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.
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