Author/Editor: N. Sivasothi,
a.k.a. Otterman,
Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, Department of Biological
Sciences, National University of Singapore. Since 1998 with origins from OneList.
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 Systematics & Ecology Lab. Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore http://mammal.sivasothi.com/
Posted at 5:16PM SGT by N. Sivasothi | permalink | , .
Wed 30 Jul 2008
National Day launch of International Year of the Reef in Singapore
Reef Celebrations! Launch of International Year of the Reef in Singapore
Saturday 9th August 2008 Time: 10am-5pm Venue: Function Hall, Botany Centre, Singapore Botanic Gardens (above Taman Serasi foodcourt). How to get there.
Schedule of talks and activities
10.30am: "Life and Death at Chek Jawa" sharing experiences of a study of mass deaths on Chek Jawa following flooding in 2007, a talk by Loh Kok Sheng.
11.30am: “Wishing upon a Star” about our Knobbly sea stars, a recent emergence of baby Knobblies and discovery of a large population at Cyrene Reef, a talk by Tan Sijie, Star Trackers.
12.30-1pm: MAD for turtles (make a difference for turtles) : Games for kids about threats to turtles and how kids can help, by Cicada Tree Eco-Place and the Raffles Institution with four stations. Suitable for kids aged 4-8 years.
2pm: “Are there reefs left in Singapore?” lifting the veil to reveal the hidden biodiversity of this almost forgotten realm, a talk by Jeffrey Low, NParks Biodiversity Reference Centre.
3pm: “Southern Haunt” about diving at Pulau Hantu, bringing clarity to the usually murky waters with underwater photos and videos, a talk by Debby Ng, Hantu Bloggers.
4pm: "Green, Mean, Photosynthesizing Machines!" a talk by Yang Shufen, TeamSeagrass and NParks Biodiversity Reference Centre.
Toddycats! setup their biodiversity awareness both for the third year running at NUS Central Forum with specimens from the Raffles Museum. The age-old baby dugong worked its usual magic and guides led them in discovery from dugongs to dolphins to turtles to marine and terrestrial life. A handy mounted Singapore map helped that conversation along. There were more terrestrial specimens this year so the forest was not overlooked!
This year had nearby schools drop in for a visit so they were introduced to our denizen of specimens. Already in a conversation with Peck Thian Guan (NUS Campus Sustainability Committee) we figured we could construct a syllabus that will provide targetted exhibits within a variety of booths for the students, complete with worksheet. In which case we should feature more research, past and present. That will mean guides will have to prepare a little more - we conducted a tutorial this year and next year we figured we should do it next to a mock up of the booth - would be more helpful.
Well, we always make grand plans but tell ourselves in the end that we were lucky just to have a booth stocked with enthusiastic guides every hour! In fact the guiding didn't stop through for the speeches during the opening ceremony as its an open venue, but I listened with great interest to the Amy Khor (Mayor, SECDC) and the Danish ambassador's determined and practical speeches about the helping the environment.
Read more on the Toddycats new blog at toddycats.wordpress.com which also has news about the long awaited, inaugural Toddycats t-shirt!
Posted at 11:01PM SGT by N. Sivasothi | permalink | , .
On 1st August 2006, sea turtles with transmitters were released in the South China Sea. See "Sea Turtles to be released in the South China Sea for satellite-tracking." Habitatnews, 01 Aug 2006 - see news paper reports here.
The IOSEA newsletter has just reported that:
"An immediate cash reward of up to USD 500 is being offered for information on and return of two transmitters, which have been sending signals from land near the town of Krui, Indonesia."
"At its maximum, the area of the Pacific Trash Vortex can reach the size of Texas. It is made up of everything from tiny pieces of plastic debris to large ghost nets lost by the fishing industry.
As trash swirls through the world’s oceans to a handful of vortexes like this, it leaves a trail of death and destruction along its path. Plastic is often mistaken for food and has been found inside marine life of all sizes, from whales to zooplankton. It has been directly blamed for the death of a wide range of animals including albatrosses and sea turtles. While massive trash like ghost nets can ensnare and trap thousands of creatures, there are concerns that even the smallest pieces of plastic may pose a problem , as plastic often accumulates in the digestive tract, many animals essentially choke on plastic intake. Others starve to death from a lack of nutrition despite a full stomach (such as Laysen Albatross chicks)."
YOU may not realise it, but each day, nearly every one of us brings a pest into the home. They are small, mostly pink, blue or white in colour, adaptable to land and water, and have caused the deaths of countless animals and fish around the world.
This lethal monster is none other than the plastic bag, a flimsy everyday item that we simply cannot do without, yet has been the scourge of many cities, even countries, which have rallied to impose taxes or ban them altogether.
The global war against plastic bags - something that most people use for only a short while but takes hundreds of years to break down - is picking up steam, most notably in San Francisco, which last month became the first American city to ban non-biodegradable plastic bags. Shoppers there now must use paper bags when they buy groceries, or carry their own bags from home. The move came after weeks of intense lobbying from environmentalists.
San Francisco joins a select group that has taken a major step forward in saving the earth, including Rwanda, Bangladesh, South Africa, Mumbai and Bhutan which have already imposed their own ban. Paris will join the list at the end of this year, with the rest of France following suit by 2010.
Why, then, is Singapore, a much smaller city and one that has serious aspirations of making its mark as a champion of green technology, not following suit in a big way?
A National Environment Agency (NEA) study revealed that Singaporeans use about 2.5 billion plastic bags each year - the equivalent of 19 million kilogrammes of waste.
Ever since a heated debate on plastic bags was sparked off in this newspaper some two years ago, the awareness of the problem has gone up somewhat. A national campaign to encourage the use of reusable bags has taken off well with more than 100,000 such bags sold at many major supermarkets.
More significantly, today marks Singapore's first Bring Your Own Bag Day, where more than 200 supermarkets will encourage customers to use reusable bags. That it is not just a one-off campaign, but one that will take place every first Wednesday of the month, is also laudable.
But we can do better. We need to speed up the push to bring down the use of plastic bags here.
The Government certainly believes enough in Singaporeans' changing attitudes towards environment issues, seeing how it is investing millions of dollars to study clean energy and launching eco-friendly flats in Punggol.
But time and again, whenever the plastic bag problem surfaces, we get the same message from the lawmakers, that it prefers not to impose legislation, but rather work with voluntary schemes and allow consumers and the market to take the lead.
Encouragingly, the door to legislation is not fully closed, as NEA chief executive Lee Yuen Hee said last week that he had not ruled out making it a law if the plastic bag situation does not improve here.
Then the question is, when is that breaking point for such a move to happen? What would it take for lawmakers here to introduce a law in Parliament? I believe that if we continue to take the ground-up route, we can never expect any significant progress to be made in a country where people have grown up expecting plastic bags to be given to us free.
Realistically, banning plastic bags completely is not completely feasible, given our heavy dependence on them, be it at the wet market or to contain garbage at home.
A plastic tax is perhaps the best way to make consumers think twice about whether they really need that bag when they buy their pack of cigarettes, a newspaper or a loaf of bread. Such a tax is already taking off in many countries around the world. If you're out shopping in Taiwan or Ireland, be prepared to fork out anywhere from five to 20 cents for a plastic bag.
Last June, Ikea stores in the United Kingdom started charging its customers 10 pence (30 cents) per bag, a move which the furniture giant said could cut down plastic bag usage by a whopping 20 million by this year. Its two stores here recently became the first retail stores to start charging for plastic bags.
How Singapore can do one better is to promise that every single cent collected from its plastic bag tax goes towards green effort, be it for more recycling centres, running environmental programmes in schools, or to various non-profit groups such as the Environmental Challenge Organisation and the Singapore Environment Council.
You do the maths - a nominal tax of, say, five cents multiplied by 2.5 billion bags would add up to an astonishing $125 million to fund meaningful causes. But until then, let us try to cut down our usage in whatever small way we can.
With April 22 being Earth Day - a special day to celebrate the Earth and remind ourselves of its scarce resources - each of us can do our part by refusing that plastic bag when we go shopping, or even better, bring along a reusable bag.
That would be the best present you could ever give to Mother Nature. And it's much better than having to deal with yet another law breathing down our necks.
Links
San Francisco, first US city to ban plastics bag distribution at large supermarkets.
"San Francisco to ban plastic grocery bags." Reuters (at CNN), 28 Mar 2007. San Francisco's Board of Supervisors voted ... to become the first U.S. city to ban plastic bags from large supermarkets to help promote recycling.
CNN video."We can't sleepwalk into the future. The end of the era of cheap oil is here."
"Paper or plastic? San Francisco decides." By John M. Glionna. L. A. Times, 28 Mar 2007.
"Plastic-bag ban full of holes." USA Today, 01 Apr 2007.The real culprit is the slob who litters or refuses to recycle either one — or communities that don't provide the means for him to do so. Our throwaway society is to blame as well. ... Each individual can do more to help the environment by reusing whatever bags groceries distribute or buying a canvas sack to carry goods.
Google News and Yahoo! News. For emerging reactions from other counties, states and countries.
"NEA launches campaign to encourage shoppers to use reusable bags." By Wong Mun Wai. Channel NewsAsia, 11 Apr 2007
"Ikea to start charging customers for plastic bags." By Tania Tan. The Straits Times, 11 Apr 2007.Retailer hopes to cut waste; from April 22, shoppers will pay up to 10 cents for them.
"Campaign to reduce wastage of plastic shopping bags." Habitatnews, 10 Feb 2006 - campaign and background to problem.
"Make the difference." Today, 28 Oct 2005. Every gesture contributes to improving our environment.
"Semakau landfill to last 15 more years as recycling reduces waste." Channel News Asia, 16 Jul 2005.
"Is S'pore a nation of plastic bag junkies?" Habitatnews, 26 Apr 2005 - Lee U-Wen's article title (25 Apr 2005) and Yvonne Lim's editorial, "Say no to plastic bags." (26 Apr 2005).
"IKEA will not distribute plastic bags on Earth Day weekend." Habitatnews, 11 Apr 2005 - about The Straits Times report, and comments based on data from ICCS 2004 and NEA Clean Card 2005.
Impact on Marine Life and Public Education
"Battling the Curse of Marine Litter" - article that explains the problems, special impact of plastic, volunteeer efforts on the international coastal cleanup especially mangroves and what the data tells us.
"Drowning in an ocean of plastic." Habitatnews, 07 Jun 2004 - highlights from article of that title in Wired News, 5th June 2004 by Stephen Leahy.
"More than 100 horsehoe crabs rescued from gill net at Mandai." Habitatnews, 13 Mar 2005.
"Lazarus Island rescue for crabs and coral." Habitatnews, 28 Jul 2004.
"Two dead turtles, guts choked with marine rubbish (Australia)." Habitatnews, 15 Jul 2006 - Univ. Queensland report.
"Reaching heartlanders on World Environment Day - EnviroFest 2006." Habitatnews, 23 Jun 2006 - One way that various groups promote nature/environment education in Singapore.
"What an Albatross ate." Habitatnews, 06 Mar 2004 - Link to a Shifting Baselines feature on plastics.
"L. A. Times "Altered Oceans" features the plague of plastics." Habitatnews, 05 Aug 2006 - excellent web resource!
"Battling the curse of marine litter - volunteers around the globe take to the shores." Habitatnews, 18 Sep 2006.
"Here's the dirt on S'pore's beaches." Habitatnews, 05 Dec 2005- ST report by Radha Basu on the 2005 International Coastal Cleanup Singapore; 'Singapore has had an anti-littering campaign for more than three decades. Yet we seem to have a long way to go.'
"Worldwide Coastal Cleanup Bags 4,000 Tons of Debris." Habitatnews, 21 May 2005.
"World Oceans Day - ICC director speaks at the United Nations." Habitatnews, 09 Jun 2005.
"Coastal Cleanup data in FHM." Habitatnews, 22 Mar 2005.
"Reflections of Cedar Primary students." Habitatnews, 13 Oct 2005 - "The beach was very dirty. I think we P4s have done a good job in picking up the litter. But I wonder why there were so much litter. Does that mean we singaporeans don't care for our environment. In future, I wish I could see Singapore's beach clean." Hema Roshini 4-3.
Rubbish in Johor Straits - '15 tonnes collected daily'. Habitatnews, 23 Jul 2006 - NST article: "Tonnes of rubbish from polluted strait."
"Clean, Green S'pore? Not the beaches." By Radha Basu. The Straits Times, 22 Oct 2004.
International Coastal Cleanup Singapore Posters Click for link to Flickr images with an option to download the original size for printing.
Posted at 3:28PM SGT by N. Sivasothi | permalink | , .
Mon 27 Nov 2006
Wed 29 Nov 2006: 6.30pm - Nest fidelity & Conservation of Bintan's Turtles
IOSEA Year of the Turtle Seminar Wednesday 29th November 2006: 6.30pm
Multi-Purpose Hall, Pierce Road (see map below) National Biodiversity Reference Centre National Parks Board
I: "There's No Place Like Home: Investigating Nest Site Fidelity in Leatherback Sea Turtles (Dermochelys coriacea)."
II: "Bintan Resorts Turtle Conservation Initiative: identification of issues and preliminary results."
Host: Jeffrey Low
Talk 1: "There's No Place Like Home: Investigating Nest Site Fidelity in Leatherback Sea Turtles (Dermochelys coriacea)"
By Eric Nordmoe Associate Professor, Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA Visiting Scientist, National Institute of Education/Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
About the talk - Do nesting leatherback sea turtles have a favourite spot on the beach? While there is general consensus that a female leatherback typically returns to nest at her natal beach, there is less certainty about whether she displays fidelity to a specific location on the beach. As leatherback populations in many areas of Asia are declining, the answer to this question may have important implications for sea turtle conservation methods. Using individual nest site selection data collected over 13 seasons at a nesting beach in Central America, I will discuss applied statistical modeling work investigating whether leatherbacks do indeed exhibit "nest site fidelity," the tendency to repeatedly nest at or near the same location on their nesting beach. Possible implications for conservation efforts in Asia will be considered.
About the speaker - Eric Nordmoe is an Associate Professor of Statistics at Kalamazoo College in Michigan. After completing his bachelors degree in economics at the University of Chicago in 1981, he worked in the market research industry for seven years. He returned to academics and completed at PhD in statistics at Northwestern University in 1993. He was a lecturer in Singapore with the department of economics and statistics at NUS from 1993 to 1996.
Since 1996, he has been with Kalamazoo College in the US teaching introductory and advanced statistics courses and carrying out research in statistics education and applications. In 2002, he began collaborating with a student and a biologist colleague studying leatherback sea turtles nesting in Central America. He was delighted to find that his experience developing models to study brand loyalty in market research applied directly to the problem of investigating site fidelity in sea turtles.
Since 2002, he has been actively involved in the application of statistical models to the analysis of sea turtle nesting data. He has continued this work during his sabbatical year 2006 as a visiting scientist with NIE/NTU with the immensely valuable support of his host, Professor CH Diong.
Talk 2: "Bintan Resorts Turtle Conservation Initiative: identification of issues and preliminary results"
By Ranan Samanya Senior Manager, Environmental and Health Division, PT. Bintan Resorts Cakrawala
About the talk - An effort to bring back the good old days of the turtles in northen Bintan Island, Indonesia, was initiated by Bintan Resorts back in 2004.
Potential landing sites were determined, and a hatchery was set-up. Several issues encountred during the course of time were identified, and the paths being taken to overcome them are discussed. Preliminary results of the three years work in turtle survey and hatchlings releases are also explained.
About the speaker - Ranan Samanya finished his bachelor's degree in freshwater biology from Satya Wacana Christian University, Salatiga, Indonesia in 1989.
After completing his MSc. in marine ecology from Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium, in 1991, he joined the Belgian Institute of Nature Conservation, where studies were done to enhance the environmental condition of the Scheldt Estuary.
In 1997 he returned to Indonesia and worked for several geothermal and mining companies to mitigate environmental issues in Java, Bali, and Sumbawa islands. He has been with Bintan Resorts since 2001.
The IOSEA Year of the Turtle Committe, Singapore is a partnership between several government bodies, university institutions and non-governmental organisations in Singapore: NIE/NTU, Underwater World, BWV, WildSingapore, AVA, NParks, NSS and NUS RMBR.
In commemoration of the Indian Ocean - South East Asia (IOSEA) "Year of the Turtle", Underwater World Singapore (UWS) has collaborated with the National Institute of Education (NIE)/Nanyang Technological University (NTU) to launch a Sea Turtle Conservation Gallery and released 12 sea turtles fitted with satellite-tracking devices.
Dr C H Diong, a professor with National Institute of Education/NTU, will be releasing the 12 turtles fitted with tags into international waters in the South China Sea in an effort to study aspects of their biology and migratory behaviour.
Diong (light-blue shirt) explaining the research basis to Minister Mah Bow Tan (in jacket) as Prof Leo Tan (with tie) looks on.
If the turtles look a mite restricted, not to worry. They are in a cargo ship right now, heading out to the South China Sea. By the late morning of Tuesday, 1st Aug 2006, they will be released and be free-swimming once again.
Where will they go hence? Diong and others will be monitoring the sea turtles and hopes to share approximations of their positions on the internet.
The turtles were of three species - the Loggerhead Caretta caretta, Olive Ridley Lepidochelys olivacea and Green Chelonia mydas. Two loggerhead turtles were brought to Underwater World Singapore as hatchlings from Nagoya, Japan. After nine years of captivity, will they eventually head back to Japan? More details soon.
Meanwhile, Prof Leo Tan's welcome address included a whimsical comment on the persistent arrivals of mature female turtles to lay eggs in Singapore, after the 20-40 years it has taken them to mature. Singapore has a lot to offer even to migrating sea turtles, let alone our youth!
Posted at 1:43AM SGT by N. Sivasothi | permalink | , .
Sat 29 Jul 2006
"God gave us such a beautiful gift. Why are we destroying it?" - PM Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi lashed out at Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Musa Aman for going ahead with the RM4.5mil clubhouse project at Pulau Sipadan despite his objection.
"I was very angry with Musa. I told him not to build it. I said so many corals are dying and he promised that he would look into the project," said Abdullah, who openly expressed his disappointment and frustration with Musa.
He said the corals would attract tourists and divers from around the world but they would not visit the country if the corals were destroyed. Abdullah was referring to the construction of a clubhouse, toilets and sewage facilities that started on the island two months ago. It caused serious concern among divers when there was gradual destruction of the coral reefs.
On May 14, a barge from the construction fell onto the seabed and flattened 372.94 sq m of coral reef at the island's drop-off point in the north. Musa ordered construction of the project stopped but later allowed it to continue, provided environment-friendly building materials were used.
Abdullah said he was upset with the general quality of environment in the country, and that Malaysians should learn to appreciate the environment as it was a gift from God.
"God gave us such a beautiful gift. Why are we destroying it?" Abdullah said in his speech when attending the Malaysian Professional Centre annual dinner here last night.
He said more tourists would visit Malaysia if the environment was kept clean. "Tourists want to enjoy places with beautiful beaches and clean water," Abdullah said. "But now they are all destroyed. We do not know how to value (the environment).
