Best of our wild blogs: 8 Sep 13

6 years of Nakedness at Chek Jawa
from wild shores of singapore

Javan Myna Eats Dwarf White Bauhinia Flower Petal
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Night Walk At Admiralty Park (06 Sep 2013)
from Beetles@SG BLOG

48th National Day at Pasir Ris Park
from Beauty of Fauna and Flora in Nature

It's a Bird! No, it's a Butterfly!! Part 2
from Butterflies of Singapore

Indonesia finally establishes REDD+ agency to tackle deforestation
from Mongabay.com news by Rhett Butler

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Two Singaporean divers drown in Tioman

Simon Khoo The Star 8 Sep 13;

ROMPIN: Two Singaporeans drowned during a diving outing in Pantai Air Batang, Tioman, in a series of drowning incident involving foreigners in the popular island.

The victims, aged 35 and 48, were brought to the shore by other divers during the incident at about 12pm on Saturday.

Deputy OCPD Asst Supt Zainul Mujahidin Mat Yudin said cardiopulmonary resuscitation was performed on the victims but they already turned pale and not breathing.

ASP Zainul Mujahidin said the case had been classified as sudden death and their remains had been sent for a post-mortem.

"Initial investigation showed both victims and a woman were in a group diving in the site about 25m from the shores.

"One of them was a diving instructor and the other his student," he said, adding that the woman who spotted the two men in difficulties quickly waved frantically for help.

ASP Zainul Mujahidin said a group of other divers nearby rushed to their assistance and managed to bring them out of the water.

However, both victims were confirmed dead and police were alerted to the scene.

Last month, a couple from Syria lost their eight-year-old in Pulau Salang after the child went for a swim without their knowledge.

Passers-by spotted the remains of Saad Abdul Karim Mohd Altayasinah floating in the water before alerting the authorities.

Police also recovered the remains of two unidentified persons, believed to be foreigners who have drowned, in Kampung Mukut and Pulau Tulai, respectively.

Both victims were decomposed and without any personal documents.

2 S'porean divers die at Tioman after air tanks run out
Maryam Mokhtar Straits Times 9 Sep 13;

A DIVING trip to Pulau Tioman turned tragic last Saturday after the body of a 35-year-old Singaporean man had to be pulled out of the water by his own wife.

Their 48-year-old diving instructor, also a Singaporean, died as well.

Both men are believed to have run out of air in their diving tanks, reported Chinese daily Shin Min.

The couple, the instructor and another woman had reached Tioman, located off the east coast of Pahang, last Friday for a three-day trip.

The group went diving around 25m from the shore the following day at about 11am, with the instructor taking the women out first. After the women returned, he took the man out.

Eyewitnesses at a nearby resort then heard a call for help from one of the women.

One witness saw the man's wife dragging him onto the beach, reported Chinese daily Wanbao.

Other bystanders said the body looked bloated. Resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful.

The instructor, believed to have been based in Malaysia, was retrieved from the water shortly afterwards.

The victims were taken on a boat to a clinic at the nearest town centre some 10 minutes away, said Shin Min.

During preliminary investigations, the air tanks used by the two men were found to be empty, added the newspaper.

A Malaysian police officer handling the case said post-mortems on the two victims were completed yesterday morning. The police did not give their names.

Family members of the two men arrived at Kuantan Hospital early yesterday to collect the bodies.

Earlier this year, the body of Singapore Management University professor Winston Koh was recovered after he went missing during a scuba diving trip to Pulau Dayang, off Mersing in Johor.

Two Singaporeans die while diving in Tioman
Channel NewsAsia 8 Sep 13;

SINGAPORE: Two Singaporeans died while diving in Tioman on Saturday.

Malaysian police said the bodies of the two men, aged 35 and 49 years, were released on Sunday following a post mortem.

Channel NewsAsia understands from the Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital in Kuantan that preliminary findings showed drowning to be the cause of death.

Malaysian police said the two victims were rushed to a clinic but died on the way there.

One of them was a diving coach and the other was his trainee.

"The student was probably not used to diving, so the instructor went to help him. While struggling, he is likely to have pulled the diving equipment, causing water to seep in," said Rompin police officer Awang Hatiah.

- CNA/ir

Two Singaporean men drown during Tioman diving trip
Today Online 9 Sep 13;

SINGAPORE — Two Singaporean men drowned on Saturday during a diving outing in Pantai Air Batang, Tioman island, reported Malaysia’s The Star newspaper yesterday.

The victims, who were aged 35 and 48, had gone diving at a site about 25 metres from the shore when they got into trouble, Deputy Assistant Superintendent Zainul Mujahidin Mat Yudin from the district police was reported as saying.

“One of them was a diving instructor and the other his student,” he said, adding that a woman who was part of the group had spotted the two men in difficulties.

They were brought to the shore by other divers and cardiopulmonary resuscitation was performed, but they had already turned pale and were not breathing, said ASP Zainul Mujahidin.

The case has been classified as sudden death and a post-mortem will be carried out.

Last month, a couple from Syria lost their eight-year-old in Tioman’s Pulau Salang after the child went for a swim without their knowledge. Passers-by spotted the body of Saad Abdul Karim Mohd Altayasinah floating in the water and alerted the authorities.

In a separate case last month, the police also recovered the remains of two unidentified persons, believed to be foreigners who drowned, in Kampung Mukut and Pulau Tulai. Both bodies were decomposed and without any personal documents.

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Volunteers clear more than a ton trash from Pulau Ubin beaches in pre-dawn clean-up

Audrey Tan Straits Times 7 Sep 13;

More than a ton of trash was cleared from the beaches of Pulau Ubin by 72 volunteers during a coastal clean-up operation organised by Outward Bound Singapore (OBS) Alumni on Saturday.

A total of 76 bags of trash weighing 1,237 kg were amassed by four teachers and 68 youths aged between 15 and 26 before sunrise on Saturday morning. Participants brought their own recycled plastic bags for trash collection and were taught how to categorise and record the trash collected. In total, 1,394 plastic bags, 662 food wrappers and 428 plastic bottles were picked up.

This data will be submitted to the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore (ICCS) to provide insight to the strategies needed to tackle global marine trash problems.

Conducted ahead of International Coastal Cleanup Day on Sept 21, this initiative aims to educate youths on the impact of marine trash on wildlife and spur them to become environmental ambassadors. "I just hope more people are made aware of this and not simply discard their rubbish selfishly," said volunteer Priscilla Goh, 15, who is from Tanjong Katong Girls' School. "I actually picked up a few dead sea crabs, and it was really heartbreaking."

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