3rd Monitoring session in Tuas

Hello Teamseagrass members,

This is reporting live from Schering-Plough coastline. We have just conducted our 3rd monitoring session on 16th Aug 2008. We are very glad that the tide this part of the year is in the evening, which means we could spend more time on the coastline walk.

As usual, the monitoring session started with a little refresher on the monitoring technique. We had a new quadrat to use too =) This time round we had a huge turn out from our Human Resource Team! Thanks to you guys =)

The majority of the seagrass (which is 99.9999%) found in the Tuas coastline is Halophila Ovalis. However, during this monitoring session, we observed that there were a few broken tapered grass (I think it is Thaslassia hemprichii) washed up shore. We tried to search for the tapered grass further offshore but we could not find any. Ria commented that they could be much much further off shore that’s why we did not manage to find any.

And as reported by Ria there was a huge bloom of the stiff green seaweed which covered most of the exposed shore. Quite irritating actually as it covered most of the exposed shore which makes walking difficult but I think the marine creatures will love them since they provide food and most importantly shelter for them to hide from us – the hyperactive marine creature mountain tortoise participants.

After 30 mins of monitoring, we were off to the more interesting coastline walks. This time round, we had a photographer-wannabe with us – Mr Samuel Tan and he did manage to take numerous photos on the beautiful marine creatures we have. Here are some of his photos:

Crabs are always found in everyone’s camera when they visit the Tuas coastline. But you can’t blame them as there are just too numerous of them on the coastline. They are always the first creature to greet you on the Tuas coastlines – you just can’t miss them. Don’t you find that the crab on the right side looks like a spider especially the color combination.

There is another photo that I like as the eyes are like so mesmerizing though I do not know what marine creature it is. Let me make a smart guess – a type of SNAIL?

Among other marine creatures that we saw included a tiny mudskipper which was spotted by one of our observant team members borrowing in the sand. Many fishes and a starfish were also spotted by many of our members. I must say they are really getting good in observing these creatures.

Soon it getting dark and we had to conclude the Seagrass and coastline monitoring session. Glad to say we do have another evening session in December and hope that we can spot more interesting marine creature.

TeamSeagrass is Two: celebrating two years of seagrass monitoring

Yes, TeamSeagrass will be TWO! And to celebrate our anniversary, we're having a brand new team badge.
Two dugongs for two years of hard work for our seagrass meadows. If you love dugongs, you should love seagrasses. And TeamSeagrass sure love dugongs and seagrasses and our shores!

The badge will be launched at our TeamSeagrass Orientation on 27 Sep (Sat). Stocks are limited, so if you want to be sure to get one, come for our fun and meaningful session on seagrassy stuff!

If you've always wanted to join TeamSegrass, don't hesitate any longer!

How to join? Simply email these details
(a) your full name
(b) your age
(c) your email address
(d) your contact number
(e) any previous experience
to Ria at hello@wildsingapore.com, please put "TeamSeagrass" in your subject header.

Please do read the FAQs before you sign up for more details about the programme.

See you at the Orientation!

Young seagrassers update with fact sheets on Labrador

The intrepid young seagrassers at Labrador have just uploaded a fact sheet on Spoon seagrasses Halophila ovalis and common seaweed Ulva. Go have a look!

International Seagrass Biology Workshop

Hello Seagrassers!

Greetings from Bamfield, a lovely little township in Barkley Sound, Vancouver Island, Canada.

I'm at the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre for the 8th International Seagrass Biology Workshop - a gathering of seagrass scientists, managers and overall enthusiasts of all things marine and flowering :)

Its been an intense few days here at ISBW8, and it'll be way too much to write it all down here, so I'm just gonna put up some pretty photos for your eyes to feast on. I'll be sharing more on ISBW8 during the TeamSeagrass Orientation, so be there or be square!

Enjoy!

Bamfield by Day - looking out into Barkley Sound
Welcome to the 8th ISBW! :)
Bamfield by dusk - the town is set on two sides of an inlet and the only way to get across is by boat!
Field Trip Day! - Siti and the ever-trendy orange life vest.
Navigating around Barkley Sound and the Broken Island Group - part of the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve.
We visited a huge Eelgrass (Zostera marina) bed. Probably the most dominant species of seagrass in temperate areas. There are huge beds of Z. marina in the area as well as further down South in Puget Sound - so much that eelgrass is synonymous with seagrass here in the Pacific Northwest.
Top: Phyllospadix sp. a pretty special and hardy seagrass whose roots can cling on to ROCKS. Yes, ROCKS! We found these in a tidepool on a rocky beach. Below: Phyllospadix flowers in foreground.
The anemones get pretty big in this part of the world and very colourful!
For more photos, visit the ISBW website at: http://isbw.seagrassonline.org/

Fragile seahorse habitats in the UK at risk

Alex Bushill, BBC News 9 Sep 08;

The Seahorse Trust is warning that Britain's native breeds are under threat unless action is urgently taken to preserve their habitats.

To look at Studland Bay is to see the familiar sight of waves washing up hypnotically on a sandy Dorset beach.

The white cliffs of the Old Harry rocks frame the horizon, sheltering the bay from the prevailing south-westerly winds.

Fishing boats and yachts bob up and down with the incoming tide.

But take a glimpse underwater to see an exceptional view as the bay is home to a rather magical creature.

Its Latin name is hippocampus but you are probably more familiar with the term seahorse.

Steve Trewhella, from The Seahorse Trust, has been diving here for as long as he can remember.

In all that time, he's been searching for the creatures in their natural habitat - among either eel or sea grass.

He said: "Most divers could spend a lifetime looking for seahorses in their natural habitat and never find one.

"This is an exceptional site - a window into the seahorses' world".

He remembers when Britain's native species were captured on film for the first time - in Studland Bay.

That was just four years ago, showing just how rare seahorses are in the wild.

But now a remarkable discovery - a few years on and Steve has seen 40 of them locally this summer alone.

He believes at least half of them were pregnant - an astonishing number.

He believes it makes this site the only one anywhere in Britain where both types of indigenous British seahorses - the Spiny and the Short Snouted - are known to be breeding.

Encouraging news indeed but laced with a warning about how long eelgrass beds will be around.

Mr Trewhella is not optimistic and said: "We could lose this habitat in a single generation.

"We only have a small fraction of this sort of grass we had a hundred years ago.

"The eelgrass is just as important to the seahorse, as the jungle is to the Orangutan.

"And if we lose it, we lose the seahorses that go with it."

It is this problem the charity is hoping to raise awareness about.

The eelgrass beds tend to be in sheltered, shallow waters.

But that is exactly where many yachts and fishing boats want to moor and are often desirable spots for harbour and marine builders.

The moorings and boat anchors are particularly problematic and damaging.

It is feared the chains scrape the seabed, tearing up the eelgrass with it.

And anchors too can dig up clumps of seagrass every time they are raised.

That is why the Seahorse Trust is calling for a complete ban on anchoring where eelgrass and seahorses are thought to live.

At the nearby Bankes Arms Hotel - just a short walk from the mooring on South Beach, Studland Bay, pub landlord Tim Lightbrown is so proud of the seahorses on his doorstep that he uses them as the logo for his micro-brewery.

He is also adamant, however, that no-one should be banned from anchoring nearby to enjoy a drink.

He said: "Obviously the punter comes first - without the punter you've got nothing else, have you?

"People wouldn't be here - there would be no seahorses to look at and nobody would be bothered about them anyway.

"To be honest, what comes first - a little tiny thing so big or a punter? End of story."

It will be left to the government to strike a balance between conservation and commercial interests.

The seahorse is already a protected species under the Countryside and Wildlife Act.

But Ian Alexander from Natural England admitted it is difficult to enforce the law.

He said: "To act, we would need to demonstrate any damage was in fact damaging the seahorses.

"Firstly, that is quite difficult to do at the moment.

"Secondly, we would need to demonstrate that the damage was deliberate or reckless.

And it would be very difficult to demonstrate that given the nature of the activities happening out in the bay".

He does not support any ban and is instead overseeing a project to educate and highlight exactly where the creatures are and what can be done to avoid disturbing them.

His organisation plans to trial new spring-mounted moorings that do little or no damage to the seabed when used.

For many years they were feared to be increasingly close to dying out but now everyone agrees that seahorses here in Studland Bay are thriving.

The question now is how best to ensure the survival of this enigmatic creature?

"Mean, Green, Photosynthesizing Machines"

Missed Shufen's talk at Reef Celebrations on 9 Aug? No fret. Here's the video clip of the talk, courtesy of Andy. Thanks Andy!


IYOR 2008 Singapore - Yang Shufen - Green Mean Photosynthesizing Machines from BeachBum on Vimeo.

Here's more about the talk.