An international marine conservation group probing the living conditions of seven dolphins once housed at Underwater World Singapore (UWS) is asking for more transparency from marine attractions here.
Sea Shepherd visited Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in Zhuhai, China, three times last month to monitor the five Indo-Pacific humpbacked dolphins (or pink dolphins) that UWS said were sent there.
However, their investigators saw only four on display: females Eaung and Pann, as well as Pann's two calves, Splish and Splash.
"Further inquiries with Chimelong staff returned different responses," said Ms Jaki Teo, Singapore representative for Sea Shepherd Asia. One worker claimed the fifth dolphin, a female, was kept in an off-site research facility; but another staff said there were only four dolphins left, said Ms Teo.
UWS did not name the dolphins it sent over, but Sea Shepherd believes the fifth was Jumbo, a male.
UWS told The Straits Times its aquatic animals were all relocated to regional facilities by last October. These included the five pink dolphins, three fur seals and five otters that were sent to Chimelong. But UWS would not name the facilities the other animals, including two remaining dolphins, were moved to.
UWS also declined to respond to Sea Shepherd's report on the dolphins. Its spokesman would only say: "All the other aquatic animals also found suitable facilities to be rehoused and were safely transferred out of the UWS to various regional facilities by end October 2016."
Sea Shepherd's Ms Teo called for greater transparency from such parks. They could, for example, publish a list of acquisitions, births, deaths and sales of any animals.
"This will ensure that facilities keep to the highest animal husbandry standards and are accountable for their actions," said Ms Teo, pointing to past cases where animal deaths were swept under the rug until exposed by the media.
For example, when Gracie the dugong died in 2014, there was no announcement until last June, when The New Paper queried UWS after a reporter noticed the dugong had vanished. Similarly, when two manta rays died at Resorts World Sentosa in 2014 - the same year it started a manta ray conservation project - there were no announcements from the park until later that year, following queries from ST.
And UWS admitted that one of its dolphins, Han, was suffering from a "non-contagious form of skin cancer" only after local wildlife group Wildlife Watcher raised questions about its welfare.
It is not clear where Han and the other remaining dolphin, Speedy, were moved to. "This raises the question of whether they are still alive. This visible absence of culpability in the captive industry is a big problem," said Ms Teo.
The pink dolphin is on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which lists species threatened with extinction. Permits are required before animals on this list are traded.
But the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority, which issues them here, declined to specify the number of permits it issued UWS, citing organisational confidentiality. The agency would only say that it worked with UWS to rehome all the aquatic animals to various aquaria overseas.
Sea Shepherd's call for transparency is echoed by other conservation groups, including the Nature Society (Singapore), or NSS, and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). NSS marine conservation group chairman Stephen Beng said: "As more ocean theme parks are built, it pressures hunters to acquire endangered or threatened species in already overfished oceans. Transparency will show whether an organisation supports marine life research, conservation and education."
He added that the transfer of UWS' pink dolphins also fuels the debate on the moral acceptability of keeping animals in captivity, especially those with larger ranges and complex social structures such as cetaceans, which includes whales and dolphins.
Ms Aimee Leslie, global cetaceans and marine turtle manager at WWF-International, said: "There is no justification for a lack of transparency in the trade of protected marine species."
Chief executive of wildlife rescue group Animal Concerns Research and Education Society Louis Ng, who is also an MP for Nee Soon GRC, said: "India has banned the keeping of dolphins in captivity, Switzerland has banned the import of dolphins. Solomon Islands, where Resorts World Sentosa got their dolphins from, has also banned the export. Singapore should also move in this direction."
Related links
Sea Shepherd's full commentary: bit.ly/2nevLZ7
Known for its beaches, nasi lemak, and ferries to Pulau Ubin, this laid-back estate is also where a few diehard fishermen set off each night to earn their catch. On The Red Dot tags along with one.
Desmond Ng and Noreen Mohammad Channel NewsAsia 21 Apr 17;
SINGAPORE: It’s 6pm, and Mr Jamalludin Ismaon is out alone on his small fishing boat, having just left the jetty at Changi Village when most of Singapore is starting to wind down.
