Celebrating Singapore, diver-style
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SINGAPORE – Between them, they have spent many years under the sea.
And on National Day 2023, nine Friends of Marine Park volunteers, partners and National Parks Board staff revived a tradition that was stalled during the Covid-19 pandemic – they got their fins wet again.
The divers took part in a community-led survey at the Sisters’ Islands Marine Park.
It is an annual activity started in 2018 by Friends of Marine Park volunteers to show appreciation for the citizen scientists who monitor local reefs and keep them litter-free.
It is also to document the nation’s marine biodiversity.
The group is made up of stakeholders working together to enhance the long-term survival of Singapore’s seas.
The Aug 9 “Majulah dive” included a survey of the seafloor off Pulau Seringat – also in the Southern Islands – in search of the neptune’s cup sponge. It marked the start of an islandwide exploration for the critically endangered giant sea sponge.
The neptune’s cup sponge, believed to have been wiped out globally more than 100 years ago, was found in Singapore in 2011 by marine scientists.
Some of the sponges have been moved to the 40ha marine park to give them a better chance of survival.
While no new sponges were uncovered by the divers on Aug 9, four existing specimens there appeared to be thriving.
