semakau seagrass lagoon @ 01Feb2014

Went on a short boat ride looking for oil from the recent ship collisions.
(see Link 1, 2)

On the way to Semakau, ...

Bukom's southern seawall seems to have some dark banding indicative of an oil-spill. The brown spots could be some other localised spill. Wonder what could have caused those spots.

The bad news is that Semakau's northern shore may have had some exposure to some of the oil-spill. There was a distinct dark line on the seawall. 

Whilst the others in the recce went to explore the Northern shore and Terumbu Semakau, I went Westwards along the seagrass lagoon.

The good news is that it looks like Semakau's seagrass lagoon was clear of oil. The seagrass lagoon and shore were 'normal'. No oil seen on the inter-tidal area, shore or on the fringing mangrove trees. That is a good sign.

'Normal' however means a whole lot of trash on the high shore line. Lots of plastic items which had floated in with the tides over many many years still line the shore. 

note the styrofoam box high in the tree

a 3 foot long fluorescent light bulb

bundles of rope

an SPC oil drum

a plastic road barrier

a huge piece of blue plastic sheeting

an old sofa

one of the gazillion mineral water cups and water bottles

a large prawn feed bag

This was a balloon stuck high up on a mangrove tree.

We really should take better care of our marine environment.

At the southern end of the seagrass lagoon, lots was happening.

This chap had harvested quite a few large mud crabs from the mangrove inlet.

Another few were harvesting shells from the inter-tidal zone whilst another laid out a long driftnet on the inter-tidal zone.

 A ciggarette butt was care-less-ly dropped in the water.

A quick chat with one of them showed them to be contractors at the landfill site out to gather a quick seafood dinner. 

They promptly agreed to return their haul to the lagoon and to recover the driftnet that was being laid out.

 No fan clam soup tonight.

The men soon left in their vehicles parked atop the service road. 

The mud-crabs were however not released. Looks like crab curry tonight.

 

There were two long driftnets long abandoned at the South-Western tip of the seagrass lagoon. These looked like they had been on the inter-tidal for some time. (There was a third driftnet at the Northern part of the seagrass lagoon.) 

 A super long driftnet attached at one end to the replanted mangrove trees and the other to a rock on the inter-tidal zone. 

These carpet anemones will not last very long with the driftnet filaments draped over them.

These driftnets will need some tedious work to remove them and the various organisms that become stuck in them.

That's a task for another day with more time. 

It soon got dark during the long walk back up the lagoon.

Can you name the following ?

Have a look here for help.

Good night Semakau!

See these links for news on the collisions and oil-spills. (Link 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

Read about what the others saw :

Peiyan's Kusu Island check : Link

Peiyan's Semakau check : Link

Wonderful Creation's check : Link

Singapore Reef Watch's check : Link

WildSingapore's 4 Feb 2014 summary update on the oilspills : Link

NEA 4 Feb 2014 Advisory : Link 

lone otter - scratched @ SBWR 30Jan2014

The lone otter showed up again at the SBWR visitor centre pond at about 1.45pm. It swam around in the pond discovering the monitors around and in it putting the monitors on the alert for a nip. The otter was however not in the mood for teasing some monitors. It soon went up to the old sandbox and started rubbing itself on the ground and against the sand box sides. After about 10 minutes of this, it lay still beside the sandbox occasionally opening its eyes when passing visitors entering and leaving the adjacent path made too much noise. The visitors were however oblivious of its prescence until the otter was pointed out to them. The pointing out however encouraged noisy reaction from some visitors. The otter decided to move further towards the rear of the sandbox and caught a few zzzzs...occasionally rousing when the noise level generated by passing visitors bothered it.

Later at about 6.30pm, it was seen around the seawall mound opposite Platform 1. The low tide (about 0.3m) made it easy to catch fish. It caught a fish and quickly crunched into it for a few minutes before swimming around to the western edge of the seawall again diving underwater in the shallows looking for fish. It was watched over by some herons who were also looking out for dinner before the night's roost.

It was fortunate that the otter was at the western edge instead of the eastern edge of the seawall mound as a fisherman had laid a long driftnet from the eastern edge. The givewaway float, a plastic bottle tied to something below the water could be seen at the eastern edge.

*See note below.

The lone otter (very visibly a male) made its way up the seawall mound and rubbed itself against the granite rocks and enjoyed the sunset for a bit. A clear hairline could be seen at back of the neck. It looked as if the otter had been on the receiving end of a barber's razor blade causing it to loose some hair or skin even.

This hairline can be seen in the earlier video clip (from 00:37 - 2:35). It looks like a deep horizontal gash about 5 cm long had somehow been inflicted at the back of the neck.

The otter spent a few minutes on the seawall mound before cautiously walking off the mound. (This seems to be the same otter which was reportedly seen to have injured its left rear leg. This one was also seen to be limping similarly and presumably it was the same injured otter.)

Note :
*(Later at about 7pm, the fisherman was seen passing by in his kayak going westwards across the Northern side of Pulau Buloh presumably to check on another driftnet. Pulau Buloh lies within the area gazetted as a Nature Reserve but the fishermen don't seem to care that their nets pose a danger to animals of the reserve such as otters, crocodiles and shorebirds which may get caught in the nets.)
The driftnets used by these unlicensed fishermen have been documented to have a disastrous effect.
See : http://sgbeachbum.blogspot.sg/2011/07/rip-great-billed-heron-sbwr.html
and http://budak.blogs.com/the_annotated_budak/2008/10/crocked.html
If you do visit SBWR, and notice the fishermen's prescence, do alert the park officers.

lone otter at breakfast @ SBWR 26Jan2014

This lone otter appeared about 4m away from an open sluice gate and looked around for a bit before diving below the water and disappearing. There were some people observing it's cuteness and i was left wondering where it went to. 

otter at breakfast @ SBWR Jan2014 from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.

Guessing that it may have swum into the sluice gate and into the pond behind, a glance proved this to be so as the otter went straight into chasing its breakfast and quickly catching it in the shallows.

It caught a mullet and started crunching into the head. It was a bit cautious as it focused on breakfast and any noise like dry leaves being stepped on caused it to stop and look around.

After finishing the head, it continued with the mullet's tail end. It was definitely a choosy otter and was not starved as it abandoned the torso of the mullet after eating the head and tail. It dive-swam to the corner of the pond before stopping to decide what it would do and then it dived again disappearing in the direction of the sluice gate opening. It did not surface again within sight. 

[at the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve - small pond beyond Tower Hide 2C, about 10.30am, Sunday 26Jan2014]

Note : there was an earlier report of an injured lone otter at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. Subsequent observations of that individual told that it was actually injured as it ambulated awkwardly avoiding as best it could to apply pressure on its rear left leg. 

The otter pictured above could be the same otter but there was no oppurtunity to observe how it moved on land as it was always in the water. The pictured otter however seems to have a visible hairline at the back of its head. As if it had somehow had a haircut. Wonder if this was a result of some sort of snare-like entanglement which removed that little bit of hair from the back of its head.(?) 

If you do see an injured otter, please do observe how it moves and let Singapore Otterwatch (via https://www.facebook.com/OtterWatch) or the SBWR staff know how it is coping. The injured otter has been observed to be able to catch fish by itself eating only the head and tail ends whilst abandoning the rest.

These otters seem to like both ends of caught fish and will leave behind the remaining torso of fish. 

What kind of otters are they?
Find out more here : http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/vertebrates/mammals/perspicillata.htm
http://www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/verts/smooth_otter.htm
http://blog.nus.edu.sg/sgotters/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smooth-coated_otter

mass murder @ SBWR 12Jan2014

About a year ago, I had noticed  a small group of crows had taken up residence at Pulau Buloh. At that time, there were only about 5 crows seen in the group.

On 12 Jan 2014, I was surprised to see a large flock of crows numbering between 40 to 50 congregating in the late morning at the same corner of Pulau Buloh. 

This was a mass murder in the reserve!

Looks like the conditions for the crows must be overly suitable. It's not surprising since the nearby offshore fishfarms tend to discard on a regular basis, without fear of sanction, dead or dying fish into the surrounding waters. Food is therefore plentiful. These crows have been seen to scavenge dead fish along the shore as well as picking up scraps from the water surface.

These crows have been observed to harass and chase away much bigger birds of prey like migratory ospreys, resident raptors like the brahminy kite and white-bellied sea eagle from the area. The crows have the ability and intelligence to totally dominate the skies. 

mass murder @ SBWR 12Jan2014 from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.
[no audio, captured at 120fps, played in slowmo]

Read more about this fascinating (and most intelligent) bird :-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crow

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/a-murder-of-crows/crow-facts/5965/

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131128103835.htm

http://www.ted.com/talks/joshua_klein_on_the_intelligence_of_crows.html

http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/crow-brains-reveal-secrets-their-intelligence

http://www.cracked.com/article_19042_6-terrifying-ways-crows-are-way-smarter-than-you-think.html

http://io9.com/crows-could-be-the-key-to-understanding-alien-intellige-1480720559

http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/5141/20131130/researchers-find-neurons-behind-crows-intelligence.htm

http://www.avesnoir.com/10-amazing-crow-facts/

http://www.thenaturalcapital.com/2012/08/five-amazing-facts-about-crows.html

http://www.interestingfunfacts.com/amazing-facts-about-crow.html

http://www.buzzfeed.com/meganm15/reasons-why-the-crow-will-be-your-new-favorite-ani-3f0z

http://thecrow.tripod.com/myth.html

half a croc (and then some) @ SBWR-02Jan2014

Q : Hang on, What's going on here? 

A : a whole lot of good loving.

(c) Jeffrey Teo, 02Jan2014

JT, a frequent visitor to the SBWR was at the main bridge at about 5.30pm when he spotted the resident no-tail crocodile. There was a smaller croc beside it. Soon the two crocs got really close ... and the smaller croc mounted the bigger no-tail. The mating went on for about 20 mins much to the delight of the few photographers at the bridge at the time.

Because the no-tail croc (let's call it 'half-a-croc') was below the other croc, it would seem logical that half-a-croc was female and that the croc on top was male. 

(Update : on a subsequent day, a friend had seen half-a-croc on top of another croc....so the issue as to whether half-a-croc is male or female is far from settled.)

Let's hope the crocs do successfully have a brood of young ones to perpetuate the lineage of Sungei Buloh estuarine crocodiles. This will ensure that visitors can continue to appreciate the crocodiles in their natural element.

Estuarine Crocodiles are listed as 'Critically Endangered' in the Singapore Red List of Threatened Animals. Despite all the development along Singapore's coastal regions, it is a welcome sight to see estuarine crocodiles surviving at Sungei Buloh. 

Find out more about the fabulous estuarine crocodile :

http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/vertebrates/reptilia/porosus.htm

http://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/lizards/estuarine_crocodile.htm

the IUCN crocodile specialist group http://iucncsg.org/

http://wildshores.blogspot.sg/2013/12/crocodile-what-should-i-do.html

http://wildsingaporenews.blogspot.sg/2013/12/humans-not-on-crocodiles-menu-at-sungei.html

Here's what the SBWR says about meeting a croc (listen up coz it is good advice) :

(from http://www.sbwr.org.sg/visitorinfo/frequentlyaskedquestions/)

Advice on crocodiles

Estuarine crocodiles are known to inhabit the waters of Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. These are wild animals and they have a reputation for being aggressive.

Visitors are strongly advised to stay on visitor routes and not venture off the paths. On occasion, the crocodiles have been spotted basking on the visitor routes. Should visitors encounter a crocodile on the path, they should stay calm and back away slowly. Do not provoke the animal. Staff are present to help visitors should they need any assistance – please call the information counter at Tel: 6794 1401. Under no circumstances should visitors approach a crocodile. As with all wild animals, crocodiles should be treated with caution.

Crocodile warning signs have been posted at various parts of the Reserve
where they are most often spotted. Visitors are advised to heed these signs
for their own safety.

Visitors with feedback and suggestions can write to info@sbwr.org.sg or call our Information Counter at 6794 1401. They can report crocodile sightings taking note of the location, date, time and number of crocodiles seen. The information will help the Reserve further monitor and track the crocodiles’ movements.

-------------------

Are there any persistent threats to the crocodiles?

Yes, fishermen who continue to poach in the waters of the Sungei Buloh reserve pose a persistent risk to the animals of the reserve such as the otters and the crocodiles. These fishermen use long driftnets to cordon off long stretches of the coastline and this results in unintended bycatch such as rare birds and even crocodiles. These poaching fishermen set up camp at the nearby Kranji Reservoir Park and have been engaging in long term sale of fish caught from the surrounding waters. These unlicensed commercial fishermen have taken up residence at the park. Enforcement action should be stepped up against these fishermen who continue to pose a significant risk to the animals entering or leaving the reserves. 

See also : http://sgbeachbum.blogspot.sg/2011/05/apathetic-fisherman-sbwr-01may2011.html

Baby crocodiles would also be at risk of being eaten by larger animals such as larger crocodiles, monitor lizards, otters and even large shore birds such as herons and milky storks. Croc eggs may also be eaten by monitor lizards raiding the nest. The crocodiles are just one part of the whole ecosystem. It is fabulous that Singapore has the crocs!!

close encounters of the otteriffic kind @ SBWR 02Jan2014

At about 4.30pm, Jeffrey Teo, a regular visitor to the reserve and an avid photographer, was out and about the SBWR paths when he came across an otter. This otter bounded up the path towards him and JT started taking photos. It soon stopped a few metres away from him and stood on its hind legs calling out. To JT's surprise, another 7 otters came running up the path towards the first otter.

[all photos (c) Jeffrey Teo - Jan 2014]

 The 8 otters started rolling around on the ground scratching themselves against the gravel stones. They did not at all mind the presence of JT as he kept on squeezing all the value out of his camera recording this once in a long-long-time experience. 

 The otters eventually walked right by him and entered the water as a group swimming away. JT made sure he kept still as the otters trundled by him. 

Just the day before, JT had seen (LINK) a lone otter on the seawall barrier which looked like it had an injured rear left leg. The week before he had seen a group of 10 otters playing on a sandbar during a low tide period.

What a fabulous way to start the year!

Jeffrey, thank you once again for sharing!!

Find out more about the otters :

http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/vertebrates/mammals/perspicillata.htm

http://blog.nus.edu.sg/sgotters/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smooth-coated_otter

http://www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/verts/smooth_otter.htm