Marine Life in Singapore: What’s It About?

(Image source)

Sister’s Island, Edited by me

It’s the start of recess week and time for a break. Now, imagine yourself looking through options for a dive holiday, which can be intimidating with the sheer number of choices. It’s no surprise travel planning’s stressful, especially with the fear (or adrenaline) when you’re going to try something new.

Perhaps staying home’s better, but… what’s here? Based on this, I wasn’t the only one who felt as such.

Survey Results #1

I’ve never dived in Singapore, but I thought it would be interesting to find out and share my findings. With adventures, you always start somewhere, and home’s a good place, isn’t it?

To begin, Singapore’s tiny. All you need is an hour to travel from one end to the other, and it’s pretty amazing how we still have space for 300 parks, 4 nature reserves, 7 million trees and approximately 28,000 land animals. From this, it’s no wonder why we’re a City in A Garden, but did you know this applies underwater too?

(Image source)

Global Species Richness and Hotspots of Marine Biodiversity

Singapore’s located in the nutrient-rich tropics because of tropical upwelling, which drives nutrients from the deep to be utilised by life at the surface.

(Image source)

Ocean Upwelling Process

We also experience high amounts of sunlight all year round and support a constant supply of phytoplankton – the base of food pyramids in the marine ecosystem.

(Image source)

Marine Food Pyramid (Figure from Science Learning Hub – Pokapū Akoranga Pūtaiao, University of Waikato, www.sciencelearn.org.nz)

All this probably explains why our waters teem with life, with half of the species of seagrasses in the Indo-Pacific region and over 100 species of reef fish. There’s also more than 250 species of hard coral and 200 species of sponges – that’s a lot to see. And besides, we’ve had dolphins around too!

All this knowledge is interesting, because who would have thought a country with so much reclaimed land, which brings about adverse effects to marine life, would have so much to offer?

(Image source)

Map of Singapore showing original, reclaimed and future reclamation plans

Then comes the next question, is there any protection, especially when over 90 marine species (I counted) are listed in The Singapore Red Data Book? Or is there anything being done to give them a fighting chance?

Seems like we’re skeptical.

Survey Results #2

While the laws are a little sketchy in my opinion (The Singapore Red Data Book, page 11), with no specific protection and hazy definitions regarding the jargon used and the authorities in charge, it is heartening to note that the people’s voices were actually heard when it came to the preservation of Chek Jawa, which was originally set for development.

Furthermore, private firms have also taken it in their stride in contributing to increasing marine flora and fauna with the installation of artificial reef structures at Sister’s Island. Even though the effects would only be seen over the next few years, it’ll definitely be better than letting nature take its course, especially with the quickening rate of climate change.

(Image source)

To end, this has been quite eye-opening personally, and I hope it has been the same for you too. Perhaps it’s truly time to take a dip into what’s available here and take a look. As with all experiences, hearing about it is one thing, but doing it is a whole different ball game altogether.

So start packing, the adventure begins next week!

Taken and edited by me

13 thoughts on “Marine Life in Singapore: What’s It About?

  1. Hi Natasha, this was a very eye-opening read! I never realised how vague the laws for marine life in Singapore could be. Do you think that there is growing local interest in the area of marine conservation and how do you think we can raise awareness for this area?

    • Hi Sarah! Thank you for your comment and I’m glad it was eye-opening for you as much as it was for me! Truth be told, even I’m surprised with regards to the vagueness of the laws here with regards to marine life. I’m not too sure if you heard about the news when a man was fined $2600 for releasing his 3 Motoro stingrays into the Lower Seletar Reservoir. Ever since the news was released, I thought he had been charged for potentially throwing the ecosystem off balance as these stingrays are non-native to Singapore’s waters (and not to mention posing a potential safety risk to the users of the reservoir with their poisonous stingers), but as I read the article again, he was charged under the Animal and Birds Act for releasing his animals with no rationale behind it. I also looked at the Red Data book again, and found that there were only laws governing improper fishing practices and the taking of corals, for example. It’s mind-boggling, isn’t it?

