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Southern
Shores of Singapore We have coral reefs in Singapore? YES! Coral reefs are found fringing our southern shores such as Labrador Beach and on our Southern Islands.
Our reefs are very much ALIVE! Despite all the developments they have undergone, our reefs still support rich marine life. Uniquely Singapore! These reefs are minutes from the city centre! Where else in the world can a visitor go from a high-level business meeting at a world class hotel to visit a living reef in under half an hour? More City Reef photos and a personal letter about our City Reefs. The reefs in Singapore harbour close to 200 species of hard corals and a good diversity of other marine organisms too, such as seafans and nudibranchs. 111 reef fish species were also recorded. There are also regular sightings of wild dolphins and sea turtles. Our reefs in the past There was once over 60 offshore islands and patch reefs around Singapore. However, since the mid 1970s, major land reclamation was carried out on the mainland as well as the offshore southern islands. Most of the southern islands were reclaimed, adding 1695 ha to Singapore's total land area. Some islands were merged as a result and the reef flats of many islands were reclaimed. Many coral reef organisms were smothered by the reclamation, while others were severely affected by the resulting increase in underwater sediments. Since 1986, most coral reefs in Singapore have lost up to 65% of their live coral cover. Visibility also dropped from 10m in the 1960s to 2m or less today. More about our southern shores on the Coral Reefs of Singapore. Fact sheets about some of our Southern shores are listed on the wild places homepage. |
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| Links General articles on marine life in Singapore
Dolphin
sighting in Singapore
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Need
to arrange
a nature event? Blue Water Volunteers walks, talks Hantu Bloggers guided dives Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research workshops for schools Creative Kids family groups field trips for schools Subaraj Rajathurai nature guide Joseph Lai nature guide |