Best of our wild blogs: 13 Jul 18





Sliver of Changi still lively
wild shores of singapore

Feeding “Fluffy” the Juvenile Albino Collared Kingfisher
Singapore Bird Group

Pulau Sekudu or Frog Island (青蛙岛)
Offshore Singapore

Job: Part-time Entomological Curation Assistant @ Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (Deadline: 15 August 2018)
Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum

Local NGOs push Singapore banks on coal: Stop using our money to fuel climate change
eco-business

Meeting the rare China Clam
Mei Lin NEO


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MPA: Queen of the Netherlands complied with Singapore requirements

Malay Mail 11 Jul 18;

SINGAPORE, July 11 — Queen of the Netherlands, a sand dredger, complied with Singapore’s port entry and departure requirements, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said today.

The vessel also complied with the reporting procedures when navigating in the Singapore Strait during the period in question, an MPA spokesperson said in an email reply to Bernama.

MPA was asked whether it was aware of the existence of the dredger as a news report claimed that it “has been spotted sailing back and forth between Johor and southern Singapore along a sea route well known for its smuggling activity”.

A check by a Malaysian daily on June 28 on the marine traffic website showed that the ship was in Singapore waters and had been there since June 18.

“The movement of the Queen of the Netherlands showed that it exited Malaysian waters on or before June 18 and was travelling between the Changi southern tip and also parts of Jurong Island in Singapore.

“The vessel seems to be making several back-and-forth stops in between its journey last week as Singapore’s southern area has several small islands south of Sentosa Island and also Jurong Island,” a source was quoted as saying by the daily.

The source said the southern part of Singapore waters was known to be undergoing land reclamation works involving the merger of smaller islands to form a bigger island for commercial usage.

“If indeed the vessel was carrying sand for Malaysian domestic usage, its passage will bypass the islands and proceed to Johor’s west coast near Iskandar Puteri, Kukup or Pontian instead,” said the source, adding that the many stops and travel in Singapore waters were an indicator that something was not right.

Queen of the Netherlands was dubbed the largest and most powerful dredger in the world after lengthening in 2009.

Constructed in 1998, the Dutch Trailing suction hopper dredger is now a 230.71-metre long vessel with a 33,423 gross tonnage. — Bernama


Giant dredger sailing between Johor and Singapore on sand smuggling route
Malay Mail 28 Jun 18;

JOHOR BARU, June 28 — For the past one month, a titanic Dutch sand dredger dubbed the “world’s largest floating vacuum cleaner” has been spotted sailing back-and-forth between Johor and southern Singapore along a sea route well known for its smuggling activity.

The 230.71-metre long vessel with 33,423-gross tonnage has been identified as the “Queen of the Netherlands” and was recently seen in the waters off Teluk Ramunia in Kota Tinggi, raising suspicions that it may have been used in the illegal sale of sand outside the country.

Malaysia has banned sand export since 1997. It is still listed as a prohibited export item in the Customs Department’s list.

A check on the marine traffic website yesterday showed the ship was in Singapore waters and has been there since June 18.

At present, the appearance of the Queen of the Netherlands in Malaysian waters has not triggered alarms among the authorities due to ongoing land reclamation works in Teluk Ramunia on Benalec Holdings Berhad’s 677.2-hectare Pengerang Maritime Industrial Park.

The Kota Tinggi area is also known for having several sand quarries in its district.

However, satellite tracking of the vessel showed that it has been sailing on a sea route that was said to be popular with sand smugglers in 2010.

A maritime source familiar with the routes said the Queen of the Netherlands movement is peculiar, based on satellite tracking data from Inmarsat-C, which is used by sea vessels as part of their Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS) and Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS).

“The movement of the Queen of the Netherlands showed that it exited Malaysian waters on or before June 18 and was travelling between the Changi southern tip and also parts of Jurong Island in Singapore.

“The vessel seems to be making several back-and-forth stops in between its journey last week as Singapore’s southern area has several small islands south of Sentosa Island and also Jurong Island,” the source told Malay Mail today on condition of anonymity.

According to the source, the southern parts of Singapore’s waters are known to be undergoing land reclamation works involving the merger of smaller islands to form a bigger island for commercial usage.

“If indeed the vessel was carrying sand for Malaysian domestic usage, its passage will bypass the islands and proceed to Johor’s west coast near Iskandar Puteri, Kukup or Pontian instead,” said the source, adding that the many stops and travelling in Singapore’s waters was an indicator that something was not right.

Another source familiar with sand dredgers said the Queen of the Netherlands is used mainly for island creations and land reclamation works.

“The massive sand dredger is capable enough to not only dredge and expel sand and stones, but can also to be used as a sand storage vessel,” said the source.

Checks showed that the Queen of the Netherlands is a Dutch Trailing suction hopper dredger ship constructed in 1998.

A trailing suction hopper dredger, in layman terms, is basically ship that has a full sailing capacity used to maintain navigable waterways, deepening the maritime canals that are threatened to become silted, to construct new land elsewhere or to replace sand eroded by storms or wave action on the beaches.

This is made possible by large powerful pumps and engines able to suck sand, clay, silt and gravel. It is also used mainly for constant delivery of sand for land reclamation works.


A tracking route of the Dutch sand dredger Queen of the Netherlands that shows its movement in the south part of Singapore shuttling between the waters off Jurong Island and also the south-east part of the island republic. — Picture courtesy of source

In 2009, the Queen of the Netherlands was lengthened. It was touted the largest and most powerful dredger in the world then.

The vessel, currently flying a Cyprus flag, has been used in high-profile salvage and dredging operations including the investigation into the Swissair Flight 111 crash and in the controversial Port Phillip Channel Deepening Project in Australia.

Those familiar with dredging vessels have dubbed the Queen of the Netherlands as “the world's largest floating vacuum cleaner”.

Malay Mail understands that maritime authorities are able to track and verify the vessel’s movement easily via their maritime radar as well as via its automatic identification system (AIS).

“The AIS tracking system is used on ships and by vessel traffic services (VTS). At the same time Malaysia has several maritime enforcement agencies such as the marine police, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) and Marine Department to investigate the allegations of illegal sand smuggling,” a source said.

In open waters, the AIS functions as an automated tracking system that displays other vessels in the vicinity. It works as a broadcast transponder system which operates in the VHF mobile maritime band.

A vessel fitted with a AIS system will also show on the screens of other vessels in the vicinity, provided the vessel is fitted with the system.

In 2010, The Star reported that sand worth millions of ringgit had been illegally “floated” out of the country daily via Sungai Johor in Johor Baru since 2007.

The report found that the sand ended up in Singapore, despite a ban on sand export imposed by the Malaysian government.

The culprits were suspected to be part of a syndicate and had used barges to pass through the international waters from Kota Tinggi and Ulu Tiram where they load up sand for shipment to Pulau Punggol Timur in Singapore.

However, there have been some exceptions to the sand export ban.

The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry under the Najib administration had granted approved permits to two companies to export sand to India late last year.

However, the approval was only for sand sources from dredging the Sungai Pahang and Sungai Kelantan river estuaries in those states under a special arrangement on a case-by-case basis.


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Malaysia: Awareness campaign, research helps overcome fireflies extinction

Nik Sukry Ramli New Straits Times 12 Jul 18;

KUANTAN: More awareness and research campaigns need to be undertaken to ensure firefly colonies along Sungai Cherating do not go extinct.

National University of Singapore (NUS) Research Fellow, Dr Wan Faridah Akmal Jusoh said the insects were very sensitive to their environment and vulnerable to the threat faced by mangroves and pollution of river water which could affect their breeding.

"Their habitat should be properly maintained and, if possible, there should be no mangrove forest exploration activities or development purposes in the immediate vicinity.

"Perhaps we can increase awareness campaigns as well as provide research grants to researchers to conduct a more in-depth study on this incredible insect’s life-cycle," she said at the launch of the World Fireflies Celebration Day 2018 here.

The event jointly organised by Firefly Pals and the Turtles Conservation Society of Malaysia (TCS) is to mark the World Fireflies celebration which takes place in the first week of July each year.

Present were TCS Executive Director, Dr Chen Pelf Nyok as well as some 50 participants at the event which saw them being briefed on the importance of fireflies. They also took part in fireflies activities along the river.

On the species found in the Cherating river, Wan Faridah said their scientific name is ‘Pteroptyx bearni' and the first evidence of the insect in the Cherating river was recorded in 1993.

Wan Faridah said a similar species of fireflies which was found in Singapore in 1909 had likely become extinct.

She said there is a possibility that the fireflies in the Cherating river may face a similar threat if no proactive action is taken to manage their ecosystem.

"We should not only be focusing on the process of conservation of these firefly areas ... usually, we just replant Berembang trees as an example of where they (fireflies) live.

"By right we should conduct research on the fireflies ecosystems, how they live, from the larval stage to their food types. This is to ensure continuity of breeding of the fireflies on a regular basis," she said.


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Malaysiam Sabah: Orang utan, elephant deaths

Busy week for Sabah Wildlife
Olivia Miwil New Straits Times 12 Jul 18;

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Wildlife department is facing a busy week having to deal with two dead animals and a lost baby elephant in the east coast of Sabah.

An adult male elephant named Sapa, who was injured by a snare trap in Lahad Datu and rescued on June 1, died at the Bornean Elephant Sanctuary in Kinabatangan yesterday although he had been active and showed healing symptoms.

On the same day, the department was alerted that an Orangutan carcass was found lying near the Kabili-Sepilok Forest Reserve in Sandakan.

The department spokesperson Siti Nur’Ain Ampuan Acheh said Sapa died despite of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory treatment.

“(Sapa’s) death is due to multiple organ dysfunction syndrome due to septicemia which might be due to bacterial infection (from deep wound on its right forelimb).

“(As for the Orang Utan), personnel from the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre rushed to the scene upon receiving the report and found the carcass on the ground without any sign of infliction or physical injury,” she said in a statement.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday in Tawau, a weak baby elephant was found wandering alone at the Brumas Plantation in the district.

Siti said district wildlife personnel had secured and provided medical assistance to the three-week-old male calf.

“The baby elephant was taken to Tawau and given milk formula and fluids intravenously and transported to Sepilok this morning.

“It is bright and alert and receptive to drinking milk. Some small wounds were found in different parts of the body and are now being treated.”

As for the sighting of a turtle carcass at Jesselton Point terminal here yesterday, the department could not find the body which probably drifted elsewhere due to strong currents.


Bacterial infection likely cause of death of elephant in Sabah
stephanie lee The Star 13 Jul 18;

KOTA KINABALU: The elephant which died at the Borneo Elephant Sanctuary on Wednesday (July 11) might have died due to a bacterial infection.

Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga said from the post mortem conducted on Thursday (July 12), it was found that the bull elephant named Sapa had multiple organ dysfunction.

"Sapa was rescued in June and he was found to have deep cut wounds on his legs due to snare traps," he said.

He said though Sapa had seemed to be recovering, the post-mortem findings did not support the theory.

Sapa had collapsed in the morning and was given treatment with fluids, antibiotic, anti-inflammatory medicine.

The 20-year-old elephant did not respond to the treatment and died at 4pm.


Bull elephant rescued from rope traps dies at Kinabatangan sanctuary in Sabah
stephanie lee The Star 12 Jul 18;

KOTA KINABALU: A rescued bull elephant has died at the Borneo Elephant Sanctuary in Kinabatangan on Wednesday (July 11).

The elephant named "Sapu" was a victim of snare traps when it was rescued from the Sapagaya Waterfall near the Danum Valley forest reserve on June 1.

Sapu was found with two rope snares bound tightly around its front legs with deep wounds. However, it had been recuperating and responding well to treatments.

Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga said Sapu however collapsed in the morning and died at about 4pm without regaining consciousness.

“We will reveal the cause of death once we know,” Tuuga said when contacted.

Meanwhile, a wildlife conservationist based in Sabah said snare traps for wildlife are deadlier than bullets, as they are cheap, easy to get and silent.

“Almost anyone can get or make the traps,” said the conservationist who did not want to be named.

Though the poacher who set the traps may aim for other animals such as wild boars, larger creatures including elephants can still be victims and die a long, agonising death.


Orangutan found dead near forest reserve in Sandakan
stephanie lee The Star 13 Jul 18;

Carcass of an orang utan near the Sepilok Forest Reserve.

KOTA KINABALU: An Orangutan was found dead in an orchard near the Kabili-Sepilok Forest Reserve in Sandakan on Wednesday (July 11).

Workers at a nearby resort found the carcass of the adolescent male primate and later informed wildlife officials.

Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga said a team was sent to the scene.

"Our rangers found the carcass on the ground without any signs of injury," he said.

"A full post-mortem will be conducted to find out its cause of death," he said.


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Indonesia: Plastic waste poses threat to Indonesian seas - Minister

Azis Kurmala Antara 12 Jul 18;

A number of residents as members of the Earth Hour Community wearing plastic-made clothing appealed to residents to reduce the use of bags made of plastic that cause climate change. (ANTARA FOTO/Rony Muharrman).

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti believes that plastic waste had become a threat to Indonesian seas.

"Hence, various parties must work together to overcome the problem," Pudjiastuti noted here on Thursday.

All parties have a responsibility to ensure that plastic waste should not end up in the sea.

The existence of illegal fishing vessels is not the only threat to Indonesia`s marine resources.

Plastic waste has become one of the main threats in recent days, the minister remarked.

The Indonesian government had earlier committed to reducing plastic waste in its maritime areas, Expert Staff for Marine Ecology and Marine Resources of the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Aryo Hanggono stated.

"The government will reduce plastic waste up to 70 percent by 2025," he remarked.

Currently, he noted that a draft of the presidential regulation on the management of plastic waste at sea was being formulated to ensure coordination between the central and local governments.

He noted that banana peels took two weeks to decompose, while plastic bags took 10-20 years to decompose, and plastic bottles took hundreds of years to decompose.

In addition, he remarked that several studies also indicated that if no significant changes are brought about, the ratio of plastic to fish in the oceans is expected to reach three is to one by 2025, and the oceans will contain more plastic than fish by 2050.

The fisheries and maritime sector has now become Indonesia`s prime source of economic income.

However, sustainability will not be achieved unless the sector is really preserved.

Meanwhile, Executive Director of Kehati Foundation M. S. Sembiring pointed out that Indonesia has the world`s largest biodiversity.

President Jokowi Widodo earlier remarked that Indonesia had to take serious measures to exploit its maritime resources, which he believes were the future of the country`s economy.

He said only a small part of the maritime resources worth Rp17 quadrillion (US$1.28 trillion) annually could be exploited.

"Maritime resources are the key to improving the people`s welfare and ensuring social justice in the country," the president added.


Editor: Bustanuddin


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Indonesia: Police’s work in orangutan cases lauded

N. Adri The Jakarta Post 12 Jul 18;

Conservation group the Centre for Orangutan Protection (COP) lauded the local police for their swift action in solving two cases of brutal orangutan slaughter in Kalimantan this year.

Two orangutans were killed separately in February, one at nearby Kutai National Park in East Kalimantan and the other in January in South Barito, Central Kalimantan. Local police managed to arrest the suspects within two weeks of each incident.

“We thank all stakeholders [particularly the police] for their hard work in enforcing the law,” COP director Ramadhani said on Thursday.

On Feb. 19, East Kutai Police named four men of Teluk Pandan and a 13-year-old suspects of the brutal orangutan killing 12 days after spotting the dying creature. Around 130 air rifle pellets were found in the corpse, along with 19 fresh stab wounds.

The case was brought to the Sangatta District Court in late April, around two months after the incident.

On Tuesday, the court sentenced each of the four men to seven months in prison for the intentional killing of the orangutan. The court also ordered them to pay Rp 50 million (US$3,478) in fines or serve an additional two months in prison. The boy was released as he is a minor.

In the case of the Central Kalimantan killing, the South Barito Police named two suspects on Jan. 30, 15 days after a headless carcass of an orangutan was found floating in a river in Kalahien village. The Buntok District Court sentenced each man to six months in prison and Rp 500,000 in fines in May.

The COP, however, found the convictions were too lenient to deter the culprits and to mitigate the damage to the conservation of the critically endangered species, which is protected by the law. Violators are punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to Rp 100 million. (nor/ipa)


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