      With regards to whether there’s a growing local interest in this, I’d like to think so and this is based on my personal experiences and some information that I found online! In my case, when I took up Marine Conservation and Ecology as an elective, I found out that it was actually a game of fastest fingers first, and this surprised me, simply because it was a closed-book module – not a popular choice by default. Republic Polytechnic also offers a Diploma in Marine Science and Aquaculture (the only polytechnic to do so), which gives prospective students a chance to pursue this if they’re interested, and I’ve heard that it’s been gaining quite a lot of traction from my peers as well. Furthermore, the Asian Dive Expo, which features conservationists as speakers, have also reported increases in their attendance, from 60,296 in 2018 to 62,097 in 2019! Finally, with the whole “trend” of reusable cups and metal straws, as well as extremely active advertising and appealing visuals (as featured last week), it’s no surprise that people would be attracted by that too and when you do go into their website to take a look, it’s flooded with information surrounding marine conservation and their efforts. There’s almost no way around it hahaha.

      As for the awareness part, I’m quite the strong believer of the fact that when you’re constantly exposed to something from a young age, you’ll keep these experiences in mind and when you go out to learn about the world and what it has to offer, it only enhances the meaning of those experiences. It’s what I felt where my scuba diving was concerned. With that in mind, I think one of the key ways to raising awareness would be to expose young children to the wonders of marine life, be it at the kindergarten or primary school stages of their lives. Once they get older, it’ll also be good for them to have a hands-on experience (i.e. beach cleanups) and it could even be a consistent thing as a way to give back to the environment (my secondary school took part in Flag Day every year, so this idea shouldn’t be too tall of an order). We had morning talks by guest speakers in school as well, so inviting someone from NParks (who works at the marine parks) or an organisation like Nature Society Singapore (the driver as to why Chek Jawa still exists today) would be great. Perhaps even volunteers from the Friends of the Parks would be a good way to personalise the experience as well, and make it easier to understand and relate to. In fact, even the subject of Geography could be used as a tool to cover such issues like overfishing and its impacts, for example.

      The possibilities of raising awareness are endless really, given how advanced we are now, but this would be the best way in my honest opinion – by incorporating it into education from a young age. This might not sound great, but it’s one way to make sure that nobody’s unaware of the issue, or have the chance to run away from it.

  2. Hi Natasha!

    I never knew there were that many species of marine life around our shores! I guess its time for me to spend more time in the water instead of land!!

    The artificial coral reef structures you mentioned really struck a chord with me. Its great that there are organisations committed to preserving coral reefs, especially since they are dying at an alarming rate, according to this Natgeo article: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/06/coral-reef-bleaching-global-warming-unesco-sites.

    For some reason, this reminded me of an episode in a British motoring television series called “The Grand Tour’. In it, the show’s host, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, attempt to create an artificial coral reef in Barbados using the shells of scrapped cars. It wasn’t a serious conservation effort (in fact the trio spent more time mucking about and ruining a beach resort), and scrap metal needs to undergo electrolysis in order to sustain coral life (https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg15120473-100-technology-scrapyard-reef-a-home-to-coral/), so the entire undertaking probably didn’t help much in the way of preserving coral reefs.

    However, it did get me thinking that if there was some way to electrolyse scrap cars in the ocean by using a renewable source of energy, this could not only help to sustain the coral reef population, but provide a green avenue to dispose scrap metal!

    • Hi Joseph! I’m glad to know that you’re just as amazed as I am, especially with regards to the statistics about the abundance of marine life here. If I were to be completely honest, even I’m guilty of doubting Singapore and what it has to offer, but did you know that we’re actually home to approximately 12,000 to 17,000 marine organisms too? To me, that’s pretty amazing, and with regards to hard coral species, we’re actually home to 32% of the world’s hard coral species. As someone who loves the way corals bring so much life and colour to the great underwater world, it was surprising to know how much we actually have here (whenever I went on my diving trips, I always found myself saying that we’ll never get such sights in Singapore, but it’s probably because I’ve never dived here, whoops). This is a personal opinion, but I feel that corals simply don’t seem to get the credit they rightfully deserve, because oftentimes when it comes to marine conservation, it’s always obvious animals (i.e. bluefin tunas, sea turtles etc.). What about corals? When I had my very first class of Marine Ecology and Conservation, my lecturer asked if corals were animals or plants, and fun fact, they’re actually animals for the main reason that they do not make their own food. Instead, they have tiny arm-like structures with cnidocytes (also known as stinging cells) that are used to catch whatever drifts past them in the water. However, if they were mistaken for plants, that’s because of the algae that lives on corals called zooxanthellae, which is also the one responsible for giving corals their colour. For more information, you can check this out! Oh, and with regards to corals dying off at an alarming rate, while that statement is true to quite a large extent, it is also worth noting that the corals in Singapore are pretty tough to the environmental changes as of late, which is interesting to say the least.

