1

The end product features a picture of an elongated Merambong shoal, with patchi-ness running through the middle section. Seeing is believing and getting it docu-mented from the air for the first time is a dream comes true. Most importantly, the aerial photography using remote control copter save cost! We can’t thank Adrian enough for making

this happen!

Aerial photography is usually obtained from a plane or heli-copter, and an expedition for such activity is costly. But on April 6, with the help of a Pro, SOS had managed to get a first glimpse of how Merambong seagrass bed looks like from above — using a remote-controlled copter . The master of this RemoteCAM Aerogra-phy is a 37-year-old ex-UPM veterinary graduate - Adrian Majani, who adopt the hobby three years ago. What’s interesting is, Adrian’’s aircraft is equipped with a high resolution camera to take snapshots in the air. Maneuvered by the skilled owner, the air-craft took off effortlessly and hovers at around 400 ft from the ground off the Merambong seagrass bed. Pei Yee, who volunteered for the SOS, helped snapped pictures from the remote-control based on what appears on the cctv screen.

(Left): View from

above, the Merambong

shoal extends in an

elongated shape.

Patchiness runs along

the middle portion.

(Below): Adrian and

Pei Yee setting up cctv

and a table for depar-

ture.

From Above...

I N S I D E T H I S

I S S U E :

From above 1

Bidding adieu 1

Coastal cleanup 2

Awareness cam-

paign

2

Community sur-

vey

2

Marine education 3

Latest 2008 sur-

vey schedule

4

Quirky creatures 4

SOS NEWSLETTERSOS NEWSLETTERSOS NEWSLETTER

V O L U M E 2 W W W W . S O S M A L A Y S I A . O R G 2 1 A P R I L 2 0 0 8 S P E C I A L P O I N T S

O F I N T E R E S T :

Read how RemoteCAM

Aerography was used

to generate bird’s eye

view of Merambong

seagrass bed.

The community survey

launched by SOS and

Raleigh International

rebuke claims from the

Comprehensive EIA

report.

Bookings can now be

made for June to Aug

2008 slots

Call for good pictures

for SOS species hand-

book. Contribution by

volunteers will be duly

accredited

The master (Adrian Majanil) & his aircraft.

Bidding adiéu Having volunteered for the SOS for close to two months since Feb 2008, Soon Pei Yee is all geared up to pursue her new line of in-terest. The fresh biology graduate from the Univer-sity of Washington is an all rounder who has the abilities to do virtually every aspect of SOS “chores”. In particular, she devel-oped the funding proposal for the man-grove boardwalk, being a great helper in the survey work and an accomplished poster designer and coordinated marine education programme at Ming Terk Primary school etc. and most importantly, keeping the

research station tidier than ever before. Pei Yee’s dedication and motivation have set a new standard for volun-teers. SOS is very privi-leged to have her, even for a very short term. We wish her all the best in her future undertak-ings.

A quick learner, Pei Yee took us home safely on her first boat driving lesson

2

Coastal Community Survey been approved by the State Department of En-vironment. The statistic also shows

that 88% of the respon-

dents have no desire to

live near the petrochemi-

cal industries and 89%

think that mangrove for-

est should be preserved

rather than being cleared

for the mega project.

The findings present a

contrast to the statistics

stated in the Compre-

hensive Environmental

Impact Assessment re-

port which claimed that

63% of the local resi-

dents gleefully low for-

On Jan 24-25, Raleigh

International volunteers

helped carried out a

questionnaires survey on

the coastal communities

in eight villages around

the Pulai River Estuary.

From a total of 70 local respondents inter-viewed, it was found that 82% were concerned that the petrochemical indus-tries may jeopardize their health. They also claimed that none of them were in-formed by the govern-ment officials about the possible adverse health effect when the project was proposed, and even after the project has

ward to the proposed pet-

rochemical industries.

Exhausted—but worth it! Plastic bags, bottles, tires, glasses and other marine debris weighed close to one

tonne were collected from the mangrove-fringed Tanjung Adang shoreline near Saujana Restaurant on 23 Januari 2008. The coastal cleanup activity was organ-ized by SOS in collaboration with the Raleigh International volunteers and some restaurant staff. The dense marine debris was believed to have been washed up to the shores due to the change in hydrology since the sec-ond phase reclaimation by the Port of Tanjung Pelepas took place in 2003. The marine debris is an eyesore that overwhelmed visitors and restaurant customers.

Coastal Cleanup

Scientific reports have lay out evidences of

petrochemical-related health impacts. In

most cases the victims developed tumours

or cancers which often resulted in death.

Prolonged exposure for residents who lived

within 3 km radius from the petrochemical

industries had significantly higher risk of

developing the deadly symptoms as shown

Awareness Campaign SOS collaborate with the Fishermen Association of Peninsular Malaysia(JARING) dan Friends of Nature (SAM) in creating poster awareness on the adverse health effects of petrochemi-cal industries which is planned at the river mouth of Sungai Pulai

Leukemia

Bone cancer

Brain cancer

Lung cancer

Preterm baby

Liver cancer

Symptoms caused by exposure to petrochemical

waste

3

P A G E 3

SOS volunteers, the programme

kick-started with slides presen-

tation and classroom interac-

tive activities. At 4pm, they

departed to the mangrove for-

est at the Second Link bridge.

The outdoor learning activities

encompass drawing, species

identification and observation,

which reinforced their learning

curves.

SOS also took the opportunity

to thank the Wetlands Interna-

tional, Johor National Park and

the helpful volunteers.

A mangrove education pro-

gramme was subsequently held at

the Sek Rendah Kebangsaan Ming

Terk in Gelang Patah targeting 24

school kids aged between 10-11

on the 2nd April.

Soon Pei Yee, the programme co-

ordinator, took the effort to con-

duct the programme in mandarin,

with full translation of mangrove-

associated terminologies down to

the species level.

With the help of the deputy head-

master, Ms. Chen, the school

teacher, Ms. Khor and a bunch of

Sek Rendah Kebangsaan Ming Terk (2 April 2008)

School kids listened attentively to Pei

Yee’s slides presentation

Sea cucumber, starfish, sea anem-

one, wing shells and seahorses

are some of the bountiful marine

creatures that thrilled students

and teachers from the Sek Menen-

gah Tanjung Adang when they

visited the Merambong seagrass

bed on 19 Mac 2008.

Launched by SOS in partnership

with the MNS and Seagrass-Watch,

and sponsored by the ABN AMRO,

the programme was aimed to

raise the awareness of the local students about

the importance of seagrasses.

The talk was coordinated by Choo (SOS) at the

school classroom. The participants aged between

15-16 were briefed on topics on seagrass identifi-

cation, importance and conservation, seagrass

invertebrates species and techniques associated

with seagrass monitoring,

A total of 15 students, 4 teachers and the school

headmaster then proceeded to catch the low tide

at the Merambong seagrass bed. With guidance

from the SOS staff, the monitoring activi-

ties were completed in less than an hour

and students began the second task to

document seagrass invertebrate species.

On the following day, the students did

some data analyses and presented their

findings. They also prepared the herbar-

ium samples of the different

seagrass species for display at

the school exhibition corner.

AT Sek Men Tanjung Adang (19-20 Mac 2008)

Left: Estimating seagrass percent

cover from a quadrat

Right: Preparing herbarium samples

Summary of observation

1. “Stu”—the local name for the

species Enhalus acoroides, had

an estimated coverage of 30%

2. In general, six seagrass spe-

cies were found: HO, HM, TH,

HU, SI (codes adopted from sea-

grass watch).

S O S N E W S L E T T E R

“In the end, we will

conserve only what

we love, and we

will love only what

we understand, we

will understand

only when we are

taught”

- Baba Duolm

(Left): Students and teachers alike were excited on seeing the diverse marine creatures at Merambong

4

Despite two and a half years of survey work at the Meram-

bong, our volunteers continued to discover new creatures,

some of which had never been seen by SOS scientist.

Last month we discovered a cluster of weird looking tubu-

lar jelly-like stuff that nestled on the seagrasses. At a closer

inspection, they were baby squids

inside each tube wrapped in trans-

parent membranes.

In March, the volunteers’ attempt

to sample the seahorses and pipe-

fishes using push net had sent shiv-

ers down their spine. What ap-

peared inside the net was a sea

snake. Sea snake possess deadly,

venom, though they rarely attack

human. The snake was released on

the spot.

There were large numbers of jellyfishes that came into the

estuary. We found these tiny, reddish little shrimps and

brittle stars living in the interior-cup of jellyfishes.

Perhaps the most interesting of all, our volunteer, Liew,

discovered a 6 cm pregnant pipefish, a species never before

documented in Malaysia. Identification work is underway.

Address: No. 90. Kg Ladang, 81560, Gelang Patah, Johor Bahru. Email: saveourseahorses@yahoo.com Save Our Seahorses

http://www.sosmalaysia.org

Quirky Creatures

Squid

Date Time

(survey)

Time

(briefing) Program Activities 2008 Vacancies

JUNE

6 0645-0930 0600 Seahorse and pipefish tagging Open for 6 vacancies

7 0730-1000 0645 Seahorse and pipeifsh tagging Open for 6 vacancies

8 0745-1100 0700 Seahorse and pipefish tagging (visit to

Merambong) Fully booked by MNS Selangor

JULY

5 0645-0915 0600 Seahorse and pipefish tagging Open for 6 vacancies

6 0730-1000 0645 Seagrass monitoring at Merambong

(Seeking 3 facilitators)

Slot reserved for local secondary

school and fishermen group)

7 0815-1030 0730 Seahorse and pipefish tagging Open for 6 vacancies

AUG

3 0645-0900 0600 Seagrass monitoring (PTP) Open for 6 vacancies

4 0730-0930 0645 Seahorse and pipefish tagging Open for 6 vacancies

5 0745-0930 0715 Seahorse and pipefish tagging Open for 6 vacancies

Register online at: www.sosmalaysia.org/register.html

READ THIS PRIOR TO

BOOKING:

Plan properly and make

sure that you will be avail-

able for the slot.

If a particular slot is full,

you can still request to be

put on the waitlist.

The following participation

fees apply:

Newcomers: RM40

(working group) & RM30

(student)

In return you will get a T-

shirt, a badge and a certifi-

cate of participation,

Ex-volunteers (RM20)

* SOS reserves the right to cancel

trip with prior notice under un-

avoidable circumstances.

Announcem

ent

June to Aug 2008 is now open for booking

Dear Volunteers, SOS is looking for high quality digital images of species and scenery taken at Merambong for publication of a species handbook. Your contribution will be duly accredited. Kindly email the images to saveourseahorses@yahoo.com by May 30.

Pipefish

Calappa sp.

A cluster of squid eggs

Baby squid in membrane

Sea snake (by Roland Tay)

“Shrimp in the jelly”

Partners and Sponsors: