A quick update for the past months

I would like to convince myself (and you) that my packed work schedule has prevented me from posting anything since the end of May. I know it is a shame but I am also sure that inertia has played a large part - not having posted for so long propagates the said behaviour :-)

In part to prove that I am really "busy" and to update you on the past activities, here is a summary of my "work".

June - July
Conducted "Freshwater quality and biodiversity" course for Crescent Girls, Henderson Sec Sch, Clementi Woods SS, Queensway SS. It was back to a tributary (sort of a naturalised drain) of Sg Ulu Pandan for more water quality testing and bug hunting.

Figure: The group hunt (for bugs)

Figure: Don't forget the water quality parameters

Figure: Sorting out the spoils of the hunt

Figure: A rare find - freshwater eel - too small for unagi though

Figure: The common Dragonfly nymphs though perhaps not so commonly seen by the students

Conducted a round of 6-day intensive AEM (advanced elective module) "Water quality and pollution".

Figure: On first sight, nothing wrong with the scene. But if you look closely enough, lots of people are looking down on their pants and shoes. This is what happens when you venture out in the wilderness in the rain and through knee high vegetation. All manner of creepy-crawlies are out their homes, latching on to the hapless passer-by (i.e. us).

Figure: Part of Ngee Ann Stream. Looks like another canal except that this used to be a natural stream with thick secondary forest on both edges. See next figure.

Figure: The same part of Ngee Ann Stream as the figure above but a year back. Note the vegetation stretching right to the edge of the secondary forest stream

Figure: An unusual find - a catfish struggling against the current in the "canalised" Ngee Ann Stream. Why was it doing so? I have no idea. Perhaps it should have just flowed along with the tide of change as what the rest of the stream did when it gave way to "development".

Figure: Due to the earlier heavy rain (what else is new in Singapore?), the whole canal was flooded, preventing the students from sampling the water (too dangerous).

Figure: The same part of the canal as the figure above but in drier times and more than a year back.

Figure: I simply can't resist putting in this routine group photo. Must show that the participants are in good spirits, right?

Singapore International Water Festival (27 Jun 2010)

Once again, I was roped in to organise the event "Amazing Greenviron Challenge" - an environmental quiz of sorts with indoor and outdoor components at the Marina Barrage. Weather was terrible in the morning so the outdoor part has to be moved indoors. (Right, rain was indeed heavy in June, giving rise to the shocking floods in downtown Singapore.)

Figure: Only 1 photo to show you here - the super group photo with organisers, student helpers and participants.

(Are we not done with the summary yet??? Afraid not... Did I mention that I had a tight schedule then?)

Water Quality Monitoring (WQM) (19 Jun 2010)

Amidst the tight schedule, I managed to sneak in a round of WQM with Team Seagrass at Chek Jawa.

Figure: On this rare sunny June morning, my students prepared their equipment for WQM.

To top it off, I attended the 4-day Wilderness Medical First Responder (WMFR) Course by OBS (Outward Bound Singapore) on Pulau Ubin. More on this in a later post.

Figure: WMFR participants and our dummies

WQM at Pasir Ris

Ah yes, the problematic kid on the block with regards to water quality - Pasir Ris Beach. (The latest advisory on its "fair" water quality is found here.) We checked out this notorious locale on this rainy July morning. Perhaps unknown to most people, this stretch of sand hosts 2 significant patches of seagrasses even though they are not monitored by Team Seagrass. (Some of the Team's members do however check out the seagrasses here in their own capacity.) And since there are seagrasses here, my team will of course be interested in the WQ.

Figure: 1 patch of seagrasses near Sg Loyang

Figure: The 2nd patch of seagrasses near Sg Tampines. I was told that there is a smaller patch further west near the end of Pasir Ris Park. We did not check this one out though.

"Is that number 6 or 9?" - reading an unlit LCD in the dark... Sentosa water quality monitoring (21 Aug 09)

Another session of water quality monitoring with Team Seagrass - this time at Sentosa, a world of sun, sand and sea (or so they advertised). We were not in the least surprised that this was yet another "wake up in the wee hours, rush down by cab" kind of operation. But what was new (at least to me) was to measure water quality parameters in the dark (~ 6a.m. so the sun is out, leaving us the sand and sea). Fumbling with torches in the dark to squint at the 4th decimal in the LCD readout provided a refreshing start for the day.

Actually, it was not that bad. Even though the moon was down, plenty of light came from the nearby hotel and the sea traffic. Yup, we are talking about light pollution. This form of "pollution" is rather benign compared to pesticides and heavy metals but I still hope that we have less of it to truly savour the shimmering beauty of the night sky. Fortuitously, the pre-dawn sky was pleasantly clear, filled with familiar constellations despite the invasive artificial lights. Orion, Taurus, Canis Major, Auriga were high up. Mars was there too but the star (pun intended) must really be Venus which outshone all the rest.

This was the perfect opportunity for me to practise navigating by stars. Do you know that Sirius (C. Major) and Canopus (Carina) form a straight line that points to the South on the horizon? How about dropping a line straight down from Mintaka (leading star of Orion's belt) to point to the East? Stargazing is more than just for aesthetics.

You may have noticed that I have yet to mention anything about the wondrous seashore life. The plants and animals were nothing short of breath taking so I shall leave their descriptions (with great photos) to the experts in these areas (Ria's http://www.wildsingapore.com/ is highly recommended). Also, check out the following blog posts for alternative viewpoints of this little outing:
1. Team Seagrass
2. You run, we GEOG


Many thanks to Marcus Ng for being a such a marvellous trip leader and guide. (Or were we harassing him from our incessant questions about each and every observable intertidal organism?) He has clarified an old doubt of mine - seagrass vs. seaweed. Though I have always known that seagrass is a flowering plant and seaweed is an algae, you have to get down in the mud and dirty your hands to see and feel the differences. And this can only be accomplished with an adept guide to point you in the right direction. Like someone once said, life is a little bit of theory and lots of practice.


(Serene, I don't think you can use the analogy of garden plants vs. dandelions to compare against seagrass vs. seaweeds. I love dandelions and seaweeds! You can eat dandelions and seaweeds! You can even make a coffee substitute out of dandelion roots :-)





Overview of the seagrass area with sheers cliffs in the backdrop


Seagrasses with some brown seaweeds

Seaweeds and more seaweeds.

The water quality monitoring team in the darkness

Sentosa was still asleep but the lights were certainly active.

A significant interest on this trip - awesome clouds replaced the stars as night turned to day. Here, a cumulonimbus appeared to be forming.

Reflection - a favourite camera angle. Here, the same cumulonimbus has grown which probably led to the thunderstorm in the afternoon when I was back at work. (Yes, I have to go straight to work after this Sentosa trip!)

Checking out the water quality of Chek Jawa (27 Jun 09)

Another day of predawn awakening to perform water quality monitoring. I guess time and tide wait for no man since seagrass monitoring has to be done at low tide and us water people have to match that timing.

Besides almost missing the seagrass people at the jetty (some of us were late), the boat trip and van ride to Chek Jawa was uneventful. Maybe "uneventful" sounds a bit bland because the best thing about waking up predawn is the chance to see the sun rise. How many of us actually still appreciate such simple joys? I always relish the experience of witnessing the beautiful egg yolk climbing up the horizon on a cheerful day. (I enjoy and cherish beautiful sunsets too.)

The other great thing about being early is we have the whole seagrass meadow to ourselves! And being part of Team Seagrass, we get to check out the whole place without being restricted to the designated areas for Nparks led tours. Yes, guys and girls, if you want to really experience Chek Jawa in its full glory, join Team Seagrass!

I must commend my water quality team for their efficiency. They seem to be able to finish their testing faster and faster each time. Of course, further testing will have to done on the water samples they brought back to the lab. Let me compile the data from the various seagrass sites before announcing how they compare to one another. (Sorry folks, I will only describe the water quality in qualitative terms. The real hard data will be submitted to Team Seagrass and Nparks and published officially elsewhere.)

As usual, you may check this Team Seagrass post for an alternative viewpoint of this monitoring session.

Figures (L-R, T-B):
My favourite moment of each day - sunrise (actually on par with sunset);
Trying to capture a popular photographer's stunt - mirror image of the seagrass landscape (ok, it was a bit off but still a good try, right?);
The water quality team (Nuan Qin is the shy one with the head turned);
I couldn't resist taking this photo of Ria during her briefing with a soaring jet in the background;
A good low tide exposing the sandbar delineating (possibly protecting) the seagrass meadow from the sea;
An icon of Chek Jawa, you won't miss it and if you see it, you know you are there (anyone knows what tree that is?);
Late morning - crowds coming in for the guided tours

Water quality monitoring with Team Seagrass at Pulau Semakau (1 May 2009)

Here is a common trick our minds play on us - "what am I doing waking up at 5:30a.m. on Labour Day when I should be catching up on my sleep after a hectic work week?" The answer that I always use to counter this trick is, "I have a job to do and I can't let others down." How motivational... and it works all the time.

The "job" in this case is to do some water quality monitoring in the seagrass areas on Pulau Semakau. Yup, this island is famous for being presently our nation's only landfill. What is less well known is the presence of a lovable stretch of mangroves with adjacent beds of seagrasses.

I found myself bringing three of my students on a collaborative trip with Team Seagrass and Nparks. While the Team took care of seagrass monitoring, we tackled the water quality. Seagrasses are constantly exposed to seawater, hence water quality is of paramount importance to their well-being. We have the honour of getting the opportunity to check out the water quality in this seagrass area and hopefully derive useful correlations between seagrass health and water quality at the end of this study.

The weather turned out great (meaning skin sizzling hot) for outdoors photography but I am afraid I can't post any pictures of the fantastic marine life there as my intertidal knowledge is truly shaky (I certainly can't tell 1 nudibranch from another).

Overall, the trip was a success as we managed to get on-site readings of all 3 sites on the island. We also brought water samples back to the mainland for further laboratory analyses. Many thanks to Ria, Siti, Shu Fen, Wei Ling and others for making this trip a smooth one. Check out the Team Seagrass blog for their version of the trip.

Figures (L-R, T-B): Covered landfill - under the grass and soil is solid waste; proudly displaying the Team Seagrass banner to tell outsiders that serious scientific study was being carried out; monitoring the water quality during low tide; performing water quality analysis at our mobile chemistry lab.