He has little time to enjoy the glimmering twilight reflection off the sea - soon he will be busy snagging fresh bait, usually sardines, cutting them into bits to bait his hooks, casting his long lines, and reeling in his catch of the day.
This 55-year-old will be out at sea for a good nine hours, and will only return to shore at 3am with his haul of fish such as sea bass, catfish and snappers - if he is lucky. He’ll leave his catch at the mooring area for fellow fishermen to sell in the morning, mostly to restaurants.
Mr Ismaon sets out to sea, with his wife Rose who joins him on occasion.
Then there are days that he returns to shore empty-handed.
Mr Ismaon is among a small group of fishermen in Changi Village – just ten of them – who still insist on this line of work, even though the hours may be long, the work demanding, and the pay meagre.
"This is a very tough job, it’s back-breaking. You have to spend a lot of time at sea. I don’t think many young guys can do this,” he said, adding that many have quit the full-time fishing trade in Changi Village over the years.
And yet, Mr Ismaon willingly took up this work three years ago. “I grew up just in front of the river. I used to fish when it was low tide, for small fish and crabs. We would then barbecue it. That’s how I started to love the sea,” he said.
He was born and raised in Kampong Changi - one of two kampongs in this small 7sq-km estate at the eastern tip of Singapore.
Some believe the name ‘Changi’ was derived from the Chengai tree that used to grow in the district. The area was referred to as Tanjong Changi as early as 1828.
Mr Ismaon, however, has a different take - he believes that it was named by old fishermen from Indonesia and Malaya who used to moor their boats here. “When they put a pole in the river, they tie the boat, that’s the ‘chang ni’,” he told the programme On The Red Dot.
Fishermen from Malaya and Indonesia used to moor their boats here in old days, according to Mr Ismoan.
WHERE TIGERS ONCE ROAMED
The Changi area had a different kind of visitor by sea too, in the early 1900s. Female tigers reportedly swam from Johor and stopped at Pulau Ubin before ending up in Singapore.
They would swim to Fairy Point in Changi Village and give birth in the neighbourhood, according to the National Library Board's Infopedia website.
Mr Ismaon and his family lived in a kampong house facing the sea, just next to the customs house where his father worked as a customs officer. Their family home, built in the 1960s, is still there today, albeit operating as a restaurant.
“This is the house that I was born in. The structure is still the same. From here, we can see people coming in and out, from Pulau Tekong, Pulau Ubin and Malaysia,” he said.
The house in which Mr Ismaon grew up is the last kampong house still standing in Changi Village today. It's now a restaurant.
Many of the villagers in the kampongs were relocated in the 1970s, when the area was being developed into a housing estate with its first low-rise HDB flats.
Today, new and old residents live in a mix of the HDB flats and old colonial buildings built by the British, who set up an air force base there after World War II.
STRESS IN THE CITY
As for Mr Ismaon, he moved to Tampines and Marine Parade - but he couldn’t get used to the concrete jungle.
I tried to live in the city area but I didn’t feel very peaceful. It was too crowded, there’s no sea, nothing. I didn’t like facing the walls and windows all day.
“I love Changi, it’s very peaceful. There’s nothing to trouble me here,” he said, adding that he used to return to Changi Village every weekend back when he wasn’t yet a fisherman.
Changi Village's signature tranquility and rustic charm.
He’d worked at a golf club and an oyster farm - but the call of the sea was too strong. He started fishing once again in his spare time, before he decided to jump into it full-time, just for the love of it.
These days, the Tampines resident struggles to earn even S$100 a night, which is just enough to cover his expenses such as petrol and fishing license.
“The catch was good in the past. You could earn S$300, S$400 a night with a good tide. But now, you want to earn S$100 or S$200, it’s very, very hard,” he said.
The fish are getting less. It’s not like in the past where we can catch fish anywhere. Now, sometimes we don’t catch any at all.
"But that’s what being a fisherman is all about, we cannot predict these things," he added.
