Rare coastal horseshoe crabs (Tachypleus gigas) badly entangled by discarded fishing lines at East Coast Park

5 July 2015 – I went down together with Jonathan Tan (Youth For Ecology), Sankar A. and Law Ingsind (Herpetological Society of Singapore HSS and NUS Toddycats) to check out the coral reefs of East Coast Park. The tide was to be at 0.0m at 7.00am that morning, and would reveal the reef and much marine life.

Coral reefs are diverse ecosystems comprising of coral colonies which host a large number of marine species. Despite a loss of some 65% of our reefs to land reclamation and coastal development, Singapore does have reefs left! But the pollution is a source of stress on these remaining patches. One of our first encounters on the shoreline were two of our rare coastal horseshoe crabs (Tachypleus gigas), badly entangled by a discarded fishing line.

Removing the fishing line was tricky as the filaments had twisted into many complicated knots around the pincers. With patience, we did manage to free the precious horseshoe crabs.

In addition to the fishing line pollutions, six irresponsibly abandoned drift nets were found by the rock wall. These drift nets were extremely heavy, and over time had accumulated barnacles. We took great care when removing the nets.

The coastal horseshoe crab, Tachypleus gigas, an endangered species in Singapore;
data deficient internationally. (Photo by Ria Tan)

Left: One of the drift nets along the rock wall.
Right: A short stretch of beach polluted with plastic.

We were unprepared for the heavy load, so were only able to remove two nets before the tide rose. As we left, we hoped that unsuspecting marine life would not fall prey to this irresponsible ghost nets.

We had visited East Coast Park in the hope of examining the coral reefs, but instead spent most of our time removing nets and fishing lines which should not have been there in the first place. We hope people will realise that irresponsible habits – even littering in urban areas can affect our previous, surviving marine life.

Working together like this, we foster a keen sense of camaraderie and purpose. Even veteran ICCS Coordinator Sivasothi aka Otterman said he felt motivated by the purposeful action we took to protect marine life as our reports on Facebook reached a wider audience. As we work to figure out and implement upstream solutions as well, these encounters on the coast remind us that we are in the midst of a battle!

If you’d like to take an active role in tackling marine trash along our coastal habitats, join us for our National Day Coastal Cleanup @ Lim Chu Kang!

‘Ocean plastic pollution’s shocking death toll on endangered animals’

“Nearly 700 species of marine animal have been recorded as having encountered human-made debris such as plastic and glass according to the most comprehensive impact study in more than a decade. are being harmed or killed by the trash we toss into the seas.”

Emily Gert at TakePart reports on a new review study which examined scientific reports and revealed that hundreds of species of animals are being harmed or killed by marine trash. And of the trash which includes metal, glass and paper, it is “plastic … [which] turned up in almost 92% of animal-meets-marine debris reports,” according to a study published in Marine Pollution Bulletin.

Gall and Thompson (2015) report a total of 44,006 incidents of individual animals across 395 species that had eaten plastic bits or been tangled in plastic rope or netting. Around 80 percent of the time, these encounters injured or killed the animal.

Reports of entanglement in plastic include these critically endangered turtles:

• 138 hawksbill turtles,
• 73 Kemp’s Ridley turtles, and
• 62 leatherback sea turtles.

30,896 reports were of marine mammals tangled in ropes or netting, including:

• 215 Hawaiian monk seals (critically endangered)
• 38 northern right whales (endangered),
• 3,835 northern fur seals and
• 3,587 California sea lions.

In 174 records, more than 150 species of seabirds were tangled in or eating plastic, including:

• 3,444 northern fulmars,
• 1,674 Atlantic puffins,
• 971 Laysan albatross, and
• 895 greater shearwaters.

“The researchers stressed that their findings were “an underestimate of the impacts of marine debris” on marine animals.

They noted, however, that least we’re past denying the problem.”

Links: 

• Ocean Plastic Pollution’s Shocking Death Toll on Endangered Animals,” by Emily Gert. TakePart, 20 Feb 2015.
• University of Plymouth. “Global impact of debris on marine life studied.” ScienceDaily, 19 February 2015
• Original article – Gall, S.C. & R.C. Thompson, 2015. The impact of debris on marine life. Marine Pollution Bulletin; DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.12.041