December Transect Day 2

Introducing the teams for day 2: here we have Khairul, Vincent and Alex with transect two. Too bad they are quite far from this photo and I don't have another shot of them in work since time was tight. On the left is July, my assistant this time. Without him, I won't be able to do a lot within a few hours of tide window.


The other team consisted of (from left to right) Yong Xiang, Qian Yue, Apple and Yikang. I salute them for their efforts. Wind was strong and the tapes were as strong as a tug of war to adjust in the correct direction. Never never underestimate the power of nature.


Chek Jawa was in perfect weather, again we were so blessed. Many different shorebirds land on the intertidal flat to rest and feed.


A flock of Great crested-tern along the sandbar with Tekong breakwater and Pengarang forest in the background.


The carpet anemones are thriving in the northern sandbar edges. This one is caught feeding on a crab.

It may be hard to imagine but carpet anemones are not flowers or plants. They are animals, inveterbrates that feed through their central mouth which is also their anus.

Day 2 proves to be starry! In an unexpected area of sandbar, something orangey and striking caught my attention despite I was walking very quickly.

It proves to be a stunning cake seastar (Anthenea aspera) in a colour I have not encountered before. It is about 15-18 cm in diameter. Ria commented that it can feed on the populations of button shells found nearby. That may explain why it is found on the sandbar instead of coral rubble.

Together with July, I found another star. The common sea star (Archaster typicus) that were wiped out totally after the mass death early this year. A month ago, Ron spotted the first one that appeared though its arms were bit broken. I'm glad to witness their return personally, in healthy state.

Their diameter is about 15cm. Will they survive through the current monsoon season till Feb 2008? We will know the next time we monitor at end January.

Given that it is the last series of 0.0m tides till April 2008 and that I had the assistance from July, I had a bit of time to check out the health of coral rubble since it has been raining quite a lot for the past weeks.

And surprise! The third star of Chek Jawa, the knobbly seastar (Protoreaster nodosus), which were also wiped out after mass death. This one is not the same as the previous first one found last month.

The coral rubble was doing well and I got to see stony boulder corals (Porites sp.) at Chek Jawa for the first time. Thanks to the very low tides especially many of these corals were exposed.

Sea squirts or tunicates were also abundant.

Sponges that melted away during the mass death returned in all sorts of colours.

And also in all types of shapes.

Juvenile growths of sea fans were also found.

Coral rubble is also the only area in Chek Jawa to find the tape seagrass (Enhalus acoroides). Other types of seagrasses grow in abundance elsewhere at the seagrass lagoon and edges of sandbars.

Ria and I found this abundant bubu trap with large fishes like the groupers inside. If we didn't save them, they will die eventually.

Before leaving, I chanced upon this seapen with an insect-like organism. Any idea what is it?

We left with a spectacular full moon and clear skies of constellations.

Big thank you to July, Yikang, Yong Xiang, Apple, Qian Yue, Vincent, Khairul, Alex and Ria for the help.

December Transect Day 1

After series of floods from Johor and also the ongoing monsoon storms, we were kind of worried if Chek Jawa could survive through times of prolonged decrease in salinity. 23rd Dec finally arrive where we have this week the last series of good 0.0m tides. The next such series will be after May 2008. This afternoon, weather looks really good in the beginning. (photo by Gun Kiat)


To advance to the northern sandbar while the southern one is submerged in retreating tides, we have to cross this prominent part where many of those whom joined before will know. (photo by Liana)


After briefing, we were ready to go! This time, we were armed with flags made of corrugated material that are waterproof, no more soggy vanguard sheet that are disposable after each use. (photo by Liana)


Near the coastal side, Gun Kiat and I saw this snake. Thanks Sijie and Chee Kong for the id. This is the striped bronzeback (Dendrelaphis caudolineatus).


Near transect three endpoints, we saw many of these yellowish things. I've seen it feature in someone's blog before but forgotten. Any idea what are they?


The mussel beds never fail to amaze.


The top part where the seaweed covers becomes white. Why?


I have no idea too. The seaweed, Ulva reticulata, turns white covering the mussel beds.


I saw more baby carpet anemones at the fringes of the northern sandbar where Halophila spinulosa thrive. Will they be wiped out by the end of January next year?


The team also found a sea star. Ron and I suspected it to be a cake sea star.


To id sea stars, there is a need to turn over and take a close up photo too. Just that I am too lazy now to check the BP guidebook on echinoderms.


We also chanced upon many shorebirds feeding at the intertidal area. Overlooking the boat is Johor. If you are sharp, there are also a few people exploring the shores during low tide today. Wonder how is their side like? Is it a good seeding ground for Chek Jawa?


And drum rolls, we have the intrepid teams for today. From left to right: Samantha, Laxton, Sijie and Yikang. Nice to know Samantha and Laxton for the first time, from Naked Hermit Crabs.


I got myself this time an assistant to help me take LIT videos. He is Gun Kiat. Done a marvellous job. He also helped me to measure salinity and carry some stuffs.


And this is the other team with Yijun, Bingquan, Nicholas and Liana! Basically the 2 teams are one of the most efficient. Finished everything about an hour before hand. Perhaps we also started bit earlier. Haha.


As usual, rolling back the tapes is not an easy job. Got to ensure 100m of tape do not get entangled and also get rid of most sand and mud from their surface. Yikang obviously showed how difficult it could be in an exaggerated manner.


And as predicted, working during December means be prepared to work in the rain. (photo by Gun Kiat)


We were pretty blessed. Changi, Johor, Tekong and West from Ubin were raining. But not Chek Jawa. Thank God indeed. Or else working in the rain would be really tough since there is so many things to juggle with. (photo by Gun Kiat)


When everyone was done with work and proceeded to clean up, Gun Kiat and I proceeded to do more salinity checks. Very timely, dark clouds loomed and threatened to pour. I chanced upon a nudibranch whom the Semakau guides people saw twice today. It was curled up, and I was waiting for it to open to take a photo. While waiting, it was unfortunately both of us got soaked as rain came finally. (photo by Gun Kiat)


And this is the one I was waiting for.

Nevertheless, glad the rest were not affected by the sudden heavy outpour. Would like to thank everyone who helped out today. Hope that tomorrow and Tuesday will be also as great as today.

Checking Chek Jawa out

This time, Justin and Ivan joined me to Chek Jawa to check out how is the health of the shore after all the Johor floods and monsoon rains.


As commented by Ron, there are an increase of baby horseshoe crabs in CJ. He shared that before the mass death, he only recalled seeing one only. Changes in environment means changes in ecology balances and changes in populations.


This catfish was doing fine at tidal pools.


Warty sea cucumber by the edge of the seawater.


One of the changes will be the increase in runoff towards the sea. While checking out my transect poles, that some gone missing, realized that recent increase in rain has led to more freshwater input from Ubin, the rain itself and also from the huge Johor river mouth.

We checked the salinity over different areas of CJ and realized they were as low as 19.9-23.4ppt as compared to average 27-29ppt in July. Of course, we have to factor today's rain, but imagine how low salinity can be and how it can affect the marine community.


Behind the forest front in above photo, I saw A LOT of rubbish!


Photos of Justin and Ivan trying to take salinity readings from boardwalk as tide today was not ideally low.


And the probe goes down.


Lastly, something off topic, they have cleared the way up to the rear CJ beacon.

Johor on red alert as floods hit

Meera Vijayan and Farik Zolkepli, The Star 6 Dec 07

JOHOR BARU: Continuous rainfall over the last 24 hours has caused floods in five districts in Johor.

As at 2pm Thursday, over 1,000 victims had been evacuated in Johor Baru, Segamat, Batu Pahat, Kota Tinggi and Kluang. The Meteorological Services Department has also upgraded its heavy rain warning from orange to red for Kelantan, Terengganu and northern Pahang, and advised the people to be on alert for floods.

The red stage warning refers to tropical storm or typhoon with sustained wind speed of at least 60kmph accompanied by moderate to heavy rain, while orange stage means moderate monsoon rain is occurring and expected to continue for several hours.

A bridge from Labis to Segamat near Sungai Karas has been cut off and was accessible only to heavy vehicles.

Johor Police Chief Dep Comm Datuk Hussin Ismail said that police had opened their 24-hour flood operations room as of 8am on Thursday.

“We are prepared for the floods and all our men are on standby,” he said.

State Women, Family and Community Development Committee chairman Dr Robia Kosai said that the Welfare Department had already sent out food and emergency supplies to all districts as of Wednesday.

“The supplies have even been sent out to the islands off Mersing and interior areas like Kampung Peta in Endau-Rompin,” she confirmed.

For more information, the public can contact the police hotline at 07) 221-6393 and the Fire and Rescue Department hotline at 07) 224-7444.

The Meteorological Services Department also issued a first category warning on strong winds and rough seas for the coastal waters off Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, east Johor, Sarawak and Sabah. The first category warning shows strong northesterly winds of 4050kmph with waves up to 3.5m.

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Will Chek Jawa tide through this series of monsoon storms?

More recent reports:
7/12/07 3,200 flee Johor floods
7/12/07 Johor, Pahang on red alert as rivers breach danger levels
7/12/07 Johor floods recede, except in Segamat

Appeal for help: Have you seen them?

Have you seen them this year?

Species-wise, Chek Jawa has been recovering well. Most of the key missing species have returned including the knobbly sea star, common sea star, flowery soft corals etc. However, there are some more candidates that has still been missing, from my observations. Below is a list of them that I've gathered.

keyhole sand dollar (Echinodiscus truncatus)
peanut worms (Phylum Sipuncula)
Crown sea star (Asterina coronata)
Neptune's cup sponge (Phylum Porifera)
Flatworms (Phylum Platyhelminthes)
Cake sea star (Anthenea aspera)
Synaptid sea cucumber (Family Synaptidae)
Sea apple sea cucumber (Pseudocolochirus violaceaus)
Melon or Baler Shell (Melo melo)
Fan worms (Family Sabellidae)

If you have seen anyone of these marine animals at Chek Jawa after Feburary 2007, (for example during guided walks), please leave a comment in this post. If you want to add on to the list of lost animals, please also leave your comment in this post. One thing to note, please also leave your name behind too.

Your help is very important to help me document recovery in Chek Jawa. I believe that there are some species which have returned, but no one has found them only, since Chek Jawa is big.

A big thank you in advance :-)

Photos of collage belongs to Ria Tan from her online guide and virtual gallery.

http://chekjawa.nus.edu.sg/ria/index.html
http://www.wildsingapore.com/chekjawa/index.html

Updated List of "found"s

Pencil sea urchin (Prionocidaris bispinosa)
Sea squirt (Polycarpa sp.)
Hard corals (Order Scleractinia) sea pencil (Cavernularia sp.)
Gong-gong (Strombus canarium)

It is to note, as advised by Ria, that many of the "lost" fauna as stated in the list are already rare in the first place before the mass death. Therefore, species-wise recovery has been successful.

This is not the end of the story though as Northeast monsoon has started.