The fish are getting fewer every year.
DANGERS OF THE TRADE
And long-line fishing can be dangerous too.
It involves an 800m-long rope that has more than 180 hooks tied to it, which means it’s easy to snare oneself on the hooks. Fortunately, Mr Ismaon has been careful enough not to.
His wife, Rose, sometimes accompanies him on his fishing trip, helping him operate the boat while he casts his lines.
She said: “I’ll try to make an effort to help him because I know it’s quite dangerous for him to go alone. So if I’m really free, I’ll follow him.”
"It’s quite dangerous for him to go alone. So if I’m really free, I’ll follow him," said his wife Rose.
Like Mr Ismaon, she feels a strong connection to the sea. The couple met on a fishing trip some 18 years ago.
Some of her friends, however, were initially surprised by what her husband did for a living.
They don’t know that there are still people who work as fishermen full-time. They always ask ‘How you survive?’
“But we survive because it’s quite interesting. If we don’t catch fish using longlines, we do prawning too,” she said.
If they catch excess bait, Rose said that she would pickle it or use it to make sambal belacan.
Rose turns any excess bait fish into sambal belacan.
‘I STARTED HERE, MAYBE I’LL END HERE’
No matter how tiring it gets, Mr Ismaon doesn’t intend to quit this trade.
“When I’m here every day, I feel like I’m back in the kampong. I feel like I started here, maybe I will end here,” he said.
It’s how fellow Changi kampong boy, Mr Nirbha Singh, feels too.
Born in the area, he has been operating his textile shop there since 1968 selling clothes, table cloths and carpets – even after the departure of the British airmen and their families in the 1970s hit his business hard.
Born in Changi, Mr Nirbha Singh has been operating his textile shop there since 1968.
Mr Singh still misses the peace and neighbourliness of the good old kampong days. “It was a very friendly kampong,” he said.
“We are like brothers and sisters. At night when we close our shop, we will sit with our friends at a stall for supper.
“Now everybody is busy. After 9.30pm, people are tired, they close their shop, go upstairs, have their meal and sleep. Life was totally different then.”
Watch the full episode on Changi Village here on Toggle. Catch That’s My Backyard - On The Red Dot, on Fridays, 9.30pm on Mediacorp Channel 5.
SINGAPORE — No major hotspots have been detected in the region and the current likelihood of a return of transboundary haze "is low", the National Environment Agency (NEA) said as the skies over Singapore turned hazy for a brief spell on Friday (April 21).
The hazy conditions, particularly over southern and eastern Singapore early on Friday morning, was due to "accumulation of particulate matter under light wind conditions", NEA added. The skies cleared up after heavy and widespread rain fell over Singapore in the morning.
"Based on the latest satellite images, there were no significant hotspots or smoke haze detected in the nearby region," said NEA in a statement. "The likelihood of transboundary haze affecting Singapore is low."
Some residents woke up to the unwelcome sight of hazy skies on Friday morning, as the 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) readings edged towards to the unhealthy range.
The overall 24-hour PSI readings for Singapore at 7am was between 62 and 93. The southern and eastern parts of Singapore registered the highest readings, at 93 and and 87 respectively.
The readings have since fallen. At 3pm, the overall 24-hour PSI readings for Singapore were between 59 to 87, which is in the moderate range.
The air quality is considered to be in the unhealthy range when the 24-hour PSI readings are above 101, according to the NEA.
Latest haze could be from local sources
Experts say domestic pollution was likely cause as Indonesia had very few hot spots
Audrey Tan Straits Times 22 Apr 17;
The haze that hung over Singapore from Thursday night till yesterday morning was probably caused by local pollution instead of forest fires in the region, experts say.
"Based on the latest satellite images, there were no significant hot spots or smoke haze detected in the nearby region," said a spokesman for the National Environment Agency (NEA). "The haziness was due to the accumulation of particulate matter under light wind conditions," he added.
The 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI), a measure of air quality here, reached a high of 95 in southern Singapore at 8am yesterday.
A PSI reading above 100 indicates unhealthy air quality, while a reading of between 51 and 100 is considered moderate.
