Sharing secrets of shore life: the Naked Hermit Crabs

Tiffany Fumiko Tay, Straits Times 7 Jun 08;

MOST Singaporeans don't know it, but if they waded out to ankle-depth waters offshore, they would encounter a world teeming with marine life.

So says environmental volunteer group Naked Hermit Crabs, which got its name because 'like hermit crabs without shells, our shores are fragile without nature lovers to protect them', says Ivan Kwan, a pioneering member.

The Crabs, consisting of about 20 students and working professionals, formed last June and is holding a three-day exhibition ending tomorrow at the National Library, called The Naked Truth: See Our Shores In A New Light.

The exhibition, the group's first major one, showcases pictures of the marine life that members have come across along local shores. The members will also give a public talk today.
WHO'S CRABBY NOW?: The Naked Hermit Crabs volunteers included (clockwise from left) Jerald Tang, 19, Ivan Kwan, 26, Sundra Gaytri Merlange, 23, Wong Ley Kun, 46, and Noor Ervyna Mohd Sani, 28.
-- ST PHOTO: LIM WUI LIANG

Amazingly, the photos - their eye-catching subjects include seahorses, clownfish and a species of starfish called the knobbly seastar - were all taken at ankle-deep waters during low tide, not on underwater dives.

'People watch TV documentaries on what's going on in other parts of the world, but they don't know what we have in our own backyard,' declares Kwan.

The 25-year-old trainee teacher with the National Institute of Education recalls: 'I have a friend who saw a picture we took of an anemone shrimp and said, 'I went all the way to Manado in Indonesia to photograph that shrimp and you tell me you shot it at Changi beach?'.'

Some of the pictures were even shot at Sentosa, which most people see as a tourist area with man-made beaches, he says.

'There's a natural beach there that seems like nothing but a pile of rocks, but there are a lot of surprises to be found.'

The Crabs conduct public excursions to beaches here and to neighbouring Singapore islands. These free guided walks are held several times a month, when the tide is low enough to see the creatures. While costs were previously absorbed by members, the group now has the backing of eyewear company Transitions Optical.

Kwan and his fellow Hermit Crabs' passion for marine life stemmed from when they visited local beaches as children.

'Some of those who are working take all their annual leave to go exploring and conduct the excursions,' he says.

The passion of a few is not enough, he says.

'We need to enlist help to address threats such as abandoned fishing lines and nets which trap the creatures, as well as poachers who take so much fish and crabs for consumption that it's not sustainable, and even seahorses and coral for aquariums.'

While Mr Kwan says group members would love to keep the beaches their own little secret, 'wonderful things must be shared'.

Creating awareness of this marine life is a double-edged sword though, as it also alerts poachers, he adds.

'But the more people who know about our marine life, the more eyes of nature lovers there will be to keep poachers away.'

# The Naked Truth: See Our Shores In A New Light exhibition is on until tomorrow at The National Library Plaza in North Bridge Road. The public talk will be held there today at 3pm. Admission is free.

# Visit nakedhermitcrabs.blogspot.com for more information on the Naked Hermit Crabs and guided walks.

Links to more information

• Adventures with the Naked Hermit Crabs blog
• More about our shores and how to visit them
• More about volunteering for our wild places
• Transitions Optical