Bryna Singh The Straits Times AsiaOne 7 Sep 14;
Singapore's first marine park is still under development, but there is already much biodiversity there that members of the public can see on guided walks.
Yes, at the 40ha Sisters' Islands Marine Park, you can get up close and personal with worms, crabs, fish, moon snails, a host of anemone and corals and even a striking nudibranch.
Life!Weekend saw these marine life forms when we joined a recent guided tour for the public.
Organised by the National Parks Board, the first introductory guided walks at the park took place over two days earlier last month.
The walks were fully subscribed with about 90 members of the public being given the opportunity to observe the marine life at Big Sister's Island.
As there are currently no regular ferry services to the islands, the visitors were taken there on a boat chartered by National Parks Board. The walks are free.
Upon arriving at about 8am, we were divided into three smaller groups of about 15 people. The guide for our group was volunteer and nature enthusiast Ria Tan, 53, who runs popular wildlife site wildsingapore.com.
The National Parks Board has been working with organisations such as WildSingapore, Naked Hermit Crabs, Blue Water Volunteers and TeamSeaGrass to design and run programmes at the Marine Park.
Some members of these groups, such as the effervescent Ms Tan, have been helping out on the guided walks.
Our first stop was at the inter-tidal area at the big lagoon on the island. There, Ms Tan pointed out a moon snail, which would burrow through the sand and retract at the slightest touch.
We also saw a fluted giant clam with purplish lips mottled with yellow.
Giant clams are the largest living bi-valve molluscs in the world, and National Parks Board plans to re-introduce these endangered clams with the help of research partners.
Growing around the giant clam were several different types of corals, such as brain corals, galaxy corals and mushroom corals.
"They are given these names because they look like what their names suggest," said Ms Tan.
In time to come, the parks board will be establishing a coral nursery in the waters around the Sisters' Islands.
We stopped to examine a green-coloured carpet anemone, which looked like a lotus leaf. But unlike the leaf, the anemone was rough to the touch, like a dry tongue, and with suction.
As the visitors stroked it, out crawled a female spotted anemone shrimp which had been hiding under the carpet anemone. It was followed by a smaller male shrimp, much to the visitors' delight.
We then set off to another section of the lagoon. Along the way, eagle-eyed visitor Eugene Lim, 42, spotted a pink-hued bristle worm burrowing into the ground.
"What a great find!" crowed Ms Tan, as the group clamoured to get a good view of the fast-disappearing worm.
Mr Lim, who works in the manufacturing industry, was there with his wife Doreen, 37, and daughter Fybie, eight.
Said Mrs Lim, who conducts research for car manufacturer Toyota: "I registered us for the walk because my husband is a huge nature-lover. He grew up climbing trees and catching fish with his bare hands."
Mr Lim added that they brought Fybie along to expose her to the great outdoors. "If not, she would be used to only city life," he said, pointing out how Fybie had whined about getting her feet wet.
At the other section of the big lagoon, we spotted a black sea cucumber, random heaps of worm excrement, a goby hiding underneath a rock and damaged shells that were formerly inhabited by snails before they became dinner for determined crabs that bore holes through the shells with their pincers.
Starfish, a cluster of squid eggs nestled among tape seagrass and more moon snails inhabit the small lagoon.
By then, it was about 9am and almost time to leave.
Before we did, "seekers" - National Parks Board employees and other volunteers - gathered the visitors to look at some of their finds from less easily accessible places around the lagoons.
These marine gems include an uninhabited spider conch, a nudibranch, a teddy bear crab and a hermit crab that had outgrown its shell. The seekers later returned them to where they were found.
Visitors saw close to 30 forms of marine life on that guided walk.
Undergraduate Justin Foo, 22, who was there with his girlfriend Lee Fang, 20, said he found the interconnectedness of the various marine creatures - such as the anemone shrimp living on the carpet anemone - fascinating.
"I just hope I didn't kill anything along the way when I was wading in the water," he said.
Dr Karenne Tun, the coastal and marine deputy director of National Parks Board's National Biodiversity Centre, noted that the current focus of the park is to show marine life to the public, without them destroying the environment.
That is also where the seekers come in. "They bring the items to the people," she said.
There is no completion date set yet, but when finished, the marine park - about the size of 50 football fields - will comprise Sisters' Islands and the surrounding reefs, as well as the western reefs of nearby St John's island and Pulau Tekukor.
The park's main objectives are outreach, education, conservation and research. Next year, there are plans to roll out programmes such as reef monitoring and dives.
There will also be workshops, camps and talks at an outreach and education centre on St John's island.
The park offers the public a chance to see different types of marine flora and fauna from those at Pulau Ubin's Chek Jawa.
Dr Lena Chan, director of National Parks Board's National Biodiversity Centre, said this is because the habitats are different at both places.
"The intertidal area at Chek Jawa is a mudflat adjacent to mangroves, while the intertidal areas within the marine park are largely rocky, interspersed with patches of sand and coral rubble," she explained.
The upcoming public guided walks to the Marine Park this month have been fully subscribed, and there are no tours next month as the tides are not favourable.
Slots for the walks in November will open on Oct 1 at midnight. Details can be found at www.nparks.gov.sg/sistersislandsmarinepark.
Dr Chan added: "We hope the tours will be a fruitful experience for all to learn about our rich natural heritage."