The 24-hour PSI across Singapore stayed in this range for the rest of the day, although readings in southern Singapore leaned towards the higher end.
Experts told The Straits Times there were a negligible number of hot spots in Riau, Sumatra and Kalimantan - provinces in Indonesia whose fires are usually the cause of smoke haze.
"This makes Indonesia unlikely to be the source of the bad air," noted Ms Zhang Wen, executive director of volunteer group People's Movement to Stop Haze (PM.Haze), which monitors haze conditions here. "Another significant source of our poor air is exhaust from traffic."
Usually, domestic pollution can be alleviated by the wind, she said.
"But as it was not windy yesterday, the pollutants could not disperse, making it look hazy."
The hourly concentration readings for PM2.5 - tiny pollutant particles associated with haze - also started inching up from Thursday evening, although their levels across Singapore returned to normal by 9am yesterday.
Air quality scientist Erik Velasco noted that hourly concentrations of nitrogen dioxide, a pollutant associated with the combustion of fossil fuels, also started going up around the same time as PM2.5 concentration levels.
Most of the haze dissipated by the afternoon, as the rain in the morning helped to improve air quality here. But even without the rain, the PM2.5 readings would have fallen as the day progressed, as hot, turbulent air movement during the day would have carried the suspended particles upwards and brought cleaner air downwards, diluting their concentration near the ground, said Associate Professor Koh Tieh Yong of the Singapore University of Social Sciences.
Assistant Professor Winston Chow, from the National University of Singapore's geography department, said yesterday's rain was common for this time of the year, as Singapore goes through the inter-monsoon season.
Singapore experiences most of its thunderstorms during this period.
NEA said thundery showers can be expected over the next few days.
"The likelihood of transboundary haze affecting Singapore is low," said NEA.
KOTA KINABALU: A landmark project aims to increase Sabah's protected forest to 30% of the state's land area by 2025. More than 60 scientists from leading international universities are spearheading it.
The Sabah Forestry Department and South East Asia Rainforest Research Partnership (SEARRP) signed a memorandum of understanding for the project, which will draw top scientists to support the government's rainforest protection efforts.
The scientists, from leading universities in Britain, Europe, the United States, Australia and Malaysia, witnessed the signing ceremony held at the Cambridge Conservation Initiative's David Attenborough Building in England on Thursday.
Speaking at the opening of a related meeting on the science of tropical rainforest research, Sabah Forests chief conservator Datuk Sam Mannan said that forest conservation is a major priority for the state government.
"Over the past 20 years, we have worked to increase the extent of protected forests in Sabah to almost 1.9 million hectares today.
"This is equivalent to 26% of the State's land area," he said.
This surpassed the International Union of Conservation of Nature and Aichi Biodiversity Target targets, he added.
In a speech released to the media here, Mannan said the Sabah government was committed to reaching its 2025 target.
"This will involve the protection of an additional one million acres (404,685ha) of rainforest in Sabah. The location of these new areas has yet to be identified. This is the work that lies ahead of us."
The landmark project is supported by the Rainforest Trust and based on the strategic partnership of the Sabah Forestry Department, SEARRP, the Carnegie Institution for Science, community-based organisation Pacos Trust, and BC Initiative.
SEARRP director Dr Glenn Reynolds, who is leading the coordination of the project, said: "Between now and 2020, the project will generate maps of forest carbon, biodiversity and functional composition that will be integrated with archived and new field observations."
Critical habitat connections will be identified for various plant and animal species, he said, with emphasis on those that provide important ecosystem services such as pollination and dispersal.
This is to ensure the usefulness of forest protection, over time, to cope with climate change.
"Integrating the livelihood requirements of forest-dependent communities will be a vital consideration in the selection of new protected areas," he added.
"Led by our partners Pacos Trust and BC Initiative, the project will consult with local communities and stakeholders to reach consensus on an optimal scenario for rainforest protection," he added.
"This project presents a unique window of opportunity to catalyse world-leading science and protect an additional one million acres of rainforest – forest that will otherwise face mounting and very imminent threats," he said.
The event was officiated by Prince William and also attended by prominent scientists, philanthropies, NGOs and interested parties.
Sabah to expand protected rainforest coverage to 30% by 2025
KRISTY INUS New Straits Times 21 Apr 17;
KOTA KINABALU: A document has been inked for a landmark project which will increase the size of Sabah’s protected forest coverage to 30 per cent of the state’s total land area by 2025, from the current 26 per cent.
The ceremony, which took place yesterday at Cambridge, in the UK, saw the Sabah Forestry Department (SFD) signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Southeast Asia Rainforest Research Partnership (SEARRP) for the initiative.
The Department’s Chief Conservator of Forests, Datuk Sam Mannan, said the project will involve the protection of an additional one million acres (404,685 hectares) of rainforest in Sabah using world-class science.
The exact locations of the new areas have yet to be identified.
“Over the past 20 years, we have worked to increase the extent of protected forests in Sabah by a factor of five to almost 1.9 million hectares today – equivalent to 26 per cent of the state’s land area, surpassing even the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s and Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)’s Aichi targets.
“The Sabah government is committed to increasing the extent of protected forests from the current 26 per cent to 30 per cent of land area by 2025. This is the work that lies ahead of us,” he said in a statement released here.
The strategic partnership also includes the Carnegie Institution for Science, the PACOS Trust and the BC Initiative, he added.
Project lead coordinator Dr Glen Reynolds, who is the SEARRP director, explained that integrating the livelihood requirements of forest-dependent communities will be a vital consideration in the selection of the new protected areas.
“Led by our partners PACOS Trust and BC Initiative, the project will consult with local communities and stakeholders to generate cost-benefit options and reach consensus on an optimal scenario for rainforest protection,” Reynold added.
SEARRP was established by the UK’s Royal Society in 1985 and is headquartered at the Danum Valley Field Centre in Lahad Datu, which was newly-opened then.
For over 30 years, SEARRP-linked scientists based there, and supported by research grants of over US$50 million (RM219.45 million), have been engaged in a coordinated programme of ecological science which has enriched understanding of Sabah’s forests and the need for their conservation and restoration.
JEMPOL: Malaysia’s biggest sugar refinery, which is being constructed in Tanjung Langsat, Johor, is 80% complete, and is expected to produce one million metric tonne of refined sugar, annually, once it starts operations next year, said Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV) chairman Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad.
“Once it’s ready, MSM Malaysia Holdings Bhd (MSM) would be able to sell refined sugar to the domestic market and overseas,” he said.
Speaking to Bernama after handing over 12 computers and RM5,000 cash, to be distributed to 50 students of Sekolah Kebangsaan (Felda) Serting Hilir 2 in Jempol on Friday, he said the refinery would obtain its supply of raw sugar from several countries, including Brazil, China and Thailand.
“We have to get our supplies from several countries because we do not have any large-scale sugarcane plantation in Malaysia.
“We don’t have the right type of soil for it (sugarcane cultivation).
“We tried it back in the 60s and the 70s in Negri Sembilan, but we found that the sugar content in the sugarcane was insufficient,” he said.
A subsidiary of FGV, MSM accounted for 65% of the local sugar market and had invested RM90mil to purchase 20.47ha of land to construct the country’s third sugar refinery. - Bernama
Construction of Malaysia’s biggest sugar refinery 45% complete The Star 26 Apr 17;
JEMPOL: Malaysia’s biggest sugar refinery, which is being constructed in Tanjung Langsat, Johor, is 45% complete and within the approved budget.
It is expected to produce one million metric tonnes of refined sugar annually once it starts operations next year, said Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV) chairman Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad.
“Once it’s ready, MSM Malaysia Holdings Bhd (MSM) would be able to sell refined sugar to the domesticmarket and overseas,” he said. Speaking to Bernama after handing over 12 computers and RM5,000, cash, to be distributed to 50 students of Sekolah Kebangsaan (Felda) Serting Hilir 2 here yesterday, he said the refinery would obtain its supply of raw sugar from several countries, including Brazil, China and Thailand. –Bernama
JOHOR BARU: The carcass of an adult dugong has been discovered at Pulau Tinggi near Mersing.
Villagers found the mammal, with blood oozing out of its eyes, along the coast near Kampung Tanjung Balang at 5pm on Thursday evening.
Johor Health, Environment, Education, and Information Committee chairman Datuk Ayub Rahmat confirmed the discovery, describing it as a huge loss to the state's marine life.
He pointed out that the state Veterinary Department together with Rantau Abang Fisheries Research Institute would conduct a post-mortem on the carcass.
"We want to find out the cause of its death, whether it died naturally or otherwise.
"From 2015, we have found four dugong carcasses in the area," he said.
Ayub also pointed out that the stage government was in the midst of gazetting the area as a dugong sanctuary to protect the species.
Inhumane act: A fisherman laying out shark fins and tails at the Semporna jetty in Sabah.
KOTA KINABALU: Yet another picture has emerged of shark hunting and finning in Sabah, known as a dive paradise for its idyllic islands.
The Danau Girang Field Centre has put up a picture of rows of shark fins being laid out to dry on a jetty in the state’s east coast of Semporna.
The picture, which has triggered dismay and shock among netizens, is stirring up fresh calls for a total ban on shark hunting in the state.
Many have expressed anger and disappointment that it is still legal to hunt sharks in Sabah.
Anti-shark hunting and finning activist Aderick Chong said it was shocking to see so many fins laid out openly in the district that was home to one of the world’s top diving spots.
“Some sharks can be hunted but there should be a ban on hunting certain species like the hammerhead and the stingray,” said Chong, who is heading the Sabah Shark Protection Association.
“(But then) if the state government only bans the capture and killing of certain types of sharks, it will be difficult to identify which species the fins belong to,” he said.
The fishermen, said Chong, claimed that the sharks sold at the markets were from their catch that was part of their livelihood and not hunted.
“(But) why do they need to fin the fish and sell the body separately? This clearly shows that the shark fin trade is real and continues to exist in Sabah,” he said.
Chong said although there were some positive moves during a public consultation for the inclusion of several sharks and stingray species in Sabah’s protection list, this would be pointless if there were no strict rules.
“Sharks will disappear from our seas.
“As it is, sharks are already so hard to find in our dive sites,” he said.
In July last year, pictures of sharks being finned and slaughtered in the diving haven of Pulau Mabul near Sipadan went viral on the Internet.
The images were also featured on the Facebook page of the US Embassy.
A few days after that, a group of tourists shared pictures of dead sharks laid out on a long boat with the tails of at least four hanging over the side.
A research team from the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) Indonesia reveals that the population of whale sharks in Cenderawasih Bay, Papua, is quite large, amounting to 135 individuals.
“Only four out of the total population are female, however,” said Evi Nurul Ihsan, WWF Indonesia’s monitoring and surveillance officer for Cenderawasih Bay in Kwatisore, Nabire, Papua, last week.
“Such a situation has also occurred in other places, such as in the Philippines and other parts of the world,” he said, adding the causes remained a mystery of the global research on whale shark populations.
Together with other whale shark observers, Evi recorded their numbers by using underwater photographic devices. They took pictures of scratches and white freckles behind the left and right gills of the whale sharks for identification purposes because each of them has a different pattern. They also recorded their size and sex.
Based on satellite monitoring results, the migration area of the whale sharks is quite large, Evi said. They not only moved within Cenderawasih Bay National Park waters but also reached the northern waters of West Papua that directly connect to the Pacific Ocean.
“But they will always return to the national park. Hence, its existence is important for the whale sharks,” said Evi.
Whale sharks also can be found in waters around Alor and Flores in East NusaTenggara and around Bali, Maluku, North Sulawesi, Papua, Sabang in Aceh and Situbondo in East Java. In Probolinggo, East Java, the presence of whale sharks is seasonal. “But in Papua, they appear throughout the year,” said Evi. (ebf)
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