"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!)

A walk on the wild side: Woodcutter's Trail

This trail gets my top vote for the wildest trail in Singapore. You will be hard pressed to find anyone else save for the rare cyclist or SAF personnel. The trail proper is almost free of the trappings of civilisation e.g. board walk, stone paved paths that make the other natural areas too tame in comparison (but see below for other less desirable signs of civilisation). Nature aside, this trail has strategic significance as it cuts east-west through the central catchment from Bukit Timah to Upper Thomson. It is certainly of interest to those who want to avoid detection and movement on the main roads. (Any Mas Selamat wannabe out there?)


The old standby never lets you down
One reason for its obscurity is it is so ******* hard to find. Despite having been here before (4 years back?), I still got lost initially with its many criss-crossing trails at the Bukit Timah end. Back tracking became routine in no time. Sorry, my GPS was down and it probably would not have penetrated the forest cover for the minimum 3 satellite signals. Dear readers, do not ever leave home without your trusty map and compass, with or without GPS. After all, the compass has no batteries to fail, no parts sensitive to hard knocks and is cheap to boot. Heck, you should bring an extra compass like I did for level 1 premium insurance. And yes, it really saved the day for me.

Figures (L-R, T-B): My faithful companion; Opps, wrong turn; No surprise, this whole area is a water catchment that drains into our central catchment reservoirs; important land mark to turn into the right path!


A trail of streams
If you are waiting for a lively description of my water quality monitoring work on this trip, there is none. This was supposed to be a recce. (who knows what has changed in a span of 4 years?) More importantly, the trail itself took 3 hours to traverse. The trail's entrace and exit are not exactly next to the main road. Factoring these details in can easily add up to 4 hours or more. Did I mention that you may get lost too? Mounting a water quality monitoring operation will need good planning and lots of margin for error.


Nevertheless, the trail is crossed by several genuine forest streams. You probably can find some of the rare endemic freshwater species here though I did not try searching. Mercifully, some kind soul has set up planks, ropes or even just flower pots for easy crossing of these streams.


Your textbook secondary forest
This is no doubt a true blue secondary forest. Simpoh Air rule supreme at the Bukit Timah end, so much so that you find yourself trudging through a Simpoh Air forest.


Many forest gaps were encountered. And usually, ferns (Bracken, Resam) dominate. (Many factors could have created these gaps e.g. fallen trees, human activity.) Of course, we saw the usual Smilax and Hairy Clidemia every few paces or so.


Side note: many consider Hairy Clidemia to be a vicious weed. Perhaps. But do you know that it can stop bleeding? If you are spilling blood and out of first aid, you will be wise to recognise this plant and make it your best friend. I have tried it on leech bites and it worked! A 3-hour trickle turned into a half-hour trickle. (This is not Panadol Flu Max so do not expect instant relief!)

Figures (L-R, T-B): A sea of ferns; Hairy Clidemia; the forest floor is not dark and bare, instead it is often colonised by ferns; a large clearing in the secondary forest; fallen logs could have opened up gaps in the forest; Simpoh Air forest

The good, the bad and the ugly
In case you are hoping to find a pristine wonderland here, can it. The fact that the trail is so well marked means that it is regularly maintained and used. Vegetation was cleared by machete as seen in the slashed branches along the trail. The heavy duty ones e.g. fallen logs were cleared by chainsaw. This is all and well with me since it makes the journey more pleasant without having to bush whack our way through.
On the down side, LITTER rears its ugly head whenever you have people coming in. Perhaps not surprisingly, most litter are SAF combat rations and other issue items e.g. cylum sticks, solid fuel (we found a pack of 3 unused ones), gloves. SAF should seriously consider including environmental education as part of their soldiers' training.

At Bukit Timah end, we came across lots of evidence of the old kampongs previously there. Zinc roofing sheets, clay pots and even an abandoned cabless pickup truck. (We even found the number plate hanging from its rusty rivets. Die-hard gamblers may approach me for the 4 digit number.)
Figures (L-R, T-B): SAF tactical marking; Nparks DOES come in here - a tree tagged by Nparks; a fallen log cleanly cut up by chainsaw; SAF paraphernalia (read LITTER); clay pots everywhere; end of the trail

Crocs in Singapore

When I was younger, I have always been skeptical of the presence of crocs in Singapore. But in recent times, sightings of these ancient creatures have been surfacing. Here is the latest documentation with a cool pic of the beast at Sungei Buloh in Biodiversity Singapore blog.

(from Biodiversity Singapore)