Kusu Island Reef Walk

I woke up at 4.30am and had slept only 3 hours. It was a Sunday morning (20May07) to boot! It was the morning for the Kusu Island Reef Walk organised by the Blue Water Volunteers.

The Blue Water Volunteers (BWV) is a volunteer-based, marine conservation NGO that seeks to complement research activities and increase awareness of local marine habitats, such as coral reefs. Read more. They have organised this trip for all of us. We got one big boat full of participants of about 50 people.

This 5am at Marina South Pier. We are to set off at 6am.

It was first light when we arrived on this southern island of Singapore which is about 20 minutes away by boat.

Legend has it that a giant tortoise had saved some drowning mariners in a ship wreck and had emerged to form this island. The original island is tiny with just a small hillock with a Malay Kramat (shrine) on top and a Chinese temple.

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Reclamation work has killed a big part of the coral reef, but over the last ten years, new recruits have come to join in the remaining reef and had grown substantially.

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Taoist devotees from Singapore, Malaysia and some say Batam too, come to pray at this temple on the Ninth Full Moon.

. This is the famous little temple of Kusu.

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Since the reclamation, the National Parks has done a good job beautifying the place and also adding a proper ferrypoint to the island. I remember I had to transfer from bumboats to small sampans to get to the shore, and then wade through the waters to set foot on the ground.

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The trees there are Coconut and Casuarina. I learned from the guide that Casuarina are also natural seaside trees, as it is tolerant to salt. It is not from the Pine family.

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Notice that there are 4 concentric lines on the sands. This are tide lines. There are two high and two low tides a day.

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Zoom in on one of the shorelines. Many shells.


Our guide started by asking us to pick up whatever that is around us that we think is a living thing. I had some problems doing that in the beginning as I thought most things look quite dead to me.


These are some of the living things our group picked up. These are simply land plants that has migrated from the land to the waters, probably because there is less competition for food nearer the waters. A plant is a vegetation that has roots, stems and leafs.

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A seaweed is therefore not a plant. Seaweeds don't have roots. They just float around in the water.

. These are some shells. Some of them are snails and some are shells adopted by hermit crabs. They are moving. Why do you think they are found in colonies? We will come back to the answer later...

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These slimy stuff are algae.
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This is one living thing we were prohibited from picking up. The guide stood in front of it to make sure none of us picked it up by accident.

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This is a sea anemone. The little brown patch around the centre is the mouth and the anus. So it is one of these creatures that eat and shit in the same place. It is akin to some bosses having extra-marital affairs in the office with their secretaries! :)

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By the way, don't be fooled by the demure looks of anemones. They can be very vicious when the catch their predator. The latter will be knocked out with their secreted mucus and then consumed at the mouth (or anus).

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This is a fan worm. It anchors to the ground but fans out in full bloom in the waters. When touched, it retracts immediately like the land mimosa plant.
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This looks like and ordinary rock to me, but the guide told us that it is a sanctuary for sea snails.
. See. Sea snails hidden behind a rock crevice.
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This is a Butter worm.

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This hole is borrowed and fortified with rocks by a shrimp. He uses it as his santuary.

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Can you see the goby skipper? It is in the hole in the middle of the picture. It is a lot smaller than the mud skipper.

This is a coral community. It is like a colony of many anemones. Each 'dot' within each honeycomb represents one clone. They multiply by cloning within the community.


This is an anemone.



Usually corals form walls like these.

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Notice that the top of the coral colony is bald. This is because of the tides and exposure to the sun.
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This is a sea slug. It is well camouflage on the rock.

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This coral is very well anchored into the rock crevice. Big colony.


This is a shrimp that lives in the anemone. It is a symbiotic relationship between the shrimp and the anemone. The shrimp protects the anemone and the anemone does not poison the shrimp.

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One of the participants in our group said that he would more accurately use the word "(mutual)exploitation" instead of "symbiotic relationship". By the way, I was lucky to be in a group of people with a biology background or a keen interest in marine biology. I learned lots from their questions. Thanks guys!

Notice that the corals is more colourful once it is under water.

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Does this remind you of the Esplanade? (Theatres by the Bay on the mainland)

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One of the guides told us that we can tell about the environmental conditions of the shore by looking at the different shapes of the coral living there. These ones have trapped air bubbles that keeps it afloat when the tide comes in.




This is the False Clown Fish that lives around the anemone. Its Hollywood name is "Nemo". Same 'symbiotic', (opps!) I mean 'exploitive' relationship between fish and anemone. There are two theories that abound:

1. That the fish emits the same mucus that tells the anemone that he is one of them, so 'don't eat me'.

2. That the fish moves in such a way that the anemone thinks that it is part of itself.

These are not sea grapes, but part of the coral that contains air to help it float nicely upright when the water comes in.

This is how it looks like when submerged. The tide is gradually drawing in. That's the reason for having to wake up at 4.30am this morning to catch the low tide and first light.

This gruesome looking coral colony is called "Dead Men's Fingers". They look like what it is called. The two white lumps on the bottom of the photo are not another coral colony - they are my shoes!!! And definitely not dead men's feet! :)

See what I mean?

Yaks! Good thing I had not have my breakfast then.

Notice these coral colony has its top fully grown, not bald. This is due to different water levels and the amount of sun it is exposed to.

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These look like flotsam or debris from litter bugs, but they are not.

They are sponges. You can't use these as domestic sponges as it has a mucus that won't go well with your skin. They are soft like sponges.

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Notice that the different corals stick to their own space. So even in marine life, "birds of a feather flock together". You only attract what you already are. Law of Attraction! :)

When their territories get very close, there will be a turf war! Competition for resources.





This is a very junior Blenny Eel.
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This is a sea cucumber, but not the type that Chinese people eats. It moves!
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The UV light absorbed by the coral are eventually let out again in the form of bright colours.
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This is a moat. The difference between a moat and a crab is that the inside between the gills are hollow.
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Notice the round 'fruit'. These carry air bubbles to keep these seaweeds afloat.

.The name 'star fish' is a misnomer, since this is not a fish. It looks very cuddly and cute, but it is very vicious when it catches its prey. It will just grab it, crush it and eats it. The centre is its mouth. When cut into pieces, it will clone itself to several star fishes.

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Some kind hearted divers try to help star fish populations by dividing them and helping them to multiply, which is not necesarily a good move as having too many star fish will deplete some of the marine life they feed on. So kindness must always be exercised with wisdom! :)

We inverted a star fish to see how it can twist itself back into position. It is very stressful for the star fish, so after witnessing it for the initial five minutes, we helped it by flipping it over.
.Soon after we flipped it over, it quickly borrow into the sand.This is one of the 6 groups. My group comprises students, biologists and marine live enthusiasts.
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This is the shoreline of the mainland in the distance. The casino (oops!), Integrated Resort will be up in 2008 on Sentosa Island. Visitors to Kusu will certainly go up. Hopefully, the government will not develop this island into a luxury island paradise for the super rich who will have their bungalows with the marina in the backyard. If this happens, the coral community will be decimated. Read more

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We were told to guess the number of species we have on Kusu. One of us said 40, I thought it would be about 20. The guide said that the Australian Great Barrier Reef which is 6,000 times the size of Singapore has about 400 plus species. We have 200 plus species on this small island. We are truly a nation of migrants. Even in marine life! Isn't it amazing! Many people do not know this, including many Singaporeans.

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Even Malaysian coral reefs do not have the same diversity in a small area. Perhaps this is something uniquely Singaporean. A treasure which I think is more valuable than money.

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Yes, have you got the answer to the question as to why those marine lives thrive in communities?

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Answer: That living things live for the only one thing - SEX,...erh...I mean to reproduce itself.

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Some human beings live like these too! :)

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Corals reproduce by spawning eggs and sperm three or four days after the Full Moon in April each year. The eggs and sperm will be carried by the tides to other coral reefs to be fertilised.

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Question from a group member: "Isn't this a risky strategy to reproduce?"

Answer from the guide: "That is why they all spawn at the same time to increase their chances".

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Coral conservation therefore has to to happen regionally. In order to protect Singapore corals, the Malaysian and Indonesian reefs too have to be protected.

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Corals protects our shoreline. They are also a source where new medicines are discovered.

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Blue Water Volunteers are started by a group of marine conservationists after an expedition to protect a coral reef. I applaud them for their efforts. It is hoped that through reef walks like these that more people gets educated on the importance of nature conservation.

The Reef Walk took about two hours. It was a splendid education for me. The Dalai Lama says it is important to spend a day walking in nature every week. This is certainly true.
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While waiting for the ferry, I wandered up the hillock to visit the Malay shrine.

I am surprised Chinese people come here to pray too.
This again, can only happen in Singapore. Another custom that is Uniquely Singapore! :)

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It is heartening to know that there is an increasing awareness of our need to conserve our nature reserves. I have been introduced to this walk by a friend of mine when he met me by chance at Mount Faber during a guided walk by a National Park Volunteer. He conducts tours on his personal accord and free of charge. He informs his mailing list of nature lovers by email only. Usually he gets about 40-50 people.

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As I was in Kusu for this particular Sunday, a University Alumni friend of mine was in Pulau Ubin to be trained as a volunteer guide. This was sponsored by a NGO funded by the Singapore Environmental Council.

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Last, but not least, the guide recommended us to visit this website http://www.wildsingapore.com/ . It lists the wilder the areas of Singapore besides our nightspots. :)