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CONTENTS
Summary
- Introduction
- The
dates, time & tide
What
your guides will do for you
- What
you have to do
- How
to get there
Guide
assisted, not guided
- Suggestions
of what to bring and wear
Summary
The Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research (RMBR) and
friends are conducting two days of guide-assisted
educational visits to Chek Jawa. Guides in bright orange
caps will help the public in their discovery of marine life
at Chek Jawa on Fri 19th and Sat 20th Oct: 5pm - 7pm. All
are welcome on these walks which are suitable for
children.
If you do wish join us, please email
me and
provide these details:
1. Name
2. Number of people in group
3. Date (Fri 19th or Sat 20th)
4. Expected time of arrival
We will advise the boat and van operators of expected
numbers.
Please
read the details below if you are
coming.
See you there!
Introduction
The inter-tidal areas of Chek Jawa are a unique host to a
variety of habitats: mangrove, rocky shore, beach, sand and
mud flats, sea grass beds, sand banks and coral rubble. In
light of the impending reclaimation of Chek Jawa, the
Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research (RMBR) conducted
salvage
collection trips
between May - Aug 2001. 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, though relatively rare
in Singapore, are common at Chek Jawa - carpet anemones,
sand dollars, sea stars, and a variety of sponges. For a
quick
preview.
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 organised a pair of
semi-guided trips during two days in September.
See also Postcards
from Chek Jawa:
for thoughts and images of those who joined these trips.
The trips were a considerable success, and the walks are
suitable for children and layman alike. Time and tide allows
a repeat of the exercise, possibly the last, this October.
This series also marks the first of a series of public
education guide-assisted walks that will be conducted by the
Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research & friends as
part of the new education programme of the museum. Look
forward to more trips in 2002!
The
dates, time & tide
Dates
of visits
Friday 19th October: 5pm - 7pm
Saturday 20th October: 5pm - 7pm
The
tides
Fri 19 Oct tides 4pm: 1.4m, 5pm: 0.7m, 6pm: 0.3m, 7pm: 0.3m,
8pm: 0.5m, 9pm: 1m
Sat 20 Oct tides 4pm: 1.7m, 5pm: 1.1m, 6pm: 0.5m, 7pm: 0.2m,
8pm: 0.3m, 9pm: 0.6m
Refer to these tidal heights and check the
map
for what you are likely to see at various tide levels.
What
your guides will do
Guides familiar with marine life 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 mainly staff and volunteers
from the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research at the
National University of Singapore and postgraduates and
undergraduates from the Department of Biological Sciences,
The National University of Singapore.
What
you have to do: 3 things
1.
Please email
me
and inform me of:
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1.
Name
2. Number of people in group
3. Date (Fri 19th or Sat 20th)
4. Expected time of arrival at Changi jetty
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We will advise the
boat and van operators accordingly.
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2.
Reach Chek Jawa yourself and
at least by 4.45pm. You can, of course, come earlier and
look at the plants including the Nypa forest and enjoy the
ambienbce at the beach. Bottlenecks may occur, especially on
Saturday.
Plan to be at
Changi jetty by 3.30pm latest. It will take you about 45
minutes in total from Changi to Chek Jawa. We will advise
the bum boat operators and van drivers to expect large
numbers.
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How
to get to Chek Jawa:
- Take a bumboat from Changi Jetty - the jetty is near
the Changi Village Hawker Centre. The bumboats will take you
to Ubin Jetty. Cost: $2/person. Maximum 12 passengers. Just
join the queue and the boats will leave when they have 12
persons. If there are less than 12 persons, you might have
to wait a little while until enough people turn up.
- Take a van from Ubin jetty - walk to the inland end
of Ubin jetty, to the road, and look for vans and land rovers.
They will all have "PU" license plates these days! Just tell
the driver "Chek Jawa" and he will do the rest. Again, they
might wait for enough people to fill the van. Cost of 1-way
van trip to Chek Jawa: $2 per person.
- From the drop-off/pick-up point, walk to the Chek Jawa
shore - it is a 3-minute walk. Take the fork to your left,
which slopes steeply down-hill. Follow the path to reach the
beach. To the right of the sign "Welcome to Chek Jawa"
is a broken down jetty, follow it down to the beach and go
to your right towards the big rocks. At this point, you should
see the guides and other participants. The fork to the right
takes you to House No. 1, a disused house. This is NOT the
meeting point.
Here is a brief
view of the road to Chek Jawa.
- Look for your guides wearing orange caps - just head
out towards them or explore the coast yourself. The inter-tidal
area you visit will be a little soggy, but you will not sink
beyond your ankles. Most of you will keep to the sandbanks
and hardly sink! So it will be suitable for very young children
as well.
- The same route gets you back to Changi! Van drivers
will be eagerly waiting for you.
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3.
Take nothing but photographs and leave nothing but
footprints
Resources
for the curious
We may not have enough guides to personally guide everyone,
so to assist you in the process of discovery, we do
recommend you use the following:
1. The guidesheets
on flora and fauna you are likely to see on Chek Jawa.
2. The Chek Jawa quick
tours and galleries.
There have been updates to the Quick
Tour
and a new section on rare plants in Chek
Jawa our threatened heritage.
3. "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.
You can of course just enjoy the ambience!
Suggestions
of what to bring and wear
Your own water, at least one litre!
Wear booties, or closed shoes with laces and hard soles.
Bring a spare change of clothes, or at least a t-shirt.
Be prepared for wet weather - never know when it rains.
Bring a haversack for your valuables and water.
You will be comfortable walking around in shorts and
t-shirts.
You will need a torch after 7pm.
There are two wells nearby to wash up.
See you there!
Cheerio!
N.
Sivasothi
Research Officer
Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research
The National University of Singapore
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