast of North America)!

Jonathan also adds that "within a ten-year period from 2001 – 2010, we have found 48 species of marine animals that have not been recorded before in Singapore, a new record of a critically-endangered mangrove tree and 31 species of marine animals that are new to science."

Why is this so? Find out more in the online article, which also has a lovely slide show of some of the best moments of the Survey!

17 Jul (Sun): Sharing about the Mega Marine Survey

2011-07-17T05:14:00.000-07:00

Jonathan Ngiam today shared about the Mega Marine Survey in a talk which is part of NPark's “Forests, People, Environment” Exhibition which runs until 24 Jul at the Singapore Botanic Gardens.

It was good to see a nice turnout for the talk!

Entitled "Taking Stock of Singapore's Marine Biodiversity", Jonathan shared lots of interesting facts and great photos about the amazing marine life that can still be seen on our shores today!

There are practical applications for greater knowledge about our marine life. Jonathan shared many intriguing examples ranging from medical to other applications.

He also highlighted how our shores are an important part of Singapore's heritage and soul!

Jonathan outlines some of the many threats to our shores. Despite these, our shores are still very much alive.

It is possible to find a balance between development and marine conservation! Jonathan shared some thoughts about how this is being achieved.

The Mega Marine Survey is an important part of this effort to learn more and do more to conserve our marine biodiversity. Jonathan explained why and how.

Jonathan shared some of the key aims and approaches of the Survey.

We now have over 300 volunteers at the Survey! There are lots of ways we can contribute as ordinary people to this effort!

Jonathan concluded with these encouraging points! Yes, indeed, we CAN be a part of this effort to learn more about our marine biodiversity.

Here's an online powerpoint with more details, shared at the start of the Survey in 2010.

Mega Marine Survey of Singapore

To join the Survey, 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.

Pandan mangroves (5 Jul 2011)

2011-07-06T00:44:00.000-07:00

The team had a Super Muddy Survey at Sungei Pandan! Thanks to Rene Ong, we get a glimpse of what went on. She shared these photos and delightful captions on her Naturely Curious facebook page.

It was a "long muddy march out" through the mangroves Rene says, "many of us fell into traps of "mud holes", myself included".

Rene continues: "Once we were out of the mangrove, the mud is SOFT." It's not easy and Rene salutes the volunteers who came today. "It was tough, she says, "and the next few photos will show you why..."

"Initially everything seems fairly ok, then you start sinking deeper, and deeper, and soon, you end up crawling several metres to the survey site"

Rene is particularly impressed by this volunteer, whom she dubbed "the ultimate mud survivor of the day!" Rene explains: "One of the volunteers suddenly crashed flat down on the mud. Totally exhausted from the crawl and still sinking... guess what she did next?"

For the Survey, the phrase should be ROTML instead of ROTFL!

Despite these trials and tribulations, it seems the enthusiastic volunteers had a great time. There were plenty of smiles at the end of the Survey.

For more of what happened during the Survey, see Rene's photos on her Naturely Curious facebook page. Thank you for sharing them, Rene!

Upcoming trips for the rest of the year have been announced on the mailing list for registered volunteers. 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.

9 Jul (Sat): Talk on "Taking Stock of Singapore’s Marine Biodiversity"

2011-07-04T06:50:00.000-07:00

Linda Goh and Jonathan Ngiam will share about our Mega Marine Survey!

Come to find out more about the Survey!

9 Jul (Sat) 11am-12noon
Function Room (Level 2, Botany Centre, Singapore Botanic Gardens)

Find out more about the Mega Marine Survey and how ordinary people can make a difference in this effort to learn more about Singapore's marine biodiversity!

This talk is part of NPark's “Forests, People, Environment” Exhibition which runs until 24 Jul at the Singapore Botanic Gardens.

Linda and Jonathan will be giving a repeat of this talk on 17 Jul (Sun) 11am-12noon Library of Botany & Horticulture (Level 1, Botany Centre, Singapore Botanic Gardens)

21 Jun (Tue): "The Sea Anemone Lecture" by Dr Daphne Fautin

2011-06-18T02:45:00.000-07:00

Dr Daphne Fautin, world authority on sea anemones, is here to conduct a Sea Anemone Workshop (15-21 Jun) in conjunction with the Comprehensive Marine Biodiversity Survey. She will be giving a public talk at the end of the Workshop.

Dr Daphne on a field trip at Terumbu Semakau to find anemones.

Come for her talk to find out what was discovered at the Workhop! Dr Daphne will speak on the "Hidden treasures of biodiversity: flowers of the marine world (sea anemones)".

Hidden treasures of biodiversity: flowers of the marine world (sea anemones)

Nemo lived in a sea anemone. These animals, which look like harmless flowers, are actually carnivorous that can eat Nemo and other larger prey. Dr Daphne's study of Singapore's sea anemone diversity over the past five years suggests that there about 50 shallow-water species and most of them undocumented until recently.

The sea anemone diversity in Singapore waters include one species that can swim and several that can sting humans. The diversity is so high that it was postulated that Singapore has more species of sea anemones than the entire west coast of north America!

In this talk, Dr Daphne will explore questions like: What allows clownfishes to live in such a hostile environment? What factors are responsible for Singapore having a greater diversity of sea anemones than any area its size anywhere in the world? Where else do sea anemones live? And what role do sea anemones play in nature?

The talk is open to the public, all are welcomed. As places are limited, please register your attendance.

Date: 21 June 2011 (Tue)
Time: 7pm
Venue: Lecture Theatre 23
Science Drive 4,
Dept. of Biological Sciences, NUS
map thanks to N. Sivasothi http://map.sivasothi.com/
Contact: Lin Juanhui linjuanhui@nus.edu.sg

Video clip of the lecture thanks to Andy Dinesh

The Sea Anemone Workshop-Public Lecture : 21June2011 from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.

Kranji (21 May 2011)

2011-05-22T02:41:00.000-07:00

Volunteers are back at Kranji for another muddy survey!

Thanks to Rene Ong, we have a glimpse of what they did and found. It sure looks like they had a very fruitful trip!

According to Rene, this area is not as soft of the stretch of Kranji that was surveyed in January.

The volunteers found all kinds of fishes! A small Mangrove whip ray!

Two Estuarine moray eels!

Rene took a great shot of the eel showing its typical tubular nostrils!

A pretty fish with sparkling spots on the sides.

A tiny fish!

Several Mangrove horseshoe crabs were found! Our shores at Sungei Buloh, Kranji and Mandai seem to be a perfect home for horseshoe crabs.

Many flower crabs were seen, as well as some other kinds of crabs.

A cute orange hermit crab!

Also several different kinds of shrimps.

Here's a shrimp with small orange spots.

And another shrimp with big orange spots!

All kinds of clams!

Also some Mangrove anemones (which have yet to be identified!). And many tiny anemones including many stuck to shells!

As usual, there were lots of bristleworms, also some ribbon worms.

The briefing at the end of the trip is where everyone learns more about what was found!

Although I couldn't attend this Survey as I was with TeamSeagrass at Semakau, thanks to Rene Ong's great photos and captions on facebook, I feel as if I was there!

There's more work to be done after the field session, to process, sort and identify all these fascinating creatures. Look out for more news on how you can help out in this as well.

Upcoming trips for the rest of the year have been announced on the mailing list for registered volunteers. 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.

Join as a day participant in the Sea Anemone Workshop (15-21 Jun)

2011-05-21T04:33:00.001-07:00

A chance for ordinary people to learn about our fascinating sea anemones! These lovely animals are not well studied, thus we know so little about them.

One of the many beautiful but unidentified anemones on our shores.

This is about to change! In June, Dr Daphne Fautin, the world authority on sea anemones, will be in Singapore to conduct a workshop on sea anemones with the Tropical Marine Science Institute. Ordinary people who are interested can join as day participants!

Dr Daphne has been visiting Singapore several times. Recently, she has documented 16 species of anemones on the shores of Singapore, ten of them new occurrence records (here's the paper!). Dr Daphne runs the awesome Hexacorallians of the World website and is a wonderful teacher.

Dr Tan Swee Hee (right) and Dr Daphne Fautin
during her last visit to Singapore in 2009.
Photo taken by James Koh and posted on the Raffles Museum News blog.

The upcoming sea anemone workshop is part of the recently launched Comprehensive Marine Biodiversity Survey of Singapore in collaboration with the National Parks Board, National Biodiversity Centre.

The workshop aims to impart skills and knowledge to identity tropical sea anemones effectively. This workshop focuses on hands-on laboratory sessions. Field trips will also be conducted.

Awesome science behind understanding anemones! More

Ordinary people can join the workshop!

Day participants can join the workshop at $25 per half day session. As a day participant you can only attend the lectures. For the laboratory sessions, you can observe the session but not participate in the activities. You do not need to attend all 7 days of the lectures. You can choose which days to attend, but you need to confirm with the organisers again closer to the date of the workshop.

Places for day participants are limited, so register fast!

Among the fascinating topics that Dr Daphne will cover are:

15 Jun (Wed)
1330hrs: Introduction to sea anemone biology and morphology
1600hrs: Introduction to sea anemone taxonomy

16 Jun (Thu)
1000-1100hrs: A review of anemones found/ recorded in Singapore.
1400-1500hrs: Histological techniques 1: Relaxing, preservation and fixation of specimens

17 Jun (Fri)
1100-1200hrs: Introduction to nematocysts and its use in taxonomy
1545- 1645hrs: Introduction to taxonomic publications. Discuss on nomenclature vs taxonomy

18 Jun (Sat)
1400hrs: Histological techniques 2: Embedding, trimming and sectioning

19 Jun (Sun)
0845-0945hrs: Introduction to sea anemone phylogeny and techniques.
1615-1715hrs: Ecology of sea anemones.

20 Jun (Mon)
0845-0945hrs: Histological techniques 3 – Rehydration, staining and introduction to reagents involved
1515-1545hrs: Natural History Museums and the cataloging specimens

The $25 fee includes the 20-minute boat ride between Pasir Panjang Ferry Terminal and St. John's Island, where the workshop is being held.

Boat schedule for day participants attending the workshop

Monday-Thursday
Departure from Pasir Panjang Ferry Terminal: 9am and 1pm
Departure from St. John's Island: 12.30pm and 6pm

Friday
Departure from Pasir Panjang Ferry Terminal: 9am and 12noon
Departure from St. John's Island: 12.30pm and 6pm

Saturday
Departure from Pasir Panjang Ferry Terminal: 11.30am
Departure from St. John's Island: 6pm

Sunday
Departure from Pasir Panjang Ferry Terminal: 8am and 1pm
Departure from St. John's Island: 12.30pm, 6pm and 9pm (TBA)

More details on the workshop on the TMSI website and in this PDF which includes registration forms. Pre-registration is required.

Or come for Dr Daphne's public talk about anemones!

If you cannot make it for the workshop, do try to come for Dr Daphne's guest lecture at NUS on 21 Jun (Tue) at 6pm. Venue to be announced. Pre-registration for this talk is required. Please register with Ms Lin Juanhui tmslinj@nus.edu.sg.

I'm really looking forward to this exciting workshop!

Volunteers speak about the Mega Marine Survey

2011-04-26T06:53:00.000-07:00

What do volunteers at the Mega Marine Survey have to say about their experience so far?
The Comprehensive Marine Biodiversity Survey is featured in the latest My Green Space newsletter (Issue 9 Vol 2/2011) by NParks!

In Getting Up Close With Marine Biodiversity we hear from the volunteers for the mudflat surveys who have been literally knee-deep in mud, helping to uncover what organisms are living in the mudflats all over Singapore.

Volunteers Terry and Jane Heppell shared: “We enjoy volunteering our time and effort to a worthwhile cause. It’s also great to have the opportunity, first hand, to see and sometimes feel, the weird and wonderful creatures found on our shoreline, and as a bonus to get a little information from the experts. Of course, we also enjoy meeting like-minded individuals.”

Another volunteer, Cliff Ho, finds the CMBS “an exciting, growing and enjoyable experience”. “It is truly gratifying to serve a cause,” he said.

Find out more in the latest My Green Space newsletter (Issue 9 Vol 2/2011)!

Lim Chu Kang (16 Apr 2011)

2011-04-16T06:30:00.000-07:00

Another small team of enthusiastic volunteers gather today to find out what lives in the soft mudflats of Lim Chu Kang.

At the meeting point, we are welcomed by several friendly dogs! So sorry, we have no doggy food for you!

It rained heavily earlier, so the day was cool and overcast. A perfect setting for a mud bath. On the horizon, across the Johor Strait is Johor.

After exhaustingly and exhaustively mining the mud around the stream, we start to check out the rest of the soft squishy mud flats.

There are lots and lots of Onch slugs on the shore. I get a pot full of them in no time.

Here's a closer look at an Onch slug busy slurping up stuff from the mud, leaving a trail of poop behind it. Mud creatures are gross but fascinating!

Wow, Kwang Liak has found a strange mangrove anemone! It's bizarre! Full of bumps on the body column. It does look like the Plain anemone that we sometimes see on our other shores. This sea anemone has yet to be identified!

Later on, I found another of these strange anemones. Here's what it looks like while it's still in the mud.

The rest of the team found MORE of these anemones! For a grand total of five of them! Bravo!

Wow, someone has found a scorpionfish! Could it be the Stargazer waspfish or Mangrove waspfish? We also found a little mudskipper and other small fishes.

There weren't so many bristleworms in this mudflat, although we did find lots of Ribbon worms.

We even found some animals that look like sea cucumbers! Ken Jin also found some brittlestars under a piece of wood. The first time we have found echinoderms on a mangrove mudflat. So exciting!

Rene is hard at work taking photos of us and of the animals that we find. Check out her photos on facebook.

Soon it was time to pack up and sort out our finds.

Before we go, Dr Ng from the Tropical Marine Science Institute tells us more about our finds, and explains more about the purpose of the Survey.

Here's a little clip of Dr Ng's explanations.

And here's a group photo of the muddy but happy team after the Survey.

There's no washing up facilities at this site, so we try to get as clean as possible in a little mangrove stream.

Here's a little clip of us at work and washing up afterwards.

Another satisfying survey with lots of exciting finds!

Other posts about this trip

Rene on facebook with volunteers at work and what we found.

There's more work to be done after the field session, to process, sort and identify all these fascinating creatures. Look out for more news on how you can help out in this as well.

Upcoming trips for the rest of the year have been announced on the mailing list for registered volunteers. 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.

Mandai mangroves (10 Apr 2011)

2011-04-10T04:41:00.000-07:00

Early Sunday morning, a group of enthusiastic volunteers gather to survey a sandy stream at Mandai mangroves.

It's a lovely cool morning, with lots of big mangrove trees around us, and NO soft mud! Hurray!

To get to the mangroves, we plough through a lallang field, walk a little way along the railway tracks, hop through some mud before getting to the lovely stream for our survey.

Here's the team of volunteers all ready to do the survey!

Compared to our most recent trips with super soft mud, this survey was a breeze! The large lovely Sungei Mandai Besar with a nice firm sandy bed allows us to easily do our work.

Here's a little clip of the team getting started on the survey.

In the mangroves, this is our 'locker' for mud-free storage of our bags.

This mangrove has the railway on one side, and a heavy industry area on the other. So what kind of creatures can we find here?

As usual, the mud is teeming with worms! In the harder mud, there are lots and lots of crabs! We find several different kinds.

And this looks like a Mound crab (Sarmatium germaini), which is listed as Endangered in the Red List of Singapore plants and animals. Wow!

A lot of flatworms have also been found!

The sandy stream is full of tiny little snails!

And lots and LOTS of big juicy looking clams. These are Geloina clams (Geloina sp.) also called Lokan, which Dr Tan first explained to us at the Admiralty Park survey.

We also found two little gobies. This is one of them.

We also come across many Mangrove horseshoe crabs (Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda). Most of them were males (in which the first pair of legs have bulbous pincers which are used to hang onto the female). We only saw two females (which lack the bulbous pincers). More photos of the male and female legs of horseshoe crabs.

We release the horseshoe crabs after Shufen takes photos of them. The transect tape comes in handy to show their size.

Volunteers also take photos with the horseshoe crabs before they are released.

The much awaited highlight of any survey is the final debrief by Dr Tan Koh Siang from the Tropical Marine Science Institute as he explains more about what we have found.

It's also a chance for everyone to take a closer look at the many fascinating creatures we have found!

The most exciting find was little yellow spheres which might be horseshoe crab eggs! These were found in the sandy areas which as Dr Tan explains is not that common in mangroves. Wow, we are discovering all kinds of fascinating things about our mangroves by taking a closer look at the mudflats! More about horseshoe crabs at Mandai and Kranji on the wild shores of singapore blog.

Sean took a video clip showing movement inside the egg!

Here's some excerpts of Dr Tan's briefing where he explains the special features of the mangroves at Mandai, and highlights two special finds: a 'Miso-clam' which he hasn't seen in Singapore for many years, and the horseshoe crab eggs!

And here's the team of volunteers at the end of another satisfying survey!

The video clips were taken with the awesome FLIP video camera kindly supplied by Shaun Quek of Cisco through the introduction of fellow volunteer Sam Yeo.

Other posts about this trip

Sean on facebook with horseshoe crabs, their eggs and more. Also a video clip of something moving inside the horseshoe crab egg.

There's more work to be done after the field session, to process, sort and identify all these fascinating creatures. Look out for more news on how you can help out in this as well.

Upcoming trips for the rest of the year have been announced on the mailing list for registered volunteers. Exciting destinations include Lim Chu Kang mangroves.

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.

Pandan mangroves (30 Mar 2011)

2011-03-30T06:03:00.000-07:00

A very small team of volunteers gathered to find out what is in the mud at the Pandan mangroves on a blue-sky weekday.

The mud is very soft here!

The narrow slice of Pandan mangroves lies at the edge of a major road, Jalan Buroh, with a bridge over Sungei Pandan. The seaward side of Sungei Pandan is taken up by shipyards and other shipping work. The yellow arrow shows where we worked today.

The mangroves seem large though, when we are knee deep in soft mud!

After a briefing by Dr Tan Koh Siang from the Tropical Marine Science Institute (TMSI), we head out for the survey area. As usual, the line is laid near running water so that it's easier to wash off the mud in the sieve to find the tiny creatures that live here.

The mud is really REALLY soft! But some of the volunteers have quickly reached the line and are all ready to start!

Here's a clip of us getting started, and finishing the survey. It's hot work trudging around in the soft mud!

As usual, at the end of the trip, we eagerly await to hear from Dr Tan about what we have found.

Even before we began, we noticed weird blobs of jelly all over the mud. Dr Tan says they are probably the eggs of some kind of slug!

Andy shared this video clip of the blobs with tiny creatures stuck in them.

slug egg blobs @ Pandan Mangroves 30Mar2011 from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.

Here's a clip of his explanation of the dominant creatures that we found in the mud.

Other finds include a baby scorpionfish, horseshoe crabs and all kinds of clams and snails. Rene and Andy took photos on this trip (while I dug around in the mud), so we'll have a look at their photos soon.

We forgot to take a group photo before we got totally muddy. Despite the hot weather, nasty soft mud, seems like everyone had a great time!

Jonathan, who looks after the volunteers at the Survey, is as usual busy taking care of everyone and hauling huge piles of equipment.

Bian gives a much needed hand to us as we heave out of the mud at the end of the trip.

The Singapore Rowing Association that is located near the mangroves have kindly allowed us to use their facilities to wash up. And we sure do need a good wash up!

Bravo to all the volunteers who turned up for this first survey of Pandan mangroves mudflat!

The video clips were taken with the awesome FLIP video camera kindly supplied by Shaun Quek of Cisco through the introduction of fellow volunteer Sam Yeo.

Other posts about this trip

Ria with jelly blobs and horseshoe crabs.
Rene on facebook with lots of photos of the volunteers at work and some of the creatures we found: baby scorpionfish, crabs, snails, horseshoe crabs and more!

There's more work to be done after the field session, to process, sort and identify all these fascinating creatures. Look out for more news on how you can help out in this as well.

Upcoming trips for the rest of the year have been announced on the mailing list for registered volunteers. Exciting destinations include Mandai mangroves and Lim Chu Kang mangroves.

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.

Pulau Ubin (12 Feb 11)

2011-02-12T06:53:00.000-08:00

It's our first 'overseas' trip!

Another team of enthusiastic volunteers head out early this morning to check out a mudflat on Pulau Ubin.

Here we are at Pulau Ubin, ready for some muddy action!

A short stroll through the scenic rural countryside of Pulau Ubin, and we soon reach our site: an old prawn pond.

Dr Tan Koh Siang from the Tropical Marine Science Institute (TMSI) gives us a briefing on what to expect on the mudflats. While Jonathan gives the safety briefing.

Then it was time to get to work. Dr Tan is already in the mud, setting up the transect line. The TMSI people are mudskippers!

Today, because the mud is very VERY soft here, we have an extra introduction to the methods.

As well as encouraging advice on how to survive and work on soft mud. "If you get stuck, get down on your knees, crawl a bit, and you should be fine" about sums it up. Throughout the morning, we are regaled by the melodious song of the globally endangered Straw-headed bulbul, which resounds throughout the clip!

The team then gamely gets right down to it! The most comfortable way to work is simply to sit on the mud.

Dr Tan is well embedded in the mud at the end of the transect line.

The mud gets well past the knees! After a while, it's like standing in concrete.

Everyone hard at work!

Its lots of hard work sieving and washing and picking, in the hot sun! Among the creatures found were lots of little hermit crabs, as well as lots of snails.

An octopus has been found! A mantis shrimp was seen! As well as lots of pretty goby with bright blue spots, shrimps and snapping shrimps. But much fewer worms and clams. This mudflat is certainly very different from the others we have done! Antonius shares lots of better photos of the creatures we found on facebook.

Dr Tan once again shares more about our findings.

And everyone declares that they had fun in the mud! What a great team of volunteers!

Another scenic walk back to civilisation.

While some of us try to clean up in the ponds nearby.

We are REALLY muddy!

Our mud-covered state literally stops other visitors in their tracks!

Then it was time for a good scrub at the washing area, and a very well deserved lunch at Changi!

The video clips were taken with the awesome FLIP video camera kindly supplied by Shaun Quek of Cisco through the introduction of fellow volunteer Sam Yeo.

More photos thanks to these team members:

Andy Dinesh's blog more on the muddy team.
Antonius Mak on facebook much better photos of our findings, plus hornbill at the mangroves.
Ahmad Syalabi on facebook and wacky photos of fun in the mud with hilarious captions.

There's more work to be done after the field session, to process, sort and identify all these fascinating creatures. Look out for more news on how you can help out in this as well.

The next trips will be announced soon on the mailing list for registered volunteers.

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.

Admiralty Park, Sungei Cina field survey (26 Jan 11)

2011-01-26T04:24:00.000-08:00

It's a sunny morning after a drizzly start, and another enthusiastic team have gathered for another mangrove Survey, even though it's a weekday! What awesome volunteers we have!

Dr Tan Koh Siang welcomes the team as they arrive at the site.

Today, we are having a closer look at the mangroves at Sungei Cina in Admiralty Park.

Here's the clean and happy team before we head down the very slippery slope to the mud flats.

All ready for muddy action!

Safety is a priority at the Survey. Jonathan gives a safety briefing before we start work. For the safety of participants as well as to minimise our impact on the mangroves and wildlife. And watch out for the mangrove pit vipers!

As usual, Dr Tan Koh Siang and his able team from the Tropical Marine Science Institute have already set up the transect line and prepared all the gear by the time we hit the mud.

The line stretches over some areas of varying muddiness: from not-so-soft, to super soft!

The line passes next to a mangrove stream.

The stream drains into a large pond that eventually leads to the sea under the road. It's great that effort has been made to conserve this mangrove in developing the area.

This mangrove in a hidden corner of Admiralty Park is quite lovely!

It's the usual Fun the Mud! Dig and Sieve, Pick and Sort. Then washing, ourselves and the transect tape, but most of us still have impressively muddy feet when we leave!

Here's some team members hard at work.

The team works hard even through the rain!

Travis dropped by to check up on us as he had an appointment at the nearby Republic Poly. He didn't bring his booties so he stayed on the bridge and helped out by explaining what we are doing to curious passers-by.

The team finds all kinds of critters along the transect line.

As usual, we get lots and lots and lots of bristleworms or polychaetes (Class Polychaeta)! As Dr Tan explains, these worms are important as part of the food chain. Which is why mangroves such as those at Sungei Buloh have such a great variety of shorebirds.

There were also lots of snails (Class Gastropoda) such as the large conical Telescopium snails (Telescopium telescopium) and other mangrove snails too!

We also found lots of Geloina clams (Geloina sp.) also called Lokan, and previously known as Polymesoda sp. Dr Tan later tells us more about these fascinating clams, summarised in the clip below. He tells us how you can keep them in a drawer for a month! And how a healthy population of these clams are not commonly seen nowadays. So our Survey has already revealed something useful today!

A tiny fish has been found! There were also lots of tiny fish larvae! Our mangroves are an important part of the lifecycle of many of our favourite seafood like shrimps and crabs and food fishes!

One of the bristleworms has dark spots. Something it ate? There's so much more to learn about our mangroves.

As the humans forage on the mud, behind them ...

Monkeys are also on the mud foraging! More about these monkeys today on the wild shores of singapore blog.

It's a very muddy trip! Here's our booties before the Survey...

Here's what our feet look like after the Survey!

The team has been so sporting and cheery throughout the Survey. Even little accidents in the mud doesn't get us down! Hurray!

Finally, we get to take a group photo AFTER the Survey, with our feet still muddy!

Still full of energy after a muddy time in the mangroves!

The video clips were taken with the awesome FLIP video camera kindly supplied by Shaun Quek of Cisco through the introduction of fellow volunteer Sam Yeo.

There's more work to be done after the field session, to process, sort and identify all these fascinating creatures. Look out for more news on how you can help out in this as well.

Our next session is at Pulau Ubin 12 Feb (Sat). While this slot is already fully signed up, more surveys will be announced.

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.

First Workshop by Visiting Scientists: Sea Anemone Workshop Singapore, 15 – 21 June, 2011

2011-01-17T22:14:00.000-08:00

Workshops by Visiting Scientists are an integral part of the Comprehensive Marine Biodiversity Survey of Singapore.

Dr Tan Swee Hee (right) and Dr Daphne Fautin
during her last visit to Singapore in 2009.
Photo taken by James Koh and posted on the Raffles Museum News blog.

Dr Daphne Fautin will be returning to Singapore to conduct the Sea Anemone Workshop in June!

Dr Daphne Fautin is a sea anemone biologist whose major research interests include the taxonomy and systematics of sea anemones, and their symbiotic relationships with other organisms. Recently, Dr Fautin has examined the symbiotic relationship of a new species of anemone with sand-dwelling gastropods from Saipan. In addition, she has documented 16 species of anemones on the shores of Singapore, ten of them new occurrence records. She maintains the database Hexacorallians of the World (http://hercules.kgs.ku.edu/hexacoral/anemone2/index.cfm) that holds an inventory of documented species of anemones and their allies.

The workshop is organized by the Tropical Marine Science Institute and the Raffles Museum for Biodiversity Research, National University of Singapore and will be held at St John’s Island Marine Laboratory, Tropical Marine Science Institute.

The workshop aims to impart to participants the necessary skills and knowledge to identity tropical sea anemones effectively. This workshop focuses on hands-on laboratory sessions where participants will learn to prepare collected anemone specimens for identification, including through histological examination. Field trips will also be conducted during the course of the workshop to complement the laboratory work and to generate discussions on anemone ecology and habitats. The workshop program will focus on:

The full workshop program consists of a seven-day residential course covering lectures, laboratory work and field trips. Due to logistic constraints, only eight places are offered for full participants. Priority will be given to postgraduate students and researchers conducting studies in anemone biology or undertaking taxonomic and biodiversity studies of sea anemones.

More details on the RMBR news blog.

More about Dr Daphne's last trip Great Anemone Hunt in Singapore including a behind-the-scenes look at the hard work done in identifiying sea anemones.

Mega Marine in the news!

2011-01-16T00:46:00.001-08:00

Our field trip yesterday is in today's Sunday Times! In a great article by Lin Yang with photos by Alphonsus Chern.
I love this photo of Ivan Ong and the Very Long Ribbon Worm!

Cliff Ho also shared about his volunteer experience in Uncovering life in Sungei Buloh's mud Volunteers search for marine life at reserve's mudflats in 1st NParks biodiversity survey, by Lin Yang Sunday Times 16 Jan 11.

Full article also on wildsingapore news.

Kranji field survey (15 Jan 2011)

2011-01-15T04:54:00.000-08:00

Another overwhelming turnout of intrepid volunteers for our second field survey and our first for 2011. Bravo!

All ready for muddy action!

Thanks to Linda and Jonathan for setting up everything for our work, and Bari of Sungei Buloh for arranging the transport of equipment and taking care of us. And Dr Tan Koh Siang and his able team from the Tropical Marine Science Institute who have everything ready for action too!

A cooking class gone mad? No, it's our simple tools for the survey.

After short briefing, Dr Tan leads us out on to the mudflats!

Today we do a shore facing the Johor Strait with Johor on the horizon.

The team quickly gets to work along the transect line.

We work in pairs. There's lots to do!

Here's a clip of us getting to work, taken with the awesome FLIP video camera kindly supplied by Shaun Quek of Cisco through the introduction of fellow volunteer Sam Yeo. It's hard work digging up the lifeforms carefully. Sometimes, we encounter buried trash. Oh dear.

After digging out mud samples, we have to carefully sieve out the mud and then pick out all the interesting lifeforms. We also take a sample of the mud there so we can learn more about how the substrate affects our biodiversity and visa versa.

We rapidly find all kinds of things as we work! Meanwhile, there's lots of people taking photos, and Andy helped take FLIP video clips too.

Ooo...what is that?!

After the hard work of digging and sieving and picking out, Dr Tan's team and some of the volunteers do more back-breaking work to sort out the finds into the various different kinds of animals.

It's mind-boggling to see the assortment of life found
in a small location and just a short working time!

Among some of the finds, lots and lots of bristleworms, several long pink ribbon worms, Lantern shells, little hermit crabs with anemones on their shells, crabs, shrimps and more!

There were many of these clams.

Dr Tan Koh Siang tells us lots of fascinating facts about the creatures we have found!

Many of the mangrove species are yummy for people to eat.
And definitely yummy for the food chain in the ecosystem!

Here's a video clip of Dr Tan explaining about some of our finds.

Once again, the weather turned wet but fortunately, we had put in lots of work. We packed up quickly and headed back, just in time before the deluge started.

Today, we were also joined by some very sporting journalists and their photographers. So look out for more news about the Survey in the local papers!

Near the Survey site, Wei Ling found large meadows of the Critically Endangered Beccari's seagrass (Halophila beccarii)! Some of us also checked out the rare mangroves in the area, and saw otters at Sungei Buloh. More on the wild shores of singapore blog.

There's more work to be done after the field session, to process, sort and identify all these fascinating creatures. Look out for more news on how you can help out in this as well.

Our next sessions are at Sungei Cina 26 Jan (Wed) and Pulau Ubin 12 Feb (Sat). While these two slots are already fully signed up, more surveys will be announced.

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.

Mega Marine Survey in the news!

2010-12-06T23:19:00.000-08:00

We're in the news today!
Singapore starts comprehensive marine biodiversity survey Mustafa Shafawi Channel NewsAsia 7 Dec 10;

Study on Singapore marine life, First extensive Singapore survey Straits Times 7 Dec 10;

Singapore to conduct biodiversity survey on marine ecosystem
S Mustafa Today Online 8 Dec 10

3-year marine life census under way It is hoped that the database will help preserve biodiversity amid development, Amresh Gunasingham Straits Times 10 Dec 10;

Full media articles on wildsingapore news.

NParks media releases

Marine biodiversity survey on track
NParks website 07 Dec 2010

Singapore, 7 December 2010: Singapore has many marine treasures waiting to be documented. Some of these have yet to be discovered and are waiting to be found. For example, did you know that there are mud lobsters in our mangroves and that half the number of seagrass species in the Indo-Pacific region can be found within Singapore's waters? In the last two years, a species of sponge new to science was discovered in Singapore's shallow waters. These are just some amazing plant and animal life that will soon be recorded under Singapore's first Comprehensive Marine Biodiversity Survey.

Led by the National Parks Board (NParks), and partnering experts from tertiary institutions, non-governmental organisations and individual enthusiasts, the survey will take stock of Singapore's marine ecosystem, species diversity and distribution over three years. The survey is targeted to be completed by December 2013.

Prof Leo Tan, Chairman of Garden City Fund said, "We are highly encouraged and grateful for the good multi-party support that the survey has received, from volunteers and corporations. As this national project will benefit everybody, we would like to invite more public and private sector support for the survey."

Organisations supporting the survey include Shell Companies in Singapore and the Care-for-Nature Trust Fund. Shell Companies in Singapore has donated S$500,000 to the National University of Singapore (NUS) for conservation activities, of which S$300,000 will go towards bringing in scientific experts for this survey. The Care-for-Nature Trust Fund has pledged S$250,000 to finance equipment required for the survey.

"We are as proud of the rich marine biodiversity found around our shores as our long and deep heritage in Singapore", said Mr Lee Tzu Yang, Chairman, Shell Companies in Singapore. "Shell has enjoyed 120 successful years in Singapore, and we are proud to support this national survey to help protect and sustain our natural environment for all generations to enjoy."

Work on the survey has already commenced. Sites with coastal and marine habitats around Singapore have been identified and mapped, using satellite images. They are further validated through the ongoing biodiversity surveys conducted at these sites, including Chek Jawa, Cyrene Reefs and Pulau Semakau.

More than 80 volunteers, co-managed by NParks and volunteer Ms Ria Tan, have come forward to register their interest and support. They will be participating in various aspects of the survey, such as photography, outdoor field sampling and collection, specimen processing, database support and organising outreach programmes. NParks is working with NUS to train the volunteers.

Ms Ria Tan said, "I am very encouraged by the enthusiastic response from the public to help with the survey. The volunteers come from all walks of life. They range from seasoned green supporters to first timers. This is a great opportunity for all in Singapore to come together, and learn and share about nature in urban Singapore."

Noting the importance of collective action in environmental conservation, Mr Richard Hale, Chairman of the Management Committee for the Care-For-Nature Trust Fund said, "It takes many hands to protect the environment upon which our prosperity depends on, and the Care-for-Nature Trust Fund is proud to be a part of this survey. We certainly hope that the survey will promote greater awareness of the rich biodiversity in Singapore and the need to conserve our environment, as this is precisely what the Care-for-Nature Trust Fund is all about."

Comprehensive Marine Biodiversity Survey Of Singapore
NParks website 7 Dec 10;

Background - Why the survey

Singapore is one of the busiest ports in the world. Yet we have very rich marine biodiversity. Singapore's waters harbour some 250 species of hard corals, or a third of the world's hard coral species. Half the number of seagrass species in the Indo-Pacific region can be found within Singapore�s waters. More than 100 species of inter-tidal sponges have been recorded and many more are likely to be observed in the survey.

We have achieved this through delicately balancing development and biodiversity conservation, which is something that we will need to continue doing given our limited space and resources.

In order for Singapore to remain a sustainable coastal city as we continue to urbanise, we need to better integrate the management of our coastal and marine environments. The start to this is to know comprehensively and understand our marine biodiversity, what we have, where they are and how best to conserve them.

What is the Comprehensive Marine Biodiversity Survey

The Comprehensive Marine Biodiversity Survey (CMBS) will take stock of Singapore's marine ecosystem and species diversity, species distribution and abundance over three years from end 2010 to end 2013.

The survey, led by the National Parks Board (NParks), will bring together the larger community of experts from tertiary institutions, non-governmental organisations and individual enthusiasts.

Shell Companies in Singapore has donated S$500,000 to the National University of Singapore for conservation activities, of which S$300,000 will go towards bringing in scientific experts for this survey. The Care-for-Nature Trust Fund has sponsored S$250,000 to the Garden City Fund, which will finance equipment required for the survey.

Also featured in these other online resources

First field survey at Sungei Buloh (2 Dec 10)

2010-12-02T03:25:00.000-08:00

Today is the FIRST field session of the Comprehensive Marine Biodiversity Survey! And a very enthusiastic team from all walks of life have gathered at Sungei Buloh to check out the mudflats there.

All ready for muddy action!

Mudflats are very important habitats for all kinds of animals. Such as shorebirds like the pretty white egrets that were foraging on the mudflats today at Sungei Buloh. Although we may not think icky worms are fun, they are the reason why other more attractive wildlife can be found in our shores.

Vast mudflats at the ponds near the Main Hide.

At the Visitor Centre, there is a display showing all the yummy bird food found in the mudflats. The different kinds of shorebirds have different types of bills to catch different prey. So the same mudflat can feed a wide variety of animals. Today, we are going to get a glimpse of what lives in these mudflats!

Before we start, we have a little safety briefing. Safety is a big priority for our field sessions. Then as we head out, various hazards are pointed out to us. THERE, for example, is the crocodile! It is lurking close to our survey site. But Sungei Buloh staff are at hand to keep a watch on it.

And HERE, is the highly venomous Mangrove pit viper! It looks just like a mangrove branch or root, so we have to be careful where we put our hand.

The viper hardly moves so it's hard to spot!

Everyone has a closer look at the pit viper.

It's a very short walk to our survey site. We carefully make our way down onto the mudflats.

The mudflat is full of life! It is dotted everywhere with tiny little Red berry snails! Also, lots and lots of tiny crabs. The trees are full of snails as well! So we try not to trample while we work.

Dr Tan Koh Siang and his able team from the Tropical Marine Science Institute tell us how to do the survey.

Here's all our tools! We have spades to dig out the mud, which we carefully put into a sieve and wash in the water nearby to get whatever is living in the mud.

We split up into teams of two or three.

Swee Cheng lays out the transect line near the water line. Being near the water makes it easier to wash away the mud in the sieve.

Near the water line, the mud is much much softer! Linda gives a helping hand to make sure everyone gets down safely.

As we work furiously, a Malayan water monitor is nearby trying very hard to eat a dead fish it has found. It is totally ignoring the busy team. Amazing!

It started to drizzle just as we began. But this didn't stop the determined team. We just put on our ponchos and got to work!

Here's the teams lined up along the transect line.

It's hard work mucking in the mud.

Especially with Jonathan taking real close up photos of you.

A determined family working hard in the drizzle.

It's back breaking work, the Heppells later tell me. I agree! So bravo to everyone!

A big problem with soft mud is that you can get stuck in it. Linda and Jonathan show us how to get out of a sticky situation.

You can use a wide bucket to distribute your weight on the soft mud and crawl out. Or as Jonathan shows, you can walk on your knees.

And here's some of the critters we found!

We take a short break while Dr Tan shares about some of our finds. We've found interesting stuff including some fascinating clams with eyes!

Ooo, and what is this?

We try to take a pretty photo of them in clean seawater. It's a bit hard to make mud creatures look nice. Among some of the finds, we have a green segmented bristleworm (Dr Tan explains it is because it has copper in its blood), with pink bristleworms (because they have iron in their blood). Also many long unsegmented pink Ribbon worms, some flatworms. Many different kinds of snails, little hermit crabs, also a tiny tiny horseshoe crab. Dr Tan suggests these animals look better in a video. Linda took some clips.

Bravo, Peanut worms have been found! These are yet another kind of unsegmented worm which are quite relished by animals. They look like delicious sausages. In fact, some humans eat them, and peanut worms were once so plentiful in Singapore that they were collected and fed to ducks. While we were looking them, one of peanut worms squirted out a dark fluid from its rear end. We're not sure whether it's poop or some sort of defensive substance.

Another fascinating find at the line was this fish. It looks like the Estuarine moray eel. Eels have a pair of tubular nostrils and tiny eyes. This fish is a predator with many sharp teeth in its mouth.

See the tiny tubular nostrils?

Alas, while we were making our second foray into the mud, the weather turned for the worst. Lightning in the distance, and Big Rain swept in over the work site. We quickly washed up at the water points so kindly provided by Sungei Buloh. This is royal treatment which we appreciate very much. We cannot enjoy such luxury at other sites!

What luxury! Washing up water, and tables and chairs!

Back at the Visitor Centre, we have another round of washing up, in the rain!

The rain has its uses though, a free bootie auto wash!

Despite the rain and the hard work, everyone was in high spirits at the end of the trip. What a great team! And thanks also to the wonderful support from Sungei Buloh!

Check out Rene's great photos of our session on the Mega Marine Survey flickr group.

There's more work to be done after the field session, to process, sort and identify all these fascinating creatures. Look out for more news on how you can help out in this as well.

Our next sessions is at Kranji mangroves on 15 Jan (Sat) afternoon. 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.

Launch of the Survey! (26 Nov 10)

2010-11-26T06:45:00.000-08:00

A very large group of enthusiastic volunteers gathered for the official launch of the Comprehensive Marine Biodiversity Survey of Singapore!

It was really exciting to learn more about how the Survey came about, and the plans for the months ahead!

Linda Goh, Assistant Director (National Biodiversity Centre) NParks begins the session by introducing Jonathan Ngiam, Senior Project Officer who will be managing the Comprehensive Marine Biodiversity Survey.

Mr Wong Tuan Wah, Director (Conservation) NParks shared about some of the supporters and contributors of the Survey, from the volunteers to the sponsors and partners in this unique historic effort. It will be first time we will be attempting to find out what is out there in our waters from the high water mark to the seabed!

How fortunate we were to have Mr Francis Lee, Chairman of the International Year of the Reef 2008 Singapore Organising Committee, who led the effort to come up with the Singapore Blue Plan which was eventually submitted and accepted by the government. In particular, Minister Mah Bow Tan supported one of the Blue Plan's proposals, which was to have a comprehensive survey of our marine biodiversity. And here we are today, embarking on this great effort!

Francis encourages us to read the full Blue Plan which can be downloaded here.

Linda then proceeds to explain in great detail the objectives of the Survey. Here's some of the highlights of her presentation.

NParks will lead the survey with many partners and supporters.

Of course volunteers are an important part and the Survey provides a unique opportunity for ordinary people to make a difference and contribute to a better understanding of our marine biodiversity. It's a great chance to learn and share about our marine life and be a part of a community who cares about our shores.

And we now already have more than 80 volunteers registered with the Survey! From all walks of life, but joined by a passion for our marine life!

Then it was time for Dr Tan Koh Siang of the Tropical Marine Science Institute to tell us more about our first effort in the survey, to check out the mudflats!

Dr Tan also shares why we are so interested in mudflats. Although we have a lot of mudflats, we don't know all too much about them. Mudflats are also an important marine ecosystem.

And here's our objectives on the mudflats.

It will be hard work, but we hope to find out more about what is out there! Besides field work, there is also a lot of work to be done in the lab, and in essential support work such as data entry. Volunteers will most definitely be able to make a difference in many ways!

We will be looking at about 20 different sites in Singapore! Wow, we sure have a lot of mudflats!

Field work will involve some back-breaking work, and getting really muddy. But I'm sure lots of volunteers can't wait to get out there to see what we will find!

Of course, safety is a priority. I really like Dr Tan's advice about what to do when we get stuck in the mud!

Dr Tan then outlines, literally, more about how we will actually conduct the work on the mudflats. It sounds exciting!

Earlier on, we enjoyed some refreshments before the briefing! And took the time to catch up with old friends and meet new ones.

The slides given at the launch will soon be uploaded on this blog.

Don't worry if you missed this presentation. There will be on-the-job training during the actual survey dates and dates of other activities.

What's next?

The first Forays into the Mud are below

2 Dec (Thurs) 12.30pm - 3.30pm at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve
15 Jan (Sat) 1pm at Kranji Mangroves

To join the Survey, please first register via this form. You will then get an invitation to join the Mega Marine yahoo groups mailing list. You can then sign up for the event on the yahoo groups database. Updates and other information will also be sent via the yahoo groups mailing list.

More about the Mega Marine Survey

2010-08-05T17:08:00.000-07:00

Here's a powerpoint presentation about the Mega Marine Survey, kindly shared by NParks...

Mega Marine Survey of Singapore

Find out more about the action plan, operational set up and deliverables of the Survey!

First news of the Mega Marine Survey!

2010-08-03T04:30:00.000-07:00

"A three-year national-scale survey of marine life in Singapore, the first such exercise in South-east Asia, will be done here from next month. It will make an audit of plant and animal life, starting with that in the mangrove mudflats to the zone between the high- and low-tide marks, the offshore coral reefs and even the sea floor, 20m down." reported the Straits Times on 9 Jul 10.

"Doing it will take many hands - the National Parks Board (NParks), local scientists, green groups, non-governmental groups, volunteers and students, backed up by international experts."

Read the full report here.

The Survey was also featured on Lianhe Zaobao 9 Jul 10!

See full pdf on google docs

See also the official NParks media release (pdf on google docs).