Photographing marine life in Singapore
Peiyan.Photography
An awe-sss-ome day out at Pasir Ris Mangrove!
Adventures with the Naked Hermit Crabs
Favourite Nectaring Plants #16
Butterflies of Singapore
Raffles the botanist..?
PokeZoology
Roads Named after Cargo Boats, and the Vanished Charcoal/Firewood Trade at Tanjong Rhu
Remember Singapore
East Asian Ornate Chorus Frog (Microhyla fissipes) @ Windsor Nature Park
Monday Morgue
Audrey Leong New Paper 26 Mar 18;
What started out as a normal cargo pick-up for Mr Mohamed Sharjahan, 30, and his four-man crew turned into a mission to rescue nine Indonesian crew members of a sinking boat.
On Thursday night, Sunlight Poseidon, an 18m by 4m cargo boat, left Penjuru Terminal and was heading to a nearby anchorage to drop off cargo when the crew saw the silhouette of a small boat in the distance at about 10.30pm.
Mr Sharjahan, the captain and boarding officer of Sunlight Poseidon, knew something was wrong when he realised the ship did not have its navigational lights turned on.
"Though we were moving closer to it, the boat in the distance seemed to be getting smaller. That was when we decided to investigate," Mr Sharjahan told The New Paper on Friday.
NO SIGN
The crew cast the boat's spotlight to the sea but only saw a few floating planks, with no other sign of the vessel or survivors.
The captain was about to turn away when he heard cries for help and saw the frantic waving of the survivors in the dark.
He said: "They were calling out 'tolong, tolong' (Malay for help), and there was nothing else on my mind but their safety."
Mr Sharjahan, a seaman of four years, said his fear was they would hurt the survivors.
"We couldn't go closer for fear that the current from the boat might kill them, so we encouraged them to swim to us."
The crew spent 20 minutes pulling up the nine men.
A spokesman for the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said it received a report of a collision between an Indonesian-registered craft, Samudra Indah, and a Singapore-registered bunker tanker, Explorer, at East Jurong Channel at 10.25pm on Thursday.
While the Samudra Indah sank, the Explorer did not sustain any damage. No injuries or oil pollution were reported.
Investigations are ongoing.
In a statement to TNP yesterday, Equatorial Marine Fuel Management, owner of the Explorer, confirmed the collision. It is conducting its own investigation and cooperating with the authorities.
After they were pulled on board, the Samudra Indah survivors were shivering and weak from the ordeal.
Said Mr Sharjahan: "They kept thanking us for saving them, but were too in shock to give us any other details."
The crew informed the MPA and the Police Coast Guard, who took the survivors back to shore.
By 4pm on Saturday, the Samudra Indah had been pulled out of the sea.
Mr Foong Jun Jie, 28, an operations executive for RW Marine Services, which owns Sunlight Poseidon, said: "The crew took the initiative to go out of their way to save these survivors.
"We are all proud of what they did."
LOUISA TANG Today Online 25 Mar 18;
SINGAPORE — About 1,500kg of blemished or unused vegetables that would otherwise have been discarded were used to cook halal and vegetarian meals for 5,000 people at City Square Mall on Sunday (March 25).
The event, which seeks to increase awareness about food waste, was the first edition of ‘Feeding the 5,000’ in Asia, which has been featured in more than 40 locations worldwide.
It took about six months to plan and execute the event, said Mr Ashwin Subramaniam, chief executive officer of Singapore-based sustainability research and implementation company Gone Adventurin.
About seven to eight partners, including community non-governmental organisations such as The Food Bank Singapore, were involved in helping make the event happen on Sunday. They picked and transported the “ugly food” to the caterers for cooking, and also set up booths to educate the public on food waste at City Square Mall.
The vegetables, collected from Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre by volunteers from SG Food Rescue on Saturday, were used in dishes such as nasi biryani and vegetarian fried bee hoon which were handed out to members of the public for free on Sunday.
The rice and noodles were donated, while all plates and cutlery used were compostable.
Some challenges that Gone Adventurin faced in bringing the event here were maintaining high hygiene standards. Mr Ashwin said that they strictly monitored the food preparation process, and the caterers were present when the produce was being sourced.
He said: “At the consumer level, there is a lot of food waste, but a lot of food waste also comes from industries — manufacturing, retail industries. Some retailers are taking steps to address it but what we would love to see more is responsibility across the food chain … not just at the stores.”
He noted that Singaporeans contribute 791,000 tonnes of food waste annually across households, supermarkets, food establishments and the food industry, costing the average Singaporean household up to S$1,440 every year.
“We hope to change the perception of ‘ugly food’ that is still perfectly edible – it just has a little bit of blemish here and there,” he added.
“Consumers’ demand for perfect looking fruits is fuelling food waste, yet an ugly apple tastes just as good as a good looking one. Why bin it when you can still eat it?” said The Food Bank Singapore management associate Margarita Seah.
SG Food Rescue co-founders, Mr Daniel Tay and actress Judee Tan, told TODAY that their wish is to have “no food waste”. The group collects vegetables from Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre on a weekly basis, scoring between 1,000 and 2,000kg of vegetables every time.
About 25 per cent of food produced at farms go to waste, while 10 per cent is lost at the wholesale level, Mr Tay pointed out.
“We’ve forgotten where food comes from … Don’t just let supermarkets tell you what is edible,” he said.
TRAFFIC 26 Mar 18;
Jakarta, Indonesia, 26th March 2018—They are shy creatures, but for the thousands of threatened tortoises and freshwater turtles found on sale in Jakarta’s shops and markets, there’s no shelter from the glare of the illegal trade spotlight, finds a new TRAFFIC report.
Researchers found 4,985 individuals of 65 different species of tortoise and freshwater turtles in just seven locations over a four-month period. Nearly half of these were threatened with extinction according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Slow and Steady: The Global Footprint of Jakarta’s Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Trade, released today, also revealed that at least eight non-native species recorded were prohibited from international commercial trade under CITES¹ and were likely to have been illegally imported.
This survey in 2015 found more turtles and tortoises on sale in Jakarta than previous TRAFFIC surveys carried out in 2004 and 2010. Between 92 and 983 animals were observed in any given week.
“If this trade and the open markets that sell species illegally are not made a priority for law enforcement action, many of the currently threatened species will be pushed closer to extinction,” said Kanitha Krishnasamy, Acting Regional Director for TRAFFIC in Southeast Asia.
This study also found indications of a worsening situation with the discovery of higher proportions of non-native, CITES-listed and threatened species compared to earlier studies. On the list were the Critically Endangered Ploughshare Tortoise Astrochelys yniphora and Radiated Tortoise Astrochelys radiata, both endemic to Madagascar and listed in CITES Appendix I (meaning all international trade is banned) since 1975.
Non-native turtles are not protected by Indonesian law and this includes the most commonly observed species in this study – the Indian Star Tortoise Geochelone elegans. This tortoise is also totally prohibited from harvest and trade in its range states of South Asia.
Researchers found no recent records of Indian Star Tortoise imports for commercial purposes or records of legal exports from range countries in the UNEP-WCMC² CITES database. There was also no information on specimens reportedly bred in captivity in other countries. The authors concluded that high levels of illegal import of these tortoises into Indonesia was still occurring as recently as in 2015.
This research deepens two concerns experts have held for some time: that high levels of illegal turtle trade occur in the country and that loopholes within national legislation continue to undermine protection of local and non-native species of tortoises and freshwater turtles.
Indonesia is currently revising legislation relating to wildlife protection (Act No. 5, 1990) and the protected species list (Regulation No. 7, 1999). The report recommends that these laws are amended to include non-native, CITES listed species and provisions for effective enforcement.
“For international agreements like CITES to be effective, Indonesia must move to protect not only its native species but also non-native ones, especially those that have been repeatedly shown to be heavily trafficked within the country, said Krishnasamy.
Last week, experts gathered at Night Safari Singapore for the Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle IUCN Red List Workshop to assess the status of 90 South and Southeast Asian tortoise and freshwater turtle species, many of which are threatened by trade. Over half of these species are native to Southeast Asia, including over 20 that occur in Indonesia.
27 May (Sun): Pesta Ubin WalkRunBike 2018
Pesta Ubin 2018
New edition of the Southern and Northern shore guidesheets!
wild shores of singapore
Horseshoe crabs at Pasir Ris
wild shores of singapore
Deep sea exploration by Singapore scientists!
Celebrating Singapore Shores!
Singapore Garden Photographer of the Year (SGPY) 2017
Peiyan.Photography
Night Walk At Windsor Nature Park (23 Mar 2018)
Beetles@SG BLOG
Bittern In The Chestnuts
Winging It
Singapore Bird Report – February 2018
Singapore Bird Group
New 3M survey showed that 1 in 2 Singaporeans think everyday life wouldn’t be much different if science didn’t exist at all
Mei Lin NEO
Elizabeth Neo Channel NewsAsia 24 Mar 18;
SINGAPORE: Interest groups, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and constituencies that are interested in holding green events in support of the Year of Climate Action can apply for a government grant from Apr 1.
Each group will be eligible for up to S$5,000 on a reimbursement basis, announced Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources Amy Khor on Saturday (Mar 24).
Interested groups have until the end of the year to apply for the grant.
The Climate Action SG Grant was first announced by Dr Khor during the Committee of Supply debate earlier this month, to help organisations defray costs of developing preogrammes to raise awareness of climate change.
Speaking at an eco-carnival at Our Tampines Hub, Dr Khor also touched on the subject of energy conservation.
Dr Khor said the Mandatory Energy Labelling Scheme (MELS) for household appliances, which currently covers air-conditioners, refrigerators, clothes dryers, televisions and general purpose lamps, will be expanded to cover more types of lamps.
This includes the compact fluorescent lamp without the integrated ballast, the T8 fluorescent tube as well as the LED direct replacements.
Dr Khor said the National Environment Agency will be consulting the industry and public on a proposal for this matter.
“Our studies show that for a household, if they actually choose a three tick LED instead of a two tick fluorescent lamp for instance, they will actually save 40 per cent of energy,” she added.
Dr Khor pointed out that the scheme has not only helped consumers choose more energy efficient models of household appliances but also transformed the market in two ways.
Suppliers are motivated to bring in more energy efficient appliance models due to the product differentiation offered by MELS, she said, and households have a wide selection energy-saving models to choose from.
“In 2016 ... three-quarters of fridges that were sold were actually energy efficient ones," Dr Khor said.
She added that more energy efficient models of appliances regulated under MELS have entered the market, thus giving consumers more choice.
Saturday's event, called the Just One Earth (JOE) Carnival, is in its fourth year.
Organised by the North East CDC, the carnival aims to engage the community and inspire children and their parents to contribute towards a sustainable future for Singapore, through a variety of activities.
Residents got to try their hand at making a natural cleaner with fruit peels, as well as self-watering planters with plastic bottles and old cloth.
Source: CNA/ad
Channel NewsAsia 24 Mar 18;
SYDNEY: The Sydney Opera House, the Eiffel Tower and Moscow's Red Square were among the world landmarks to go dark on Saturday (Mar 24), as part of a global campaign to raise awareness about the impacts of climate change.
Earth Hour, which started in Australia in 2007, is being observed by millions of supporters in 187 countries, who are turning off their lights at 8.30pm local time in what organisers describe as the world's "largest grassroots movement for climate change".
"It aims to raise awareness about the importance of protecting the environment and wildlife," Earth Hour organiser WWF Australia chief Dermot O'Gorman told AFP.
In Paris, the Eiffel Tower plunged into darkness as President Emmanuel Macron urged people to join in and "show you are willing to join the fight for nature".
"The time for denial is long past. We are losing not only our battle against climate change, but also our battle against the collapse of biodiversity," he said on Twitter.
Moscow's Red Square also fell dark and the Russian section of the International Space Station dipped its lights, the Ria Novisti news agency said.
Images from across Asia showed buildings including Kuala Lumpur's Petronas Towers, as well as the famous harbour skylines of Hong Kong and Singapore, blacking out to mark the occasion.
Other global landmarks that will take part include New York's Empire State Building.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the event "comes at a time of huge pressure on people and planet alike".
"Resources and ecosystems across the world are under assault. Earth hour is an opportunity to show our resolve to change."
THREAT OF EXTINCTION
With global temperatures the highest on record, O'Gorman said this year's theme was the impact of climate change on biodiversity and plant and animal species.
"More than half of plant and animal species face local extinction in some of the world's most naturally rich areas in biodiversity by the turn of this century if we continue along the current path that we are trending in terms of global warming," he said.
Species at risk include Australia's green turtles, black-flanked rock wallabies and koalas, as well as the Adelie penguin colonies in Antarctica, the conservation group said in a report it commissioned that was published in the science journal Climatic Change.
The analysis, released last week, said key biodiverse sites around the world projected to be most affected by localised extinction include the Amazon, the world's largest tropical rainforest, and southern Africa's Miombo Woodlands.
While the lights-off event is a symbolic gesture, Earth Hour has led successful campaigns over the past decade to ban plastics in the Galapagos Islands and plant 17 million trees in Kazakhstan.
Sydneysider Dianna Ali, who was having dinner with family as the lights went off in the city, said the initiative had made her more aware of the impact of her lifestyle on the planet's health.
"Since Earth Hour started, it's made me more conscious of how much power I'm using," she told AFP.
"I think... about how much one individual can make a difference."
Source: AFP/ad/ec
ASYRAF KAMIL Today Online 24 Mar 18;
SINGAPORE — From the largest collection of water lilies in Singapore, to roaming the gardens in autonomous vehicles, these are some of the attractions Singaporeans can look forward to when construction for the Jurong Lake Gardens (JLG) Central and East completes progressively from 2020 onwards.
JLG West, which is currently under development, will be the first section to open next year, while the construction tender for JLG Central and East – which include the Chinese and Japanese Gardens – will be called in mid-2018.
In a media statement on Saturday (March 24), the National Parks Board (NParks) said that more than 14,000 suggestions and feedback were gathered for the concept design for JLG East and West, which the statutory board then “incorporated” into the project.
“The feedback received strongly supports the proposed concept design for JLG Central and East, especially for features that showcase tropical horticulture, nature and sustainability, and spaces for the community,” said NParks.
During a community tree planting event at JLG West on Saturday, Minister for National Development and Chairman of the Jurong Lake District Steering Committee Lawrence Wong said that the feedback sessions are “an important ground-up process to shape our national gardens”.
He said: “We’ve had a very productive consultation exercise, with many useful suggestions from the public… for more community and family spaces. (This) has enabled NParks to improve the final concept plans for JLG Central and East.”
The public engagement exercise consisted of roving exhibitions, townhall sessions, and online surveys conducted from November 2016 to April last year.
NParks noted from the feedback that many of the buildings and features in the Chinese and Japanese Gardens hold special memories for Singaporeans and that “most of the structures in the Chinese Garden and landforms in the Japanese Garden will be retained”.
“The design for JLG Central hence seeks to retain the natural ambience and key features of the Gardens by working with the existing landforms and key buildings and features, and leveraging on the water surrounding the Gardens,” it said.
NParks added that the public feedback received had also indicated strong support for garden features related to water, which is “in line with the concept design of the Gardens”.
More than 140 varieties of water lilies will be showcased within water terraces at the Aquatic Gardens, making it the largest collection of water lilies here in the Republic. Some 100 varieties of the flower will be new to Singapore, NParks said.
Visitors to the gardens will also be able to get up close to the water lilies to observe and photograph them as boardwalks will extend across the terraced ponds.
There will be a Nature Rambling Trail, where families and children can learn about native riverine environments. There will also be a Water Gallery Trail consisting of outdoor spaces featuring art and plants, said NParks.
NParks also said that it had received suggestions on the use of smart technology to “enhance visitor experience and enable efficient garden management and operations”.
“Useful information related to weather, directions and events listings will be displayed on interactive information screens in the Gardens, which will also be served by a people mover system which includes the use of autonomous vehicles,” said the statutory board.
Visitors who wants to cycle to the Gardens can ride on an East-West cycling route across the Chinese Garden to connect Taman Jurong to Jurong Town Hall and Jurong East.
To inject vibrancy to the Gardens, NParks added there are plans for farmers’ markets and thematic displays for visitors to enjoy.
The public is invited to share their views on the different types of programmes and activities that they would like to see at JLG during a public exhibition at Taman Jurong Community Club, which will be held from March 25 to April 1.
Jurong Lake Gardens to be home to Singapore’s largest collection of water lilies
Loh Chuan Junn Channel NewsAsia 24 Mar 18;
SINGAPORE: The new Jurong Lake Gardens will be home to the largest collection of water lilies in Singapore, with more than 140 varieties, announced the National Parks Board (NParks) on Saturday (Mar 24).
More than 100 varieties of water lilies will be new to Singapore, such as the Australian Giant Water Lily and the Foxfire Water Lily, added NParks.
Visitors will be able to see the aquatic plants up close from boardwalks which will extend across the terrace ponds.
These are part of the concept design for the gardens' east and central zones which was unveiled on Saturday.
Touted as the next national gardens in the heartlands, the Jurong Lake Gardens is part of a larger transformation of the Jurong Lake District.
There are three parts to the gardens - west, east and central - and proposed plans for the latter two zones had been put up for public consultation from November 2016 to April 2017.
More than 14,000 suggestions were received, said NParks on Saturday.
Sharing some of the feedback, NParks said many people noted that the buildings and features in the Chinese and Japanese Gardens - in the central zone - held special memories for Singaporeans.
"The design for Jurong Lake Gardens Central hence seeks to retain the natural ambience and key features of the gardens by working with the existing landforms and key buildings and features, and leveraging on the water surrounding the gardens," said NParks.
The iconic seven-storey pagoda at the Chinese Garden, for example, will be retained.
One new feature will be a water gallery trail where boats can travel along the banks of the lake surrounded by a swamp forest.
As public feedback showed that people wanted more public spaces for activities, the northern shore of the gardens will be transformed into a space comprising a lawn, a pavilion housing food and beverage outlets and a youth park.
ill also be transformed into a space comprising a lawn, a pavilion housing food and beverage outlets and a Youth Park.
To make the area more accessible, an East-West cycling route will be provided across the Chinese Garden to connect Taman Jurong to Jurong Town Hall and Jurong East.
A public exhibition on the new Jurong Lake Gardens will be held from Mar 25 until Apr 1, where people are invited to share their views on the programmes they would like to see at the new gardens.
A construction tender for the central and east zones will be called in the middle of this year, and works are expected to be completed progressively from 2020.
As for the western part of the gardens, works started in April 2016, and it is slated to open early next year.
Source: CNA/ad
Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja Straits Times 24 Mar 18;
JAKARTA - The plight of Erin the baby elephant, who was found in a poacher's trap with a severed trunk, has received national attention this week after her story was told online.
The Sumatran elephant was discovered in July 2016 when she was two years old near a housing settlement in Lampung province's Susukan Baru area, within the 1,300 sqkm Way Kambas National Park.
She was weak, thin and had pinworm in her intestine. Her trunk was severed about 10cm from the distal edge, an injury likely sustained when she fell into the trap, Kompas.com reported on Wednesday (March 21).
Erin was taken to the nearby Rubini Atmawidjaja Elephant Hospital.
Actress Wulan Guritno expressed her grievance on Instagram account and appealed to her 2.4 million followers to save Sumatran elephants, and donate for Erin.
"So sad seeing this young elephant. Erin needs assistance when she feeds herself," Wulan said in her post.
The Way Kambas national park housed 248 wild elephants, as per the last census in 2010. The park's rehabilitation centre has 66 tamed elephants, including Erin.
Dr Diah Esti Anggraini, a vet at the elephant hospital, told Kompas that Erin's physical condition was weak due to the injury. She had been left behind by a group of wild elephants and could not keep up.
Like other injured elephants left behind by their herds, she relied on her survival instincts and walked towards a settlement.
Since her rescue, Erin has been learning to eat without using her trunk.
"She manoeuvres her front limbs to help pick up food or sometimes bends them to reach food," Dr Diah said.
Sumatran elephants are critically endangered. Illegal ivory trade and dwindling habitat due to deforestation have raised fears that elephants could become extinct within decades.
On Feb 12, a female Sumatran elephant aged around 20 was found dead with her tusks removed, in Way Kambas national park, which is also home to critically endangered Sumatran rhinos and tigers. There were five bullet wounds in her chest and head, Kompas.com also reported, citing the park's patrol officials.
This came a month after a male Sumatran elephant was found dead with its tusks removed in a protected forest in South Sumatra.
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“Silent Spring” by Rachel Carson
The Entomologist Lounge
NEO CHAI CHIN Today Online 23 Mar 18;
SINGAPORE — It is not your typical “cruise”, but that is what one professor is calling it.
On Friday (March 23), a team of 30 researchers and support crew from Singapore and Indonesia set off on a quest to find out what crabs, prawns, fishes and other marine life dwell in the seas off western and southern Java.
Over 14 days on board the Indonesian research vessel Baruna Jaya VIII, the team will use dredges, beam trawls and other gadgets to sample the range of organisms at depths of 500m to 2,000m in the largely unexplored waters.
The average depth of the ocean is about 3,800m but based on the researchers’ experience, depths of 500m to 2,000m display the greatest biodiversity.
The route that researchers will take for the South Java Deep-Sea Biodiversity Expedition 2018, from March 23 to April 5, 2018. Photo: NUS
Led by Professor Peter Ng, head of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum at the National University of Singapore (NUS), and Dr Dwi Listyo Rahayu, senior research scientist at the Research Centre for Oceanography of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, this will be the first deep-sea biodiversity expedition that Singapore and Indonesia are organising together.
Departing from Muara Baru in Jakarta, they will sail anti-clockwise towards Cilacap in southern Java and back, returning to land on April 5.
The “cruise” — as Prof Ng dubbed the expedition — will also mark the first time the scientists will provide daily updates to their colleagues in Singapore on interesting creatures hauled up, if Wi-Fi on the vessel permits.
“The science will come first, but if (Iffah Iesa, a team member) sees a really cool fish, she’ll take pictures and get scientists on board to give her snippets, and she’ll write it up to send to you,” Prof Ng told reporters last week. “I think it’s important that the public knows what (we’re) doing, why (we’re doing) it.”
The two-week expedition will cost more than S$400,000, which will be shared by both sides.
Prof Ng rubbished the notion that there is no life to be found in the deep sea, which has been called no man’s land.
Past expeditions elsewhere have unearthed sea cockroaches resembling Darth Vader, bloated oil-filled fishes with poorly developed eyes as well as spectacularly coloured lobsters, he said.
During a deep-sea expedition in central Philippines organised by the Philippines, France, Taiwan and Singapore in 2005, for instance, researchers found more than 1,500 species of crabs, shrimps and lobsters, and more than 150 of these were new to science, Prof Ng said.
LONG LIFE
“Deep-sea animals generally have a long life because of the high pressure and cold temperatures. Most of the animals generally live five to 10 times longer than things in shallow waters,” he said.
Deep-sea expeditions have traditionally been organised by the French, Americans, Australians, and English, and Prof Ng said that the experience would stand Singapore and Indonesia in good stead.
In 2015, Ocean Mineral Singapore, a unit of Singapore conglomerate Keppel Corporation, signed a 15-year contract with the International Seabed Authority to explore how metal-rich rocks could be harvested in an area in the Pacific Ocean about 80 times the size of Singapore.
Prof Ng noted: “More and more organisations are starting to look at deep sea as a resource for fisheries, for oil, gas, mining and so on… How do you use it in a sustainable way?”
While the researchers will collect animal specimens during their journey, there will be “limited damage” to the environment, Prof Ng said. There is no other way, he added, to obtain definitive data needed to confirm that a species is rare or new to science, for example.
On why the team is not sending a submersible down into the deep sea, he explained that it would have been expensive and they would only be able to sample a small area. These vessels are good for detailed studies, but not for a first-cut study of a largely unknown area.
The team, which includes other members from Singapore such as fish scientist Dr Tan Heok Hui and the Tropical Marine Science Institute’s Dr Tan Koh Siang, plan to survey 29 sites during the fortnight.
The sea creatures collected will be sorted, photographed, preserved and labelled on the vessel, and some will be kept alive for short periods in chilled tanks so they can be observed, studied and filmed.
Thereafter, the scientists expect to take about two years to study the samples and plan to share the results at a special workshop in Indonesia in 2020.
The project is part of RISING50, a celebration of 50 years of diplomatic relations between Singapore and Indonesia.
NUS researchers embark on first deep sea expedition in West Java
Cheryl Goh Channel NewsAsia 23 Mar 18;
SINGAPORE: It’s not quite 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, but close.
A team of Singapore and Indonesia scientists are venturing into the deep unknown of the West Java sea, where their goal is to uncover the vast array of marine life that, till now, has been unexplored.
This first-of-its-kind 14-day expedition from Friday (Mar 23) till Apr 5 takes place on board the Indonesian research vessel Baruna Jaya VIII, which will carry a team of 30 researchers and support staff from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences.
The vessel will depart from Muara Baru, Jakarta in Indonesia, where the scientists will spend the next two weeks working in the vicinity of the Sunda Strait Trough off Cilacap, digging deep into the dredges to take samples from the seabed.
Based on the team’s experience, the depth of 500m to 2,000m usually displays the greatest diversity with the most interesting species, but the scientists also have a particular wish list they hope to document, ranging from crabs and prawns, shells, fish, urchins and even worms.
Each day, the research team plans to conduct sampling at three to four sites, covering a total of 29 sites. Each sampling exercise will take at least three to four hours to complete due to the depths involved and the time it takes to deploy the equipment.
Important biological samples will be sorted, photographed, preserved and labelled on board the research vessel. Some will even be kept alive for short periods in special, chilled aquariums so that they can be observed, studied and filmed.
Head of the NUS’ Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum and one of the expedition leaders, Professor Peter Ng, said there is a wealth of biodiversity waiting to be uncovered.
"People always forget that the deep sea holds a huge number of different species of animals, many of them new to science, that we don't even know they are there," he said. "So I think it's important to find out what are the kinds of animals living there, what are the species there, and this increase of knowledge will be very good as far as the conservation, use of resources in the future is concerned."
Prof Ng also recounted past expeditions, which had “unearthed bizarre Darth Vader-like sea cockroaches, bloated oil-filled fishes with poorly developed eyes, eerie wraith-like crabs as well as spectacularly-coloured lobsters.”
Dr Dwi Listyo Rahayu, who is the chief scientist for the Indonesian team, said: “This deep-sea expedition will reveal the diversity of demersal organisms on the southwestern part of Java Island, the area where almost no exploration has ever been conducted. It will certainly incite a strong maritime spirit among young Indonesian scientists participating in the expedition to go forth and seek the many interesting animals that live in the deep waters of their country.”
The expedition is also significant because it has been 15 years in the making, and is the first time Singapore and Indonesia are teaming up on such a large-scale quest. Prof Ng said an immense amount of preparation and forward planning has taken place.
“So typically, we will plan for logistics, what we need. To feed 30 scientists on board, not counting the crew, the water, the equipment they need, the photographic equipment, and out at sea, you cannot replenish your supplies, you cannot just call somebody and somebody delivers, no such thing," he said.
"You plan for worst case scenario, medical accidents, what do you do? So a lot of planning has to take place when you do a deep sea expedition out in open sea to ensure the risks are the minimum, the science can be maximised, and the results are useful for scientists to come.”
At the end of the expedition, the samples collected will be studied by scientists from both countries. This is anticipated to take up to two years, and the results will be shared and discussed with the world at a workshop to be held in Indonesia in 2020.
The output will then be collated and published in the Museum’s science-citation journal, The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology.
Source: CNA/ng
Indonesia, Singapore lead deep-sea expedition to West Java
Team will give daily dredging updates in effort to discover new species
Samantha Boh Straits Times 23 Mar 18;
A team of explorers set off on a pioneering deep-sea expedition yesterday afternoon, hoping for a glimpse of an area where no man has ventured.
Over the next 14 days, they will sail from Jakarta to the Sunda Strait and waters off the Indonesian port of Cilacap. Off the southern coast of West Java, they will mine the rich seascape for living treasures living 500m to 2km under the sea, at 29 separate sites.
Led by Professor Peter Ng from Singapore and Dr Dwi Listyo Rahayu from Indonesia, the multinational team of 30 researchers, scientists and support staff will give daily updates of the dredging - a first for any expedition - as they scour through depths that hold the greatest diversity of animals.
Their focus will be on crabs, prawns, shells, sponges, jellyfish, worms, starfish, urchins and fishes.
They hope to discover new species in a bid to expand on existing knowledge of the Earth's biodiversity.
But with countries looking to deep-sea activities such as deep-sea mining to meet their mineral demands, such research is also crucial in providing information that will ensure such activities are carried out without severely damaging the environment, according to Prof Ng, head of the National University of Singapore's Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum.
Singapore is among nations poised to venture into deep-sea mining, with a unit of rig builder Keppel Corporation, Ocean Mineral Singapore, securing a 15-year contract in 2015 to explore how metal-rich rocks can be harvested from the bottom of the Pacific.
"As we progress into the deep sea to use its resources, there is increased pressure to understand the deep sea," Prof Ng said. "You need to know what is there."
He said that the team will also hone skills to allow them to conduct deep-sea environmental impact studies.
This is the first time Singapore and Indonesia have organised a deep-sea biodiversity expedition together, reaffirming the strong diplomatic ties between the two nations, he added.
The team was met with much fanfare yesterday morning at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, as the voyage was officially launched. Among those present were Indonesia's Minister of Research, Technology and Higher Education H. Mohamad Nasir and Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi.
The expedition, the largest to be organised by South-east Asian scientists, will cost both countries about $400,000 in total.
The team is sailing on the Indonesian research vessel Baruna Jaya VIII, and will collect samples at three or four sites each day. Each sampling exercise will last at least three or four hours.
Once the animals are brought on board, they will be photographed, preserved and labelled. Some will be kept in special chilled aquariums for short periods, so they can be observed and filmed.
Past expeditions have been rewarded richly. One in central Philippines organised by the Philippines, France, Taiwan and Singapore in 2005, for instance, yielded more than 1,500 species of crabs, shrimps and lobsters, 150 of which were new to science.
"You want the eureka moment, the discovery that you have seen something that has been on Earth for millions of years but no one has realised it," said Prof Ng.
Dr Rahayu, senior research scientist at the Research Centre for Oceanography of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, said: "This deep-sea expedition will reveal the diversity of demersal organisms on the south-western part of Java island, an area where almost no exploration has ever been conducted." Demersal organisms are those which live close to the seabed.
Prof Ng admitted that there will be some damage to the environment as the animals are being taken from their homes.
"But since this area has not been sampled before, we decided the damage is acceptable, and it is minimal. You have to take those risks," he said. "We are not defending it, we are explaining it."
After the expedition, the samples will be studied, and the findings will be shared and discussed at a workshop slated to be held in Indonesia in 2020, and later published in The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology.
Creatures of the deep sea
Deep sea carrier crab (Homologenus exilis)
This crab was discovered on an expedition to Tungsha Islands in the South China Sea in 2015 by Professor Peter Ng and French marine biologist Bertrand Richer de Forges. PHOTO: PETER NG
Saudade six-legged crab (Hexaplax saudade)
This crab is found in various parts of the South China Sea, as well as the Philippines, Taiwan and Japan. It was discovered by Professor Peter Ng and Dr Dwi Listyo Rahayu, who named it in 2014. It has large glowing red eyes, and unlike other crabs, has six instead of eight legs.PHOTO: PETER NG
Blind lobster (Polycheles typhlops)
This lobster was collected by scientists during an expedition to the Philippine Sea, east of Luzon Island. This species is known to inhabit areas near coral banks on soft muddy substrates. PHOTO: CHAN TIN-YAM
Giant sea cockroach (Bathynomus kensleyi)
A Darth Vader lookalike, this Isopod was caught during an expedition to the Bohol Sea in the central Philippines. They live close to the seabed, between depths of 300m and 2.5km. PHOTO: PETER NG
NUS and RCO-LIPI scientists embark on deep-sea biodiversity expedition in West Java
NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE EurekAlert 23 Mar 18;
A team of 30 researchers and support staff led by scientists from Singapore and Indonesia will embark on a 14-day scientific expedition to study deep-sea marine life in the area off the southern coast of West Java. Through the "South Java Deep-Sea Biodiversity Expedition 2018", this is the first time that a concerted deep-sea biological exploration will be conducted in this largely unexplored part of Indonesian seas.
This unprecedented project is a reflection of the bold and collaborative spirit embodied in RISING50 -- a celebration of 50 years of diplomatic relations between Singapore and Indonesia. This joint initiative reaffirms the depth and diversity of the long-standing collaboration between the academic and scientific communities of Singapore and Indonesia.
The research team will depart Muara Baru, Jakarta in Indonesia, on 23 March 2018 and return on 5 April 2018. Indonesian research vessel Baruna Jaya VIII will be used to sample the seabed at depths between 500 metres and 2,000 metres from the vicinity of the Sunda Strait Trough off Cilacap. Based on the team's experience, the depth of 500 metres to 2,000 metres usually displays the greatest diversity with the most interesting species.
The expedition will be led by Professor Peter Ng, Head of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum of the National University of Singapore (NUS), and Dr Dwi Listyo Rahayu, Senior Research Scientist at the Research Center for Oceanography (RCO) of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI).
"This is the culmination of 15 years of discussions and explorations of possibilities," said Prof Ng, chief scientist for the Singapore team. "This is the first time that Singapore and Indonesia are organising a deep-sea biodiversity expedition together and we are all very excited to find out what animals are present in an area that is practically unexplored by any biologist. There is certainly a wealth of biodiversity still to be discovered - much of it poorly known and new to science. We cannot conserve what we do not know."
Dr Rahayu, who is the chief scientist for the Indonesian team, adds, "This deep-sea expedition will reveal the diversity of demersal organisms on the southwestern part of Java Island, the area where almost no exploration has ever conducted. It will certainly incite a strong maritime spirit among young Indonesian scientists participating in the expedition to go forth and seek the many interesting animals that live in the deep-waters of their country!"
The NUS research team comprises scientists from the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum and the Tropical Marine Science Institute, together with researchers from the Research Center for Oceanography of Indonesian Institute of Sciences.
The Voyage
Over the 14-day expedition, scientists plan to collect numerous samples of deep-sea marine creatures which are hard to obtain and rarely accessible, from depths up to 2,000 metres with various equipment. The expedition will focus on a variety of organisms -- Crustacea (crabs and prawns), Mollusca (shells), Porifera (sponges), Cnidaria (jellyfish), Polychaeta (worms), Echinodermata (starfish and urchins), and fishes.
Prof Ng and Dr Rahayu have participated in many deep-sea expeditions in the region and they have also been involved in the discoveries of hundreds of new and rare species of deep-sea crustaceans. As the area that the team is visiting has hardly been surveyed over the centuries, they are expecting many interesting new records and rare animals, as well as new species.
Prof Ng recounted, "Our past expeditions had unearth bizarre Darth Vader like sea cockroaches, bloated oil-filled fishes with poorly developed eyes, eerie wraith-like crabs as well as spectacularly coloured lobsters. For example, during a deep sea expedition in central Philippines organised by Philippines, France, Taiwan and Singapore in 2005, we found over 1,500 species of crabs, shrimps and lobsters of all kinds, with over 150 of them new to science!"
Scientists to survey 29 sites in 14 days
This latest expedition will involve the use of various deep-sea sampling methods for qualitative and quantitative determination of benthic biodiversity. These will include dredges and beam trawls as well as a box core and a multicorer to sample the animal life in mud. Each day, the research team plans to conduct sampling at three to four sites, covering a total of 29 sites. Each sampling exercise will take at least 3 to 4 hours to complete due to the depths involved and the time it takes to deploy the equipment. Important biological samples will be sorted out, photographed, preserved and labelled on board the research vessel. Some will even be kept alive for short periods in special chilled aquariums so that they can be observed, studied and filmed.
At the end of the expedition, the samples collected will be studied by scientists from both countries. This is anticipated to take up to two years and the results will be shared and discussed with the world at a special workshop that will be held in Indonesia in 2020. The outputs will then be collated and published in the museum's science-citation journal, The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology.
For more information about the expedition, please visit: https://lkcnhm.nus.edu.sg/research/sjades2018/
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Jack Board Channel NewsAsia 24 Mar 18;
SINGAPORE: Imagine a packet of char kway teow which has seen better days. It’s a gloomy colour and is literally crawling. There are maggots devouring what is a perennial Singapore dish.
The messy result of this invasion resembles some kind of scientific experiment. And actually that is precisely what it is.
A research team at the National University of Singapore (NUS) is digging into some of the country’s biggest challenges – food security and wastage – by taking a novel approach involving black soldier flies and their larvae.
Black soldier flies are not a typical pesky type of insect buzzing around garbage and spreading germs as one might expect. They are clean and helpful when it comes to eradicating waste and will be mobilised on the front line of keeping Singapore spotless by helping decompose food, and acting as feed themselves.
“The adults are not carriers of diseases, they don’t bite, they’re harmless, I actually think they’re pretty cute, but that’s just me,” said Associate Professor Nalini Puniamoorthy from the NUS Department of Biological Sciences.
According to the National Environment Agency, nearly 800,000 tonnes of food was wasted in Singapore in 2016, a figure that has been on the rise. The vast majority of it is not recycled.
“Imagine going to a food court, ordering a bowl of fish ball noodles or bak chor mee, and then throwing it right out. Every day. So that’s the level of food waste that we’re talking about,” Assoc Prof Puniamoorthy said.
The NUS team is using research and development to not only better understand the functions and fundamental biology of the black soldier fly, but modify its behaviour to better suit the country’s urban space.
“Nature often times has the best engineering solutions,” said Professor Rudolf Meier from the same research team, explaining how flies can actually deal with food waste.
“These particular black soldier flies, they don’t feed as adults, so all they do is they mate, they lay eggs, and then the larvae will feed,” he said.
“So you have a small facility where you breed the flies and where they’re laying the eggs, that’s a secure facility. And then you use the eggs for the recycling, the maggots come out, they feed on the food and then you kill them.”
“They eat just about anything actually. It’s a bit scary, you can put in anything and they will convert it into feed.” That includes the plate of char kway teow placed by one of Prof Meier’s colleagues, as well as other organic food waste the team is trialling.
The goal is to make the flies breed as quickly and efficiently as possible and increase the number of maggots, which act as insect vacuum cleaners on any type of food needed to be dispensed with. The maggots themselves can then be fed to chicken or fish in Singapore’s small farm operations.
“What we’re trying to do is select traits that make them efficient decomposers in the Singaporean context,” Assoc Prof Puniamoorthy said.
“You would think it’s meddling with nature but this actually occurs in nature. It’s not necessarily completely altering nature, it’s tweaking it here and there.”
"FARM TO TABLE"
Away from the laboratories buzzing with hundreds of “romantic” flies and their crawling offspring, the experiment is being rolled out for real at Citizen Farm in Queenstown.
The expansive 7,000 square metre green space is surrounded by Singapore’s high rises on land formerly occupied by a prison, Jalan Penjara, and is an area that has been transformed from a dilapidated space to a functioning urban farm.
Citizen Farm grows a variety of leafy and micro greens, edible flowers, mushrooms and insects, driven by the increasingly popular concept of “farm to table”. Most of its customers are high-end restaurants looking to prepare sustainable and locally sourced produce to their customers in Singapore.
“We wanted to use this as a test bed to see how an urban farm can be integrated into Singapore so that when this is a successful model we can replicate it all over Jurong or even Kranji, and even in the Bukit Timah area,” said the farm’s head Darren Ho.
“We have a commercial agenda. Our main source of revenue is to grow the crops and to sell the crops, whether to restaurants or consumers. But our social pillar is also very strong. We are able to rebuild that relationship between the food and the people, which is very lacking today in Singapore’s society.”
The compost the farm uses to grow its vegetables is generated with the help of the black soldier fly larvae. Ho explains that food waste like brewery grains and coffee grounds from other companies is collected each week instead of being thrown away. It can then be broken down and transformed into fertiliser.
It is all part of an effort to make Singaporeans more aware of the source of their food and make the country more self-sufficient when it comes to feeding the population.
“It’s quite amazing how reliant we are on our political friendship with our neighbouring countries. That’s where most of our food comes from, without which I think we will be eating grass,” he said.
“Urban farming provides that backdrop to be a self-sufficient city. Sure we may not be able to grow a lot of protein like pigs or cattle or chicken in the city, but there’s insects to think about. Sure we may not be able to grow fruits, but we have flowers that provide the nutrients similar to fruits.
“At the end of the day, we are still in early stages of this but I believe that in the coming years, a lot more answers will surface.”
The NUS team is looking to further optimise the agricultural processes around the black soldier fly to create what they call a closed-loop system. That essentially means recycling waste to produce more food in Singapore, negating the need to use energy to destroy it or the cost and logistics of imports.
The research and development is specifically looking at efficiency in a highly urbanised environment where agricultural manpower and space is lacking. But there are lessons that can be shared with other countries within Southeast Asia too, Prof Meier says.
“Singapore is highly relevant to all the urban centres all over the world, because once you move into a city with millions of citizens you also have space problems. That applies to vertical farming, it also applies to what we’re doing with black soldier flies,” he said.
And whether that means more people will be eating insects in the future, just like the ones being bred in the lab, he thinks it is actually likely.
“It is very clean food. It’s free of the bacteria that we normally would have to be worried about,” he said, adding a little reluctantly that “he’s not a big fan of eating insects”.
“Some people get a kick out of it. But not me.”
For more on this and other projects around Southeast Asia, tune in to Tapestry: The Heart of ASEAN on Channel NewsAsia every Tuesday from Feb 27 to Mar 27 at 11pm.
Source: CNA/jb
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