Weekend of 07 & 08 Mar 2015 – ICCS Zone Captains and the Intern visited 15 different cleanup sites in the Northwest and Northeast zones to conduct preliminary recces. We examined four large sites in the Northwest on Saturday and 11 sites in the Northeast on Sunday. Certainly much work is needed to help our mangrove and coastal areas cope with the load of marine trash!
Sites examined:
Northwest Zone: Zone Captain Adriane Lee & Intern Becky Lee
- Kranji East mangrove
- Lim Chu Kang East mangrove
- Sungei Buloh West mangrove
- Lim Chu Kang beach and mangrove
Northeast Zone: Zone Captains Yang Yi Yong & Ng Kai Scene & Intern Becky Lee
- Sungei Loyang
- Pasir Ris Beach 1
- Pasir Ris Beach 2
- Pasir Ris Beach 6
- Sungei Tampines
- Punggol Beach 1
- Punggol Beach 2
- Sungei Seletar 1
- Sungei Seletar 2
- Selimang Beach
- Sembawang Beach
At Kranji East Mangrove in the Northwest, we were greeted by a truck load of trash.
Discarded fishing nets are entangled amongst mangrove roots, and pulling them out, Adriane discovered a horseshoe crab trapped inside. He gently removed the animal and placed it back on the shore but it was no longer moving.
At Lim Chu Kang East mangrove, the strandline was polluted with discarded nets, plastic bottles, plastic oil containers, tarp sheets, and of course – styrofoam.
The situation at Lim Chu Kang Jetty:
The mangroves were multi-colored, peppered with food containers, detergent bottles, beer cans, plastic bottles and styrofoam.
On Sunday, we began with Sungei Loyang at a very low tide which exposed the accumulated trash at that mangrove.
Pasir Ris Beaches 1 and 2 are recreational beaches cleaned daily by professional cleaners. There tiny fragments of plastic and styrofoam littered the strandline.
Our Northeast Zone Captains; Chen Kee, Yi Yong and Kai Scene!
Plastics and styrofoam bits on our beaches are a common site. You can see this even on Pasir Ris Beach 2, a recreational beach cleaned daily by cleaners.
Pasir Ris Beach 6 is adjacent to Pasir Ris Park and not cleaned daily by clears. there the trash load burden on marine life is higher
Sungei Seletar presented an amazing scene – barely any land was left to be seen from under the trash cover.
We wrapped up the recces for the weekend, with adamant spirits and determination boiling within us. The battle with marine trash will never end, but we hope as ICCS participants hit the shores and witness this pollution in Clean and Green Singapore, the reflection of our lifestyles and day-to-day habits will trigger action and encourage more environmentally-friendly practices. Together we can and MUST make an impact to protect our oceans.
News from the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore 
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