Been to Cyrene: Exotic destination for students!

"Cyrene Reef: not many people get to visit Cyrene, and even fewer know of its existence, for the matter!" says Tyronne Toh who shared about his experiences in the Raffles Ecological Literacy Programme.

Photo from Tyronne's blog post

As he explains, "every trip is an eye-opener; life and beauty are truly ubiquitous in nature- one simply has to take a closer look to realize this."

More about the Programme in Tyronne's post: [Please Mind The Platform Gap] Enrichment Programmes: Raffles Ecological Literacy Programme

Been to Cyrene: Illogically amazing

Sankar says after his Cyrene trip: How would you react if I told you that there is an entire reef, filled with a cornucopia of living things, smack in the middle of the industrial triangle, near a huge and busy shipping lane.

I know... That's what I thought. And yet, it exists!

Dugongs of Cyrene

Singapore has dugongs! There are signs of them on Cyrene Reef, even though it lies in the middle of the industrial triangle.

Siti first spotted dugong feeding trails here in April, and we saw them again when Seagrass-Watch visited Cyrene Reef last month.

Sharing Cyrene with MPA

Last week, I had the pleasure of sharing Cyrene with an intrepid team from the Maritime and Port Authority led by CE MPA Lam Yi Young and organised by the tireless Joanne Fang.

We started well before dawn and were rewarded with a glorious sunrise!

Dugong feeding trails at Cyrene!

Siti saw dugong feeding trails at Cyrene Reef! Dugongs are also called sea cows because they only eat seagrasses.

We often see dugong feeding trails on Chek Jawa, even on Changi. But this is our first sighting of them on Cyrene!

Sharing Cyrene with Shell volunteers

Thanks to Azlin from NParks, some volunteers from Shell visited Cyrene in December 2011 and January 2012!

The first team of volunteers who visited in Dec 2011

Everyone had a great time and we saw lots of fabulous marine life!

Cyrene featured by the World Seagrass Association

Cyrene's amazing seagrass meadows are featured on the World Seagrass Association blog, thanks to Siti Maryam Yaakub who manages the blog.

This was a great opportunity to share with seagrass scientists and workers around the world, Cyrene's rich seagrass meadows, despite its location in the middle of this ‘Industrial Triangle’.

Cyrene Reef at the Biodiversity of Singapore Symposium III (24 Sep 11)

Jocelyn Sze shares more about Cyrene Reef and the work done by TeamSeagrass on the Reef, with the VIPs attending the Biodiversity of Singapore Symposium III.

How nice to be able to share about Cyrene Reef with the more than 300 people who attended the Symