Mass death of marine creatures at Pasir Ris beach, Singapore


© Sean Yap

A pile of dead fish, which washed up on the shores of Pasir Ris beach on Saturday.



Scores of dead marine life have been washing up on Pasir Ris beach over the weekend.

While reports have emerged about Changi fish farms suffering massive losses, it seems like wild fish have not been spared either.


Marine creatures - including puffer fish, eels, horseshoe crabs and cuttlefish - have been turning up lifeless on the island's north-eastern shores.



© Sean Yap

Cuttlefish





In the Changi case, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) said plankton that damaged fish gills were responsible for the casualties.

But locally farmed fish remain safe for consumption as lab tests have not detected toxins in them.


Mr Sean Yap, an undergraduate studying environmental biology at the National University of Singapore, has documented the carnage in an album on Facebook.


Calling for something to be done to address the almost annual occurrence, he wrote:



"(The) plankton has affected not only farmed fish, but many wild species as well.


"While it is sad to see them this way, this event may actually give us a rare insight into the diversity of marine life in our northern region, which are usually hidden by our opaque waters."



In March 2012, reported that thousands of fish had died along the Sungei Api Api river in Pasir Ris.

Here are some casualties that Mr Yap and his friend Sankar Ananthanarayanan snapped:



© Sean Yap

Stars and stripes Puffer (Arothron hispidus)




© Sean Yap

Pike eel/conger, Muraenesox sp.




© Sean Yap

Bluespotted Puffer (Arothron caeruleopunctatus)



Categories: