So, I woke up at 4.35 a.m. to go to Chek Jawa. Chek Jawa is a wetland located at the tip of Pulau Ubin. Huge seagrass meadows. Lots of slimy things to see. The works.
So, anyway, we arrived at dawn, with the sun just starting to rise.
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| Picture from Peiyan.Photography. Thanks! |
What's going on? We were helping Siti to disassemble the frames and collect the seagrass samples for analysis. After about a 500 metre walk, we reached the set-ups and Siti gave the safety briefing.
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| HULK SMASH! Picture from WildSingapore. Thanks! |
After removing the cable ties that secured the frames, we got the chance to use sledgehammers to smash the frames into their component parts. Very therapeutic. Don't worry we wore goggles.
That's us bringing the PVC pipes up onto the jetty. Altogether, I walked <4km carrying heavy, barnacle infested PVC pipes that scratched my arms and legs (Hence the title). But it was totally worth it. On the bright side, it was great exercise and training for NS!
We met the wild boars on the way back. Considering all the recent hoohaa about culling them, this was certainly a special experience.
LOOK AT THAT! ISN'T THAT ADORABLE? IT'S LIKE A WATERMELON WITH LEGS! WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO CULL HIM? This fellow was coming up to us curiously. How adorable...
A highlight of today's trip was the Gliding Lizard we saw in the mainland. It was male with a yellow dewlap. These lizards are small and are able to spread out their skin and ribcage to glide from tree to tree. As close as it gets to a real life dragon. Cool, huh?
I walked back and forth between the pontoon and the set-ups at least eight times today. Each time, I saw something different. I think that's a testament to just how much biodiversity is contained within Chek Jawa itself. As such, should we not be making an effort to conserve it, rather than exploit it?
I'll be doing the exact same thing tomorrow. But this time, I'll be doing it at Cyrene Reef. Huzzah!
More blog posts about today's trip:
http://wildshores.blogspot.sg/2012/06/hard-at-work-at-chek-jawa.html
http://peiyansama.blogspot.sg/2012/06/marine-gardeners-of-chek-jawa.html
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| Picture from Peiyan.Photography. |
That's us bringing the PVC pipes up onto the jetty. Altogether, I walked <4km carrying heavy, barnacle infested PVC pipes that scratched my arms and legs (Hence the title). But it was totally worth it. On the bright side, it was great exercise and training for NS!
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| Courtesy of WildSingapore. |
There's a group photo of us! Along with the pulverized remains of the PVC pipes...
We met the wild boars on the way back. Considering all the recent hoohaa about culling them, this was certainly a special experience.
LOOK AT THAT! ISN'T THAT ADORABLE? IT'S LIKE A WATERMELON WITH LEGS! WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO CULL HIM? This fellow was coming up to us curiously. How adorable...
A highlight of today's trip was the Gliding Lizard we saw in the mainland. It was male with a yellow dewlap. These lizards are small and are able to spread out their skin and ribcage to glide from tree to tree. As close as it gets to a real life dragon. Cool, huh?
I walked back and forth between the pontoon and the set-ups at least eight times today. Each time, I saw something different. I think that's a testament to just how much biodiversity is contained within Chek Jawa itself. As such, should we not be making an effort to conserve it, rather than exploit it?
I'll be doing the exact same thing tomorrow. But this time, I'll be doing it at Cyrene Reef. Huzzah!
More blog posts about today's trip:
http://wildshores.blogspot.sg/2012/06/hard-at-work-at-chek-jawa.html
http://peiyansama.blogspot.sg/2012/06/marine-gardeners-of-chek-jawa.html
What a great post and a wonderful blog Sankar! I love it! Looking forward to more posts about your adventures.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your support! I'm happy that you like it. :)
ReplyDeleteYay! You have a blog now!
ReplyDelete