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Wed 21 Oct 2009 Mammal sightings in SingaporeCategory : nature Animal sighting records have always been an important resource - over time, these can contribute to public awareness and education, suggest student research projects and supplement research in conservation and management projects. So any mammal record on land, sea and air is useful and large marine animals too - this includes turtles and interesting fish!
We would love to receive photos, of course, please send them to: mammal@sivasothi.com This data will be shared with other vertebrate researchers and managers in Singapore. Highlights may be featured on Habitatnews from time to time (if the records are not confidential), e.g. http://tinyurl.com/habitatnews-mammal Your contribution is greatly appreciated, thank you! N. Sivasothi & Xu Weiting Wed 05 Aug 2009 Summary of Natural History, Heritage and Map exhibitionsCategory : events "Two Minds, One Theory, An Exhibition" Hunters and Collectors: The Origins of the Southeast Asian Collection Vignettes in Time: Singapore Maps and History through the Centuries "I Polunin"  For all this and more, see WildSingapore Happenings. Mon 27 Jul 2009 Exhibition of Singapore Maps @ NLB, 01 Aug - 31 Oct 2009Category : heritage
1st August - 31st October 2009, Level 10, Exhibition Area, National Library Building "This exhibition depicts Singapore as seen through cartographers, geologists, mariners, military generals and town planners. Beginning with the arrival of the British and merchants from the nascent East India Company, to military strategists of Imperial Japan and postwar city planners, Vignettes in Time provides snippets of little-known histories. Organisers: National Library Singapore & Singapore Heritage Society Source: NLB Fri 29 May 2009 300 entangled horseshoe crabs rescued at Mandai Besar mangroveCategory : marine Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda is one of four species of horseshoe crabs in the world. It is found in the inshore waters of the Indo-West Pacific and associated with the mangrove-mudflat ecosystem. In Singapore waters, from eyewitness accounts alone, their numbers have depleted significantly since the 80's. This is not unexpected given the massive quantity of habitat loss and increased pollution over the past three decades along the Johor Straits. They still are found in the mangrove-mudflats of north-western Singapore, off the Johor Straits. However, nearshore fishing is unregulated, and Mandai mangrove and mudflats are not provided with any special protection by the law. It's fate appears to be undecided as yet. Meanwhile something else threatens its ancient denizen.  Telsons poking out of the net give an indication of the number of trapped animals in this section of a long net Frequently over the past decades, monofilament gill nets have been left behind over several tidal cycles in several mangrove patches in north-west Singapore. These poorly frequented areas without popular access are commonly only visited only by recreational fishermen and researchers. Fishermen normally harvest fish caught in a gill net after a single tidal cycle as the dead fish would rot very quickly. However, many nets I have encountered are unattended for days and are regarded as "ghost nets". Entangled fish will die once exposed but arthropod mangrove residents, can survive trapped in the net for several tidal cycles. Eventually it is the heat of the sun during the exposed low tide or starvation that kills them.
