Jellyfish and Otters at Chek Jawa on 21 Nov 2015

We had a wonderful outing at Chek Jawa Boardwalk on 21 Nov! It is the year-end school holidays, and we tried our best to accommodate as many visitors as we could. We had a huge turnout of 74 visitors. FANTASTIC!

We split the visitors into 7 groups led by a guide each, and off we went exploring the mangrove and coastal segments of Chek Jawa. The visitors were excited to see so many animals - jellyfish, otters, monitor lizards, carpet anemone, crabs and more!

Read on to find out more.

21 Nov (Sat) morning: Free guided walk at Chek Jawa Boardwalk

Hi!

We are happy to announce that the free nature outing to Chek Jawa Boardwalk on 21 Nov (Sat) is now open for registration. Come and join the Naked Hermit Crabs to check out the wildlife residing in the mangroves and coastal area of Chek Jawa. The nature walk is a leisurely stroll conducted on the boardwalk, and there is no need to get your shoes wet. Let the volunteer guides show you the amazing biodiversity that is in our own "backyard".

Click here for the online registration form.

Date: 21 Nov (Sat)

Meeting time: 9.30am

Meeting place: Chek Jawa Information Kiosk, Pulau Ubin

Duration of walk: Around 2 hours

Cost: Free (donations are accepted)

Click on here to get more information about getting to Chek Jawa, what to bring, what to prepare for the outing.

Browse through the photos below to give you an idea what you will experience during one of our walks. Feel free to read our blog posts of past walks.

Great day at Chek Jawa on a somewhat hazy day

46 visitors had a wonderful day out at Chek Jawa Wetlands with the Crabs last Saturday (October 10). There was a small window of relatively low-haze conditions, and so we all decided to carry on with the outdoor activity. We had to cancel the September walk due to bad haze conditions. Just for the record, the 3-hour PSI reading from NEA on October 10 was 93 at 11 am, while the hourly AQI reading for PM2.5 was an amber 139.

Families with young children in tow came. Everyone was determined to have a great day spent outdoors amidst the natural surroundings of Chek Jawa on Pulau Ubin.

10 October (Sat) morning: Free guided walk at Chek Jawa Boardwalk

Hello! We are happy to announce that the free nature outing to Chek Jawa Boardwalk on October 10, Saturday, is now open for registration. Come and join the Naked Hermit Crabs to check out the wildlife residing in the mangroves and coastal area of Chek Jawa. The nature walk is a leisurely stroll conducted on the boardwalk, and there is no need to get your shoes wet. Let the volunteer guides show you the amazing biodiversity that is in our own 'backyard'.

Click here for the online registration form.

Date: 10 October (Saturday)
Meeting time: 9:30 am
Meeting place: Chek Jawa Information Kiosk, Pulau Ubin
Duration of walk: Around 2 hours
Cost: Free (donations are accepted)

Click on this post to get more information about getting to Chek Jawa, what to bring, what to prepare for the outing.

More photos below to give you an idea what you will experience during one of our walks. You may also read our blog posts of past walks.

At the coastal boardwalk

Fiddler crabs are commonly seen near the outer mangroves

Eagles flying over Chek Jawa

Jelly fishes in the sea next to the boardwalk

A climb to the top of Jejawi Tower

Cotton-stainer bugs

Drawings done by our visitors

Cancelled - Chek Jawa Boardwalk nature trip on 12 Sep, 2015

For those who signed up with us for the Chek Jawa Boardwalk tomorrow (12 Sep), an email has gone out to inform you that the walk is cancelled. Please read the email if you wish to contact us directly. A mobile number is given in the email.

"Dear participants,

It is with regret that we are announcing our nature trip to Chek Jawa tomorrow morning is cancelled due the continuing haze situation.

While the haze may not affect most healthy adults, we do not wish to see young children exposed to the smoke haze in an outdoor setting. Several parents have written in to say that their families are beginning to feel unwell, most likely due to the smoke haze.

In any case, at least 2 of us (volunteers) will make their way to Chek Jawa to meet and greet any group that may have missed this email. If you intend to be there regardless of the weather, please look out for us".

photo of Ubin shrouded in haze in 2013

School's out! with the Naked Hermit Crabs

Despite the haze and a light drizzle, we had a record-breaking 108 participants at our Pasir Ris mangrove walk today! As usual, the mangroves did not disappoint and it was a great walk as the participants got to see many creatures such as the Buffy Fish owl, jellyfishes, monitor lizards, dog-faced water snakes and weaver ants at work.

Eager participants registering for the walk!

One of our guides, Becky, introducing herself to the group.

Next, we had Pei Yan telling her group about the Naked Hermit Crabs!

After splitting our participants into 7 groups, our guides gave a brief background on the history of the Naked Hermit Crabs and why we aim to protect our shores in danger. Soon after, the groups got to see weaver ants in action. This ants have an unique nest building behaviour where workers build nests by weaving leaves together using silk from the ant larvae.

Weaver ants working together to build a nest.

So much to see at Chek Jawa Wetlands!

Our outing to Chek Jawa on 22 August was a fun and eventful one! We saw so many animals and had an encounter with a venomous sea snake. Lots of photos to share with everyone.

Truly, we say it again and again - Chek Jawa is ALIVE! If you have not visited Chek Jawa, come visit this gem of a nature place with the Naked Hermit Crabs. We run a monthly nature tour on the boardwalk as part of our educational outreach to fellow Singaporeans and residents, and the next one is on 12 September.

We hold our walks on the boardwalk. At Chek Jawa, there are 2 segments of the boardwalk - the mangrove boardwalk and the coastal boardwalk.

This is the outer mangrove segment where we always stop to watch the cute fiddler crabs.

Mangrove boardwalk

When the tide is low, it is wonderful to be on the coastal boardwalk because you can see so much up close. Well, next best thing to being on the mudflat itself.

Coastal boardwalk

Hey! What's that green animal? It's the Haddon's carpet anemone. This is a beautiful animal, roughly 60 to 70 cm in diameter. The green colour is due to microscopic algae growing in the anemone. The carpet anemone has a large oral disk on which are lots of tentacles that can sting and trap small animals that swim past it. We used to have a lot more carpet anemones at Chek Jawa, but the encouraging news is that we are slowly seeing more of them these days.

Haddon's carpet anemone