"Giant leatherback turtles used to lay eggs on the Terengganu shores but now they are not there any more."
He said he was very upset that the majority of the country's rivers were polluted and waterfalls had dried up, such as the ones in Penang. "Penang used to have a waterfall but now you cannot find it any more. It is a dirty place," he said.
Citing the Gombak-Klang river as another example, Abdullah said Malaysia was fortunate to have a river that ran through the city as it was a beautiful sight. He said, however, the river was now too polluted. "If you throw a crocodile into the river, the crocodile will die."
1995-2005 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd (Co No 10894-D)
A recent spate of small turtles washing up on Australia's eastern shores has highlighted concerns about marine debris by scientists and animal welfare groups.
Two turtles, one found on North Stradbroke Island in Queensland and a second found at Fingal Head NSW have triggered alarm bells. Both animals were around 20cm long and died with guts choked with marine rubbish.
"The first turtle was a tiny 22 cm green turtle brought into The University of Queensland's Moreton Bay Research Station on North Stradbroke Island for care," Station Education Officer Dr Kathy Townsend said.
"The emaciated immature female was extremely weak and severely dehydrated and was suffering from floating syndrome which is where food trapped by foreign material starts to decompose, leaking gases into the body cavity and causing the animal to float.
"After dressing the turtle's wounds and placing her on a drip, we kept her under observation over night. Unfortunately, she succumbed to her illness and died the next morning."
A necropsy (autopsy) was performed on the turtle and discovered that her gut was choked with decomposing seagrass and marine rubbish.
"Bits of plastic shopping bags, black plastic rubbish bag, parts of plastic bottle tops, plastic thread, party balloons - and even a bit of a flip flop (thongs) were found lodged in the animal's gut," Dr Townsend said.
"Over 40 individual pieces of rubbish were accounted for, the majority of it plastic-based. "The final cause of death was identified as gut impaction and septicaemia caused by the marine rubbish."
A week later a slightly smaller turtle (19cm shell length) was treated by the Australian Seabird Rescue Wildlife Link Centre, at Ballina, NSW.
Lance Ferris, the Centre's Director and long term wildlife advocate, said this turtle also died from the consumption of marine rubbish. "We found over 70 pieces of plastic and small bits of fishing line in its gut," he said.
"Turtles that are between 5 and 25cm shell length disappear from our view in a period known as their 'lost years' where they are rarely seen close to shore. These juvenile turtles feed on jellyfish and squid found in the great ocean currents. The plastic that these animals would have consumed would have been located in the open ocean."
Craig Bohm, Campaign Coordinator with the Australian Marine Conservation Society, said the two turtles highlighted the impact of human rubbish has spread beyond the shores. "Animals such as these juvenile turtles go for years without seeing land, yet they too are being affected by human rubbish," he said.
Dr Townsend said that according to advice from the Australian Marine Conservation Society, there were many things people could do in their chomes, at the shore and on their boats to reduce the impact of rubbish on marine life.
In homes - avoid using plastic bags, ask for a box and recycle wherever possible.
On the shore - pick up rubbish and don't use bay and beachside rubbish bins if they are already overfull.
Onboard - stow rubbish carefully and don't let it blow over the side. Be particularly careful with fishing bait bags and other plastic items.
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IOSEA Year of the Turtle Seminar
About the speaker - Eric Nordmoe is an Associate Professor of Statistics at Kalamazoo College in Michigan. After completing his bachelors degree in economics at the University of Chicago in 1981, he worked in the market research industry for seven years. He returned to academics and completed at PhD in statistics at Northwestern University in 1993. He was a lecturer in Singapore with the department of economics and statistics at NUS from 1993 to 1996. 
If the turtles look a mite restricted, not to worry. They are in a cargo ship right now, heading out to the South China Sea. By the late morning of Tuesday, 1st Aug 2006, they will be released and be free-swimming once again. 
A recent spate of small turtles washing up on Australia's eastern shores has highlighted concerns about marine debris by scientists and animal welfare groups.