      With regards to the case study you provided, it was an interesting read, however, as I did some of my own research, I came to find that electrolysis is actually considered to be an everyday occurrence and it explains why shipwrecks remain so well preserved underwater, which eventually allowed corals to proliferate and grow on the structure (source). In this case, what was first probably seen as “pollution” (or perhaps disturbance, given that manmade and unnatural objects have been added to the otherwise natural environment), it has now become an essential part of the ecosystem and for me, wreck dives were always one of my top favourites. Also, it would be interesting to note that for induced electrolysis (i.e. structures that have been electrolysed), they’ve actually proved to be extremely beneficial for the corals in terms of ensuring their survival rate as they’re able to grow stronger and wider (source). Based on all these, it would be quite a sweeping statement to say that electrolysis doesn’t help much in coral reef preservation (and restoration too). However, I have to agree with you that if electrolysis could be induced with renewable sources of energy, it could definitely prove to be of a big help. Sadly, we also have to acknowledge that Singapore’s restricted with regards to how much we can rely on renewable sources, given that we just don’t have the reserves (i.e. geothermal energy) or space (i.e. wind and solar power) to go full out with it, especially for such energy intensive processes, but with the way that we’re still pushing to become a sustainable nation, perhaps we’ll get there eventually.

      To end off, perhaps I’d like to leave you with a little teaser on one of my future posts and that’s the fact that the things we dispose aren’t always terrible for the environment. Shipwrecks are one example (though these aren’t always deliberate), but how about everyday items? Stay tuned to find out and I’ll definitely notify you when that post is out!

  3. Hi Natasha!
    I really love the theme of your blog. I’ve been to St John Island and saw their projects on corals (I think it’s coral frags?). Its really interesting that they are doing the artificial coral reef structure that not only serve as conservation of corals, it protects marine shores as well. Do you happen to know if there are negative impacts of the structure?

    Thank you for the virtual dive trip!

    Cheers
    Rachel

    • Hi Rachel! Thank you for your comment and you’re most welcome for the virtual dive trip! We’re just getting started though (i.e. we’ve not “left” Singapore yet) so do look out for the next few posts that will be inspired by the entire process of going through a diving trip! Hopefully, by the end of this entire blogging journey, you might feel a little more encouraged and less nervous overall when thinking of embarking on a trip yourself!

      With regards to your question, I’ve been looking through various sources to ensure that they corroborated with one another and I came to find that it’s actually been well planned and thoroughly researched upon. For example, according to JTC (the main initiator of the coral reef structure), they had actually done research well enough on the place where they were going to put these artificial reefs and ensured that these areas were relatively empty to ensure that it was not going to cause unnecessary damage. It was also ensured that these structures were made to be able to sit nicely on the seabed without needing any elaborate structures for support, and they’ll be held together by their sheer weight and steel pins for extra measure (source). Furthermore, the materials used are not only made to last, but they’re also recycled from JTC’s past projects (and they’re also resistant to potentially leaching any unwanted substances due to the fact that they’re made of concrete, fiberglass, steel and rocks), and it sure is heartening to note that these little and unwanted bits and bops have been built into something that’ll bring so much life (source). And to support the idea of it being able to support many forms of life across depths, this is due to the sheer size of the structure alone, which is not only able to accommodate a large number of species due to its large surface area, but it’s also able to support species along various niches as well (i.e. it can support species who live up to 10m deep). All in all, it seems like a lot of work has gone into this project to ensure minimal damage, or at least for Singapore, that is.

      In general, there are possibilities that these structures can pose about adverse effects if they’re not done properly (i.e. in terms of the placing of the structure, the material used and the design, because they can, in fact, either cause leaching of harmful chemicals or cause unwanted damage when they’re not secured properly, as stated in this source). Despite Singapore ensuring that all of the above have been addressed, it should be worth noting that these artificial reefs tend not to be included in maps, which can prove catastrophic if a collision happens, but knowing the culture of Singapore in terms of showing what it is able to do, I’m pretty sure we’ll do fine in this aspect overall!

      To end off, I’d just like to add a little note that the coral fragments used by St John’s Island are also known as Corals of Opportunity, which are fragments that have been broken off from their parent solely due to natural causes! Fun fact, they’re not just extremely fast growing, but they’re also able to be reused across places too! Pretty cool right?

  4. Natasha,

    Your work on your blog thus far is OUTSTANDING. Every post is an utter joy to read. This exemplifies a visually appealing, creative, well-paraphrased and individual take on an issue. I was a little concerned that it wasn’t going to be ‘environmental’ or evidence critical-thinking, but the end of the post put those concerns to rest. I hope your peers are inspired by your blog.

    That said, I’m stumped when it comes to your statement that we’re in a tropical upwelling zone. Because I thought the waters around here are generally (naturally, I mean) more on the nutrient-poor side, as compared to, for instance, the areas around Hawai’i and Ecuador. Are you sure ? Because you don’t cite a source that specifically says that (unless I missed something). Why don’t you email Dr Zeehan Jaafar or Dr Maxine Mowe and ask them to verify your statement ?

    Thanks,

    jc

    • Hi Dr Coleman, thank you for your comments and I’m really happy to know that you’ve enjoyed the contents on this blog just as much as I did writing it (I’ve probably grown accustomed to writing such content due to all the training I received in Polytechnic where we had to write a reflection after every class and I so happened to grow to enjoy it pretty quickly)! Perhaps it also helped that I was able to find a topic that I knew I was passionate enough to sustain a blog for 9 weeks or so, and I think it explains the main reason as to why I do, in fact, enjoy this assignment quite a bit eventually. Believe me, I was worried at first about the blog as well, but I’m glad most of that sentiment has dissipated by now, or at least translated into something positive.

      As for the true crux of the matter, I was surprised as well with regards to Singapore having nutrient rich waters, and this was because I came across a blog from PADI that stated it as such. When I read it again, the evidence provided for that statement was basically covered by the species that the diver witnessed at Singapore’s dive sites, which were things I never thought I’d find here too. With that, I went to do a little search on why this might be so, and hence came across the point on tropical upwelling and the figure provided in my blog with regards to the global species richness of marine biodiversity. Hence, when I put all these sources together, I personally thought that they corroborated well with one another, given that there were consistencies in both scientific research and personal observations. When I saw your comment though, I proceeded to find other sources that might provide some insight and came across two papers about phytoplankton in Singapore, one of which speaks about their dynamics and the other spoke about their community structure (this is an alternative paper). When I schemed through them, there was acknowledgement with regards to Singapore’s susceptibility to eutrophication due to the waste we generate from wastewater treatment, for example, but they had also mentioned that Singapore’s waters were also well circulated, which might have been able to moderate the amount of nutrients and prevent any serious and adverse case of algae blooms, especially harmful ones. In addition, it was also mentioned that Singapore has quite a high variety of phytoplankton throughout the ocean, from the surface to the bottom. Hence, with all this, that was why I came to the personal conclusion that the waters of Singapore were actually nutrient-rich and wanted to share it because even I found these to be interesting.

      Nevertheless, as suggested, I’ll send an email to Dr Zeehan Jaafar and/or Dr Maxine Mowe to verify on this and I’ll place the answer in the reply to this comment when I hear from them. Thank you Dr Coleman, and I hope the above is sufficient for now.

      • Very, very interesting. I don’t want you to spend too much time on this, but I appreciate you crafting such a thoughtful reply. I admit, I’m very curious now because I thought I had a decent understanding of how natural marine nutrient richness varies across the globe, but maybe I don’t.

        • To be completely honest, even I’m curious too as to how Singapore’s actually able to have such a variety of marine life. When I first started this blog, I myself never knew that we had so much here, especially when we’re all too familiar with how much land Singapore has reclaimed and the effects that it has on the marine environment, as mentioned in the blog post! With this assignment and the opportunity to blog and find out more about such things, I have to admit that we learn something new everyday, and I’m glad I was able to bring something to the table. Nevertheless, I’m still waiting for Dr Zeehan’s reply on this matter, and perhaps I’ll send an email to Dr Maxine Mowe to clarify this as well! I’ll reply once again as soon as I get a response, and even I’m looking forward to find out more too! Thank you for stopping by, Dr Coleman, and I’ll look forward to seeing you again in future posts!

    • Hi Dr Coleman, apologies for not including it in this post and I’ve also taken note of the importance of including the details of the primary research done as you stated in the email as well. Therefore, I’ll make it a point to add this in for future posts, and thank you for taking the time out to explain it to us too. It was really helpful for us, and I’m sure this blog assignment would be a good way for us to keep that in mind as we progress through the BES programme at NUS. As for the survey that the two questions that I featured in this blog post, which were part of the same survey that I titled “Marine Life and Conservation in Singapore“, the respondents were my fellow Year 1 BES batchmates and 17 of them responded to my survey! I didn’t cover all the questions this time around, but I hope to feature them in my next blog post coming out very soon!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *