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!
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