Cyrene: poster child for balancing conservation and coastal development

Cyrene Reef is featured in a series of panels about the need to balance conservation and development!

South Cyrene in National Geographic!

Goh Pei Hao's awesome photo of South Cyrene is featured in National Geographic's weekly selection! Thank you and congratulations Pei Hao!

from National Geographic

Pei Hao was part of the small team that visited this 'little sister' in the Cyrene Reefs last month for the first time. 

Been to Cyrene: "Unlike any other reef I've seen in Singapore"

I had the most awesome time visiting Cyrene reef in the early morning hours of 13 July 2010, says Oliver. It was an unforgettable experience!

Cyrene was not like any other reef I have ever seen in Singapore!

Cyrene on Google Earth's "Explore the Ocean"!

Cyrene Reef appears in Mission Blue's Google Earth's "Explore the Ocean" layer!

Thanks to Marcus Ng aka Budak for highlighting Cyrene Reef!

Sharing Cyrene with JTC, July 2010

A spirited and sporting team from JTC visited Cyrene on 14 Jul!

What a great team from JTC!
Photo by Annabelle.

The enthusiastic team not only discovered and spotted many interesting animals, but also helped to deal with the huge fish traps we encountered.

Sharing Cyrene with URA, June 2010

An enthusiastic and excited team from URA visited Cyrene on 16 Jun!

A happy team makes it safely on to Cyrene!
Photo by Ria.

They join the Mei Lin who is here with a small team of volunteers to look for Giant clams. And what amazing creatures we saw!

Been to Cyrene: "Am I in Singapore?"

It's truly surreal, says Russel, to be standing in the middle Cyrene, basking in the rays of the rising sun, against the backdrop of the heavy industries in the distance and being nonchalant about the large vessels just sailing by. One can't help but wonder, "Am I in Singapore?

Surreal Cyrene!  Photo by Russel

Russel shares more about his first trip to Cyrene on his awesome blog into the wild

Been to Cyrene: "A mesmerizing gem"

Jane and Terry Heppell join us for their first trip to Cyrene. And among our first night trips there!

A glorious sunrise at the end of the night trip to Cyrene
Photo by Terry Heppell

They are amazed to be standing almost as if in the middle of the sea surrounded by the bright lights of the nearby petro-chemical facilities. They share what they saw in their brand new blog: Urchin's World.

Cyrene on Channel NewsAsia videoclip

Cyrene is seen in a video clip about the BiodiverCity photo competition on MediaCorp's newly launched News In Singapore on YouTube.

Minister Mah looking at a photo of Cyrene Reef!

Here's the clip!

Cyrene in the news: Lianhe Zaobao features coral conservation in Singapore

Thanks to Kok Sheng, we learn that Cyrene has been featured in Lianhe Zaobao today!

Been to Cyrene: Succulent Drumstick and Mystery Tentacles

Ling Ling shares a delightful report of her encounters at Cyrene. And I intrude in italics in her text:

Cyrene reef first came to my mind when I was planning for our tri-monthly Central Nature Reserve volunteer gathering. I wanted our ‘terrestrial’ volunteers to know that there are other valuable habitats in Singapore.

Today is Labour Day and full moon was just a few days ago. The moon was hanging over the water and there was serenity at Marina Keppel Bay before we depart for the reef. This is one taken when I was on the reef.

Been to Cyrene: "A Precious Experience"

Chai Joo shares her visit to Cyrene Reef, "it was my first and most exciting intertidal walk!"

I remember the very first marine animal I saw - the sand dollars! The entire reef was teeming with life - sea cucumbers, flat worms, nudibranch, sea urchins, knobbly sea stars, common sea stars, cushion stars, a lovely carpet anemone with resident shrimps, hairy crabs, sponges, sea grass, corals ... the list goes on.

Been to Cyrene: "Yoga sea stars!"

Anuj is a big fan of Knobbly sea stars. So when he sees one, he usually photographs it and he tries to keep a running count of them on the field. But, he say, "this proved to be a disaster" during his first trip to Cyrene!

There were just too many of them!

He's shared about some of these sea stars and the intriguing 'yoga' poses they adopt when stranded out of water, on his blog: Knobbly Yoga at Cyrene Reef. Go and read all about them!

Vote for Cyrene!

Kevin Lam's awesome photo of Cyrene with the special Pentaceraster sea star is featured in the BiodiverCity Voter's Choice Competition!

Kevin's awesome photo of Cyrene and its stars!

Vote for it and your favourite photos and you could win iPod and other prizes!

Been to Cyrene: "Magic in my own backyard"

"Cyrene seemed like a fantasy at first. But when I set foot on Cyrene, the fantasy disappeared and the magic began!"

Wunson is captivated by Cyrene!

Wunson Khoo shares more about his first trip to Cyrene!

Cyrene Reef at Orchard Road!

Cyrene Reef is featured in the BiodiverCity exhibition!

Photo by Dr Chua Ee Kiam

Thanks to Dr Chua Ee Kiam for taking this lovely photo of Minister Mah Bow Tan discussing the photo with CEO NParks Ng Lang and senior NParks officers during the launch of the exhibition today.

Been to Cyrene: Sea Star Paradise!

Baby Pentaceraster photographed by Sean at Cyrene Reef

Sean is an 18 year old student who volunteers with Teamseagrass. He is also a volunteer guide as part of a school-based project. He describes himself as an "avid photographer, nature wanderer, activist against illegal wildlife trade and the consumption of threatened species such as sharks." This young volunteer recently found the first baby Pentaceraster sea star in Singapore!

Sean recounts his experience with Cyrene in an interview for this blog.

Been to Cyrene: "like Jack Sully in Avatar"

Eddic Lim is enthralled by Cyrene Reef. On his first visit there, he shares "it was like I've entered another world, similar to Jack Sully in Avatar".

Some of the denizens of Singapore's own Avatar! Photos by Eddic.

"Everything is special and exotic!" says Eddic.

Been to Cyrene: "Where?!"

"Where?!" That was Low Sze Gin's initial reaction upon hearing about a trip to Cyrene Reef. He explains that while most of us would probably have heard of the biodiversity of Chek Jawa, Pulau Hantu or even Pulau Semakau, Cyrene Reef is certainly not a familiar name.

Sunrise over Cyrene Reef by Low Sze Gin.

But after the trip, his reaction is: "Cyrene Reef is simply an unbelievable treasure trove!"

Tricky Cyrene Trips

It's not easy visiting Cyrene. Being a submerged reef, there is no jetty. We need to know the tides very well so that we can arrive and leave at the right time.

Oops, I hope we don't have to swim back!

Here's a bunch of brave souls waiting till the last minute to leave Cyrene Reef as it disappears beneath the incoming tide.

Star Trackers on Cyrene Reef

First time visitors are often overwhelmed by the number of Knobbly sea stars that can be seen on Cyrene!

Photo by Marcus Ng.

Chim Chee Kong and Tan Sijie have discovered that the arrangement of knobs on these sea stars are unique (to the trained eye). Thus individual Knobbly sea stars can be tracked! They decided to start up an effort called the Star Trackers to learn more about Knobbly sea stars on Cyrene as well as other shores in Singapore!

The awesome Star Trackers blog!

Cyrene is a special place for Knobbly sea stars for several reasons.

TeamSeagrass at Cyrene

The lush meadows of Cyrene are monitored by the volunteers of TeamSeagrass.

Amazing living meadows of Cyrene,
just opposite our world-class container terminals.

Every three months, a small team of mad seagrassers brave the tides to do a quick check up.

Fish survey at Cyrene Reef

What fishes can be found on Cyrene Reef? Collin and his colleagues from NParks conduct regular surveys to find out!

Collin and Jeff do the hard work of seining for fishes.

Despite the Reef's location near major installations like Pulau Bukom, there is an amazing variety of fishes on this seagrassy and reefy shore.

Visiting scientists at work on Cyrene Reef

Cyrene Reef is a great place to bring visiting scientists from abroad!
Among the most memorable scientific visits was the one by Dr David Lane (standing, left most) in Apr 08.

Mapping out Cyrene Reef

How big is Cyrene? Good question! Fortunately, Dr Raju is here to help us find out the precise answer.This fabulous map was kindly shared by Dr. D. Kumaran Raju based on his GPS mapping of Cyrene Reef on in May and July 08. The total area of Cyrene Reef is 45.7 hectares and it's about 1km long and 500m wide. This fabulous map and Dr Raju's other amazing maps are hosted on wildsingapore.

Past outreach efforts for Cyrene Reef

100 unique stars of Cyrene were put up for adoption!
During the International Year of the Reef Celebrations in 2008, the Star Trackers and the Naked Hermit Crabs organised the adoption of 100 Knobbly sea stars of Cyrene.

Cyrene in the news: "Singapore's neglected heritage" by Liana Tang, Jun 08

Cyrene is in the news with a fabulous article by Liana Tang! Graced with a photo of Vyna by Marcus. Fantastic job by our volunteers, speaking up for Cyrene and our shores!

by Liana Tang, Straits Times 23 Jun 08


WHAT makes Singapore unique? Is it our quaint shophouses, old buildings from colonial times, antique monuments or lush rainforests?

Singapore's heritage is a hotchpotch of cultural relics and natural beauty, and efforts towards their preservation made by the authorities are laudable.

However, I must speak for our more elusive natural heritage sites that are being neglected.

Reefs, seen only underwater or at low tides, are a marine heritage unknown to many Singaporeans.

Cyrene: "Chek Jawa of the South"

Lying so close to world-class industrial facilities, a first time visitor is often astounded by the marine life on Cyrene.

Some parts of the reef are thick with marine life.

Best seagrass meadows in the South?

Cyrene has lush and vast meadows with seven seagrass species in healthy condition. The only other shores in Singapore with as many species are Chek Jawa and Pulau Semakau.

A downloadable 300dpi poster of seagrasses on Cyrene.

A reef in the 'Industrial Triangle' and why we should preserve it

What is Cyrene Reef?

What we refer to as Cyrene is actually properly called Terumbu Pandan, the largest of the three submerged reefs that are collectively called Cyrene Reefs. The other two are the much smaller: Pandan Beacon and South Cyrene.

From MPA's 'Charts for Small Crafts" 2003 edition

Where is Cyrene Reef?

Cyrene Reef lies smack in the middle of the 'Industrial Triangle' in the Southern tip of Singapore.

The huge orange Cyrene Beacon is the only thing that sticks out at high tide.