Horseshoe crab rescue and research programme at Mandai mudflats (9 March 2013)

Briefing on the horseshoe crab rescue and research programme. Here, the speaker demonstrates some ways of handling a horseshoe crab gently.

The horseshoe crab rescue and research programme at Mandai mudflats was organised by the Nature Society of Singapore. According to Mr Tan Hang Zhong, who introduced himself as the honorary assistant secretary of the society, this programme is part of a bigger research study for IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature).

Volunteers started to comb the mudflats for horseshow crabs — Volunteers started to comb the mudflats for horseshoe crabs

One of the purposes of the programme is to keep track of the horseshoe crab population in this area, which is a wintry feeding ground for migratory shorebirds.

The volunteers would find and collect horseshoe crabs in pails for identification and measurement before releasing them back into the wild.

The volunteers include students from Ngee Ann polytechnic, Raffles Junior College and youth.sg — The volunteers include students from Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Raffles Junior College and youth.sg.

This area may be developed in future, so the research study may be used to advocate nature conservation in this area.

Mandai mudflats stretch across Kranji area in the northwestern coast of Singapore.

The second purpose of the programme is to rescue any horseshoe crab trapped in fishing nets.

This is the collection point where the horseshoe crabs are identified, measured, marked and recorded for research studies.

The horseshoe crabs are temporarily placed in a container before they are released back into the mangrove habitat.

The third purpose is to collect man-made litter on the mudflats and dispose them properly at a nearby garbage collection point. Such litter includes discarded drink packets, electric plugs, soles of shoes, plastic bags, drink straws, etc).

The man-made litter on the mudflats include discarded drink straws, disused electric plugs and soles of shoes.

Collecting the beach litter in a plastic bag for proper disposal

The beach litter is properly disposed at a nearby garbage disposal point near the mudflats, where it will presumably be collected by garbage trucks.

“I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.”

~ Helen Keller