Given the reduced population size of these Xiphosurans ("sword tail"), the the impact of indiscriminate capture by gill nets has been heightened and it tragic to see the senseless slaughter of these animals, mirroring the larger-scale problem in the world's oceans. Two nights ago (27 May 2009) I chanced upon a gill net and the sound of horseshoe crabs struggling to be free at about 11pm. My labmates from Ecolab and myself had been in the area for about four hours and were leaving as the tide rose. Regretfully, we left behind the trapped horseshoe crabs. I reassured myself that the incoming tide would keep them relatively safe, even if they could not bury themselves. The next morning I returned alone to release the animals, thinking it would be a one or two hour job as was usually the case. Instead I discovered I had badly miscalculated the numbers trapped in the darkness of the previous night. And I had come directly without help or breakfast! But it was getting hot so I decided I'd best just work as fast as I could.  Mandai Besar mangrove, 27 May 2009 In the end it took five hours (8.45am - 1.45pm) to remove some 300 mangrove xiphosurans from a 100 metre gill net. They were in relatively good condition, being able to struggle reasonably vigorously. There was no mortality except for predator attack (possibly heron) on a two mature gravid females. Otherwise the other females were not full of eggs. I cut the net into several sections and dragged them into different lengths of a stream through some thigh-deep mud. I turned the thick bundles over every couple of hours (or when I thought the carapace looked alittle too dry) to ensure that all the individuals were kept wet. Thankfully there were intermitted clouds that reduced that stress on the animals. I cut out an individual at a time, removing the entangled net with the help of a pair of scissors. I tried to keep the cuts to a minimum to reduce littering the mud with short lines. By first removing the main tense filaments restricting the animal, the scissors was then used like a pair of forceps to pull loose any line entangled amongst its segmented legs. This often required cuts at either ends to remove knots before pulling a line free with the scissor tip - it helped that I was using a narrow-point scissors with a slightly dulled blade tip. I had to be careful not to cut and injure a grasping leg or a telson - the latter looks like a twig so I kept saying to myself, "there are no twigs"! So the release was a very deliberate exercise and it was important to be vigilant while working quickly. Sand grains and the filaments were wearing into my skin and I was thankful the water was brackish and not salty.  As each animal was cleared of all filament, it was released away from the net to prevent re-entanglement - horseshoe crabs can move away quite fast in precisely the wrong direction sometimes! I bundled the net fragments away from the stream for collection later. Thunder crabs and forceps crabs were set aside as they require a much finer pair of scissors and would take too much time. Those I would bring back to the Systematics & Ecology lab at NUS for release and return later. It was hot and I ran out of water but that spurred me to work faster before these creatures dried up. By creating sections, I turned a large job into a series of smaller jobs to encourage myself with intermediate success. By 10.30am (1 hour 45 minutes) I estimated that I had released over a hundred horseshoe crabs. By then I was sitting in the mud and pretty much covered with it as bending over and even squatting was too tiring. As the tide rose, I went back to turn over individuals that had returned to a belly up position. I was encouraged when I saw some crawl off but did not examine them. As they were submerged, I cleared the cut nets and stuffed them into large plastic bags I found amongst the trash on the forest floor. Rain threatened but did not come, unfortunately. Eventually, the last individual was released about five hours after I had first started. I dreamt of them later and woke up in the middle of the night hoping they were all okay. Until the next ghost net appears.  Fri 22 May 2009 Envirofest 2009 and the handing over of The Blue PlanCategory : events Sat 23 & Sun 24 May 2009 - Envirofest @ Toa Payoh Hub from 11am to 8pm will include the handing over of The Blue Plan, a proposal by civil society for an integrated and balanced conservation of Singapore’s Marine Heritage, to Minister Yaacob, the Guest of Honour at the official opening ceremony on Saturday 23rd May 2009 at 3.00pm. Everyone is welcome. Envirofest is an annual celebration to share information about Singapore's biodiversity and environment with the public at large. Guiding and activities at the exhibition will be conducted from 11am to 8pm on Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th May at the HDB Hub, Toa Payoh (above the MRT). Raffles Museum Toddycats will be down in force over the two days and about 40 of us will turn up for various shifts over the two days. At 3.00pm on Saturday, 23rd May 2009, Envirofest will be declared open by the Guest of Honour, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR), Dr Yaacob Ibrahim. Shortly after, the finalised version of the Blue Plan (which has been circulating for public comment) will be handed over to the Minister for the government's consideration. The Minister is also co-chair of the Inter-Ministerial Committee for Sustainable Development (IMCSD). This will mark the final act of the International Year of the Reef Singapore. 
Entry is free and amidst the hustle and bustle of Toa Payoh Hub, friendly guides are on hand to escort and engage visitors to Envirofest around the arena as well at each exhibit. Free tickets and sign-ups for nature events around Singapore will be offered. Envirofest is a happy collaboration between groups from the non-governmental community, government agencies, businesses and schools. This is also a good opportunity to learn about and from various biodiversity groups in Singapore who will be manning booths and introducing Singapore fauna and flora to the public with the use of specimens from the Raffles Museum, games and guiding. Throughout the day, you will be able to interact with passionate volunteers manning the various booths. This year the biodiversity guides will pepper a trail of ecosystems from terrestrial to mangrove to marine. Find out more at: envirofest.wordpress.com.  Thu 23 Apr 2009 The Draft Blue Plan - released for public feedbackCategory : marine IYOR 2008 has released the Draft Blue Plan today. [Click to download] "The Draft Blue Plan is a proposal to the Government and people of Singapore from the members and organizations that form “International Year of the Reef (IYOR) 2008 Singapore” – interested members of civil society concerned about the conservation and management of Singapore’s coral reef heritage. Contributions and advice from the leading marine biologists in Singapore have been incorporated. It was released on 23 April 2009. Members of the Public can download a copy of the Draft Blue Plan here. IYOR2008 - Draft Blue Plan (23 April 2009) Mon 02 Mar 2009 Sat 07 Mar 2009: 4pm - Peter Ng on "Life as a Sanctioned Professional Killer"Category : talks "Life as a Sanctioned Professional Killer" Saturday 7th March 2009: 4pm – 5pm How to get there:
Registration required
Sat 16 Aug 2008 International Coastal Cleanup Singapore 2008: Site and Participant StatusCategory : marine The Raffles Museum Toddycats who coordinate the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore (ICCS) met last night over Old Chang Kee curry puffs and a couple of pizzas in NUS. The Zone Captains, Data Manager and a few others sorted through the information, requests, email conversations and reallocations that have been pouring in since May in order to update the status of the organisations and sites that will be the scene of activity on the morning of 20th September 2008. It won't just be volunteers in Singapore that hit the shores that day, volunteers in countries around the world will be taking to the beach as well, in order to data for a global perspective about marine trash. At this stage, beach and mangrove recces have started - these are being conducted by Zone and Site Captains and also for new organisers at various beach and mangrove sites in preparation for the actual day. A briefing for Site Buddies who help supervise operations will be conducted on 13th September 2008. More news uupdates will be posted to the ICCS blog at coastalcleanup.wordpress.com. Sat 16 Aug 2008 IYOR 2008 Keynote: LM Chou envisions a marine paradise in SingaporeCategory : marine
Since the launch of the International Year of the Reef (IYOR) in Singapore last Saturday, the IYOR webpage has been festooned with photos, videos of the talks and reports of the various events. Report and video of the IYOR Keynote Figuring prominently in The Straits Times today is Shobana Kesava's coverage of the keynote address by Professor Chou Loke Ming in which he talked, surprisingly to some, about envisioning a coral paradise. [“Hope for coral reefs here,” by Shobana Kesava. The Straits Times, 16 Aug 2008. Just one species gone; concerted effort can reverse extinction trends.] Despite the 60% loss and expected continued loss of another 15% of coral reefs to current coastal development, there is some hope: "Professor Chou Loke Ming, a marine biologist with the National University of Singapore (NUS) said a concerted effort made now by the Government, business sector and those in civil society can reverse current trends towards extinction.  Prof Chou speaking at IYOR Singapore, 8th August 2008 Read more at The Straits Times . You can watch the video of that hopeful talk at the IYOR webpage courtesy of Dinesh N. and Ria Tan: "Keynote address by Prof Chou Loke Ming at IYOR Launch 8 Aug 08."  Fri 08 Aug 2008 Dolphin carcass on Labrador beachCategory : marine Thursday 07 Aug 2008 - I got a call from Eslindah Ismail from NParks Labrador who told me another carcass had been washed shore on Labrador Beach, in front of the rocky shore. Like the last carcass that was washed ashore there on 15 June 2005, this body appears to be that of an Indo-Pacific humpbacked dolphin (Sousa chinensis).
The body was in quite a decomposed state so I ran the photos past Kelvin Lim at the Raffles Museum for a second opinion. He offered, "from the slender beak and the pale, pinkish colour (assuming that that is close to the original colour), this seems likely to be the Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin, the most frequently seen of the cetaceans in Singapore waters."
The carcass was buried yesterday and I will go down (with some help) in a few weeks time to recover the bones to deposit the specimen in the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research.
For other reports of dolphns, see reports in Habitatnews. Read more ...
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In several instances, I have found entire lengths of "ghost nets" with the still-trapped carcasses of animals in an advanced state of decay. In other instances, I have been fortunate enough to detect them early enough to release the living indiviudals. A few of such instances are featured in Habitatnews over the years, e.g. in 
