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Urangan, Hervey Bay (Qld, Australia): 20 April 2008
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Yule Point & Green Is (Qld, Australia): 18 - 19 April 2008
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Dugong feeding trails galore at Yule Point. Although the tropical monsoon resulted in rainfall significantly greater than usual in the north from late January to March, April so far has been one of the driest in decades. Despite the rainfall and associated runoff, the intertidal seagrass meadows in the far north appear to be fairing extremely well. Whether the higher incidence of feeding intertidally is due to more animals, the unusually high seagrass abundance or a consequence of diminished subtidal meadows is unkown. No monitoring occurs in subtidal waters and dugong numbers are not monitored as regularly as seagrass. The level of dugong grazing was so high that some sections of the meadow were virtually decimated of seagrass.
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At Green Island, seagrass abundance also remains high. Usually in April (late Monsoon) seagrass abundance declines due to less light (the result of more clouds, runoff and trade winds) and the lowering of sea temperatures with the approaching “winter”. Nevertheless, the higher abundances were good news for the Green Turtles. Patches where seagrass leaves had recently been cropped by feeding turtles was evident across the sites. Also evident, was scarring – the result of boat propellers cutting into the meadow. These scars can destabilize the rhizome mat and such disturbance can also result in a seagrass species shift. The area of the propeller scars was once dominated by Cymodocea rotundata, Halodule uninervis and Thalassia hemprichii. Now Syringodium isoetifolium is spreading into the area.
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Shoalwater Bay (Qld, Australia): 14 - 15 April 2008
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Bowen (Qld, Australia): 16 April 2008
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Singapore: 09 - 12 April 2008
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Chek Jawa has always had a reputation as a treasure trove that supports a rich variety of life on its shores. And yesterday, it was no different. Monitoring revealed the good ol’ Halophila ovalis, as well as Halophila beccarii. Over at Site 1, we weren’t doing too badly either, encountering Cymodocea rotundata and Halophila ovalis in our quadrats. With the monitoring done, it was then time to comb the shores, however the searing heat from the sun soon threatened to scorch us into oblivion, so everyone took to the Jetty for a well-deserved rest and waited for the boats to take us back to the mainland. Text: Team Seagrass-Singapore. TeamSeagrass Website Click here .
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Still bleary-eyed near the crack of dawn, Team Seagrass met at the Republic of Singapore Yacht Club to take a boat down to the Cyrene Reef. Upon reaching Cyrene reef though, the last traces of the Sandman’s dust instantly evaporated upon hearing the loudhailer coming from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore’s boat. “Keep away from the area! It is very dangerous and you might drown!” Still, despite the undoubtedly menacing warning, the intrepid Team Seagrassers nevertheless made it safely on the sandbar without incident. Our transect lines unveiled some surprises. We had a seagrass flower at 50m line and came across a knobbly sea star. Gaytri also spotted a pair of nudibranch, there were also plenty of Seastar. The surprises were not yet over as the day yielded some seahorses. The one on the left is a tigertail seahorse while the picture on the right shows a pregnant papa. All too soon, we headed back to the boat. Many thanks to Ria and the NParks “garang” girls Siti, Shu Fen and Wei Ling for making the trip possible. Text: Team Seagrass-Singapore. TeamSeagrass Website Click here .
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Another bright and early morning today, this time at Tuas with TeamSeagrass volunteers from Schering Plough. Led by the ever energetic Sheryl, the team got a quick briefing. It was a tad early in the morning, but the team still valiantly gave a hearty hello for the group photo. Thanks to all Schering Plough volunteers for helping out today: Sheryl Tay, Yeo, Lay Tin, Tanabalan Umah Mageswari, Teoh Cheng Hoe, Evelyn Ong, Richard Ng, Ong Lay Har, Chan Yuet Leng. And to Vyna and Andy for coming by to support the effort. Text: Team Seagrass-Singapore. TeamSeagrass Website Click here .
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Whitsunday (Qld, Australia): 04 - 07 April 2008
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Gladstone Harbour (Qld, Australia): 07 April 2008
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Magnetic Island, Townsville (Qld, Australia): 06 April 2008
This monitoring occurred at the end of a month of dry weather, following 3 months of wet involving a total of 1552mm of rain. Seagrass cover was high and very luxuriant with most leaves relatively young and clean . Text: Dr. Don Kinsey
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Great Keppel, Yeppon (Qld, Australia): 05 - 06 April 2008
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Archer Point, Cooktown (Qld, Australia): 04 - 05 April 2008
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Sarina, Mackay (Qld, Australia): 03 April 2008
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