Sunday morning was bright and sunny with clear skies. The tide was at its highest at about 2.9m @ about 10am.
The high tide presented a different view of the mangroves the flooded forest version where the mud was all covered up and lower leaves of the trees lining the mangrove were partially submerged.
Lots of people were out having a wonderful morning walk.
The new coastal walk provided for new vistas previously unavailable.
There was no one seen fishing on the coastal walk this morning.
However, there were numerous signs that there had been some fishing earlier.
Bits of prawn shell and flesh strewn on the walkway...
ciggarette butts strewn about ready to be blown into the water below
more ciggy butts and prawn shells
One of the yellow bags contained empty worm casings which can be purchased from bait shops.
prawn flesh blobs left on the wooden quardrail.
These stink up the immediate area and will give an unobservant visitor a nasty surprise if one touches it.
litter left behind by care-less park visitors ... perhaps there needs to be more litter bins?
or should park visitors be expected to exercise their better judgment to hold on to their trash until they get to either end of the coastal walk? The author is for the less-trash-bins approach but this is obviously presenting problems for some less-capable visitors.
two partially deflated balloons at the surf's edge - not good for sea turtles!
old driftnet stuck in the Bukit Chermin seawall
someone has already tried to modify the 'no fishing' sign.
Driftnet (see previous post) and overnight fishing via rod & line seems to have already taken root at the coastal walk.
All this in less than a week from its opening.
Ironical that but for the coastal walk, there would not have been the increased threats of driftnet fishing (well, it used to happen before the boardwalk was created and where the fishermen would abandon their long nets to the waves once they felt no further use of an entangled net), increased litter such as ciggarette butts and an assortment of plastic making its way directly off the boardwalk and into the marine and mangrove ecosystems.
Be careful where you step when you are on the coastal walk...watch out for discarded hooks, lines and bait meat etc. If you are a care-less fisherman, well, you own the walk.
On hindsight, perhaps Berlayar Creek and the Bukit Chermin coast should have been left as it was with no public walkway. This would have better protected the biodiversity of the mangrove creek and coastal shore areas. We are certainly not improving the protection which should be accorded to Singapore's only mangrove within 15 minutes of its Central Business District. How many countries can boast of such a mangrove? It deserves better.
