Facing Pulau Keppel. I wonder where this pipe came from? Was it left behind or did it come from the other end of Labrador where the seacils were deposited. It looks more like a sanitation pipe though. Probably left behind when the Keppel Marina vacated(?) or dumped from a passing vessel. It may have floated in.
A lone carpet anemone. No nemos or shrimp.
Fishing line with a double hook.....very dangerous for anyone walking about.
The majestic Sea Almond(Ketapang) tree below 20 Bukit Chermin. It must be very old. The trunk itself is impressive to see!
An opportunistic fisherman set up his rod all the way out at the lowest tide.
A lone stripped Hermit Crab. (Clibanarius sp.)
A lone peacock anemone.
One end of the gill net maze. The bump at the left end towards the middle of the pic is the horseshoe crab shell. See pic below! :(
A large *coastal horsehoe crab (probably female) long dead in one of the discarded gill nets.
It looks as if the gill nets were set up in a maze as there were quite a few tangents which were secured deep within the sand. Very few organisms would have escaped the tangling grasp of the nets. Once collapsed, no crawling animal would be able to escape it. The unfortunate thing about the meganet was that it started close to the channel leading into the mangrove. This effectively would catch everything trying to make way into the mangrove.
During the course of the day, we would see 6 separate discarded gill nets and two dead horseshoe crabs.
*Tachypleus Gigas, Horseshoe crabs are not crabs but are more closely related to spiders and scorpions. Sadly, the coastal horseshoe crab is listed as one of the threatened animals and this is mainly due to habitat destruction. **There is virtually no other mangrove ecosystem on the southern coast of Singapore except that at Berlayar. All the rest has been cleared for development.
Broken glass bottle piece...one of many such smaller pieces...too bad for anyone walking about thinking it was safe to do so.
Table frame...huh? Where did this come from? This was new as it was not seen the weekend earlier. However, judging from the encrusting barnacles, it must have been in the water for some time but only moved out onto the beachfront during the week. How???
Another shot of the table frame in front of the Keppel Club.
Another discarded fishing hook....the colourful ones are supposed to be better to fish with?
We came across this abandoned boat on wooden poles about 100m in. Looks like someone was using it but was not at home.
Syrofoam box and dark green container to it's left purposefully left behind by visitors to the docked boat. The containers were uncovered and full of water. Lovely place to breed mosquitoes!
Discarded netting and traps below the boat.
Evidence of the sticky chewy mudcapade. Never go in alone. If you get stuck (and you really may...two of us did...and one was the rescuer of the other who in turn needed rescuing), you will most certainly have to brave drowning or the other mangrove inhabitants as the tide rises. [Imagine the newspapers quoting the golfers across saying that they thought they heard screams but thought nothing of it as winds have a similar effect around the evergreen grassy knolls.]
Plastic up on a tree and a tin can snug in a crevice.
Anyone know what kind of snail this is? A not-so-common common nerite?
A tree-loving onchidium! The only one seen!
Rock oyster...only a few seen.
Another coastal horseshoe crab (triangulated tail section) long dead due to a discarded gill net.
Another discarded gill net and trap....waiting to snare another crab.
It is ironic that so many nets and traps were found and so few sign of life we are accustomed to seeing even as near away as Sentosa's shores just across from Berlayar Creek. Why does Berlayar have so little? Could this be a seasonal occurrence or could there be some residual form of pollution making life difficult? With so much junk on our shores and so many threats, there is a slim chance that Berlayar Creek will regain it's old splendour. But we can do as much as we can to ensure that it does. We have to care about our last remaining shores and mangroves and hope that whatever the rich biodiversity returns.
Members of the public appreciating the wonderful sightings.
At least there are some birds who have the ability to find better feeding grounds but monitor the background as well..or you'll just miss monitoring the monitor!
other blogs on the same trip :-
http://ashira.blogspot.com/2007/11/mucking-around-berlayar-creek.html
http://wherediscoverybegins.blogspot.com/2007/11/discovery-labrador-mangroves-on-25-nov.html
