Summary

The Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research (RMBR) and friends are
conducting two days of guide-assisted educational visits to Chek Jawa.
Guides familiar with marine life will be at the site on Thu 6th Sept
and Fri 7th Sept, from 6am - 10am.

All are welcome but you must find your way there yourself.
Bumboats at Changi jetty are expecting people by 5.50am,
and vans at Ubin jetty are expecting people by 6am.

Please email me at chekjawa@... and inform me of:
1. Number of people in group
2. Expected time of arrival
We will advise the boat and van operators accordingly.

Some educational aids will become available soon. Bring the
Science Centre Guide to Seashore Life guidebook to enhance
the experience.
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Introduction

In light of the impending reclaimation of Chek Jawa, the Raffles
Museum of Biodiversity Research (RMBR) conducted salvage collection
trips between May - Aug 2001. This is a unique area host to a variety
of habitats: mangrove, rocky shore, beach, sand and mud flats, sea
grass beds, sand banks and coral rubble.

The invertebrate, fish, algae and plant life set against the unique
ambience of the place has revealed an interesting diversity of
invertebrate, fish, algae and plant life, some of which are rare
in Singapore but common in Chek Jawa - carpet anemones,
sand dollars, sea stars, and a variety of sponges.
See galleries at: <http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/news/chekjawa>

Many of the younger Singaporeans have not seen a coastal ecosystem
like this before; their experience is restricted to beaches. The
availability of guides familiar with marine life is limited as well.

Visiting Chek Jawa requires you to be there early, usually predawn
- the shore is only exposed during these very low tides, and
very suitable dates remain prior to the expected reclamation.

In light of the uniqueness of the habitat, the biodiversity, the
few tide-suitable days left and the desire to share the beauty of
Chek Jawa with the public, the Raffles Museum and friends are
organising a pair of semi-guided trips during two days in September.

And what better day to announce it on than Teacher's Day!
 

The dates and times
These dates are confirmed: Thursday 6th September (Day 1) and
Friday 7th September (Day 2) from 6am - 10am. The tides on
these days are reasonably low and will rise relatively slowly.
 

What we will do
Guides familiar with marine organisms will be stationed around
the shore in the various habitats to help point out some of the
interesting organisms and try to tell you some stories! Markers
will indicate where these stations are, and the guides will be
wearing bright orange caps for you to identify them.

These guides are from the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research,
postgraduates and undergraduates from the Department of Biological
Sciences, The National University of Singapore, the Nature Society
(Singapore) and Sungei Buloh Nature Park Volunteers.
 

What you will see
Thu 6 Sep: 7am - 0.5m; 8am - 0.6m; 9am - 0.9m
Fri 7 Sep: 7am - 0.6m; 8am - 0.6m; 9am - 0.9m

Refer to these tidal heights and see:
<http://www.naturia.per.sg/chekjawa/text/map.htm>
 

What you have to do:

1. Please email me at chekjawa@...
and inform me of:
1. Name
2. Number of people in group
3. Expected time of arrival
We will advise the boat and van operators accordingly.

2. Reach Chek Jawa yourself and by 7am
It will take you about 45 minutes to get from Changi to Chek Jawa.
We talked to bum boat operators and van drivers. The earliest the
bumboats will leave Changi is 5.50am. There will be at least 10
boats operating by 6am. The van drivers will be expecting large
numbers and will be ready with their vehicles.

Bottlenecks will be possible, so plan to be at Changi jetty by
5.50am.

Cost of bum boat: $2/person or $24/boat. Maximum 12 passengers.
Cost of 1-way van trip to Chek Jawa: $2 per person

For the return trip, the vans will standby to return from 9.30am.
 

Staying overnight
An option is to stay overnight. Unfortunately the budget chalets
are all apparently closed down already, but you can stay at the
pricey Pulau Ubin Lagoon Resort.  NSS members get a discount. See: <http://www.clubendeavour.com.sg/ulr.html>

If you do stay overnight, you must reach Chek Jawa by 5.30am. By 6am,
most of the vans will be stationed at the Ubin jetty.
 

Guide assisted, not guided
We will definitely not have enough guides to personally guide everyone,
so to assist you in the process of discovery, we will post several
panels on a webpage by Tuesday night illustrating common organisms
from each habitat and web-links to simple notes about the biology
of these animals.
<http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/news/chekjawa/public.htm>

E. g. what to find at the rocky shore: Purple Climber Crab,
tunicates, sponges, porcelain crab, thunder crab, drill, banded
bead anemone, barnacles, etc. You can print it our and then look
for these organisms. This will help you to pursue the discovery yourself.

We will also put these panels up at Chek Jawa and the guides will
be carrying laminated copies to refer to.

The one book you should bring along is:
A guide to Seashore life by Leo WH Tan & Peter Ng. Published by
the Singapore Science Centre. 160pp. ISBN: 981-00-0254-8.
Cost $5.15. Available at leading bookstores.

And of course, you are allowed to simply enjoy the ambience!
 

Hints at what to bring
Bring your own water
Wear booties, or closed shoes with laces and hard soles
Bring a spare change of clothes
Be prepared for wet weather - never know when it rains
You will be comfortable walking around in shorts and t-shirts
You will not need a torch after 7am
There are two wells nearby to wash up

See you there!
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