"Hantu coral life dying out fast"

"Hantu coral life dying out fast" By Radha Basu, The Straits Times, 04 Feb 2005 [pdf]. Silt churned out by land reclamation and dredging smothering corals, says expert.

Half of the coral life around a stretch of reef off Pulau Hantu has died over an 18-month span, according to a new survey which conservationists cited as another reason for new laws to protect marine life.

Conducted by enthusiasts from a marine conservation group known as Blue Water Volunteers, the survey, done in October last year, found that hard coral cover off the Hantu site, at a depth of about 3m, was down to about 30 per cent of the area surveyed.

When the same team had surveyed the same site in March 2003, the coral cover then was about 60 per cent.

Marine biologist Jani Thuaibah, 23, one of the two divers who conducted both surveys, said she was shocked at the extensive loss.

'Even if you take into account that observer errors may have crept in, given that these were volunteer surveys, the big loss of coral cover in that area is undeniable,' she told The Straits Times, adding that anyone who has been diving there regularly would have noticed it.

Experts estimate that Singapore has lost more than 65 per cent of its reefs since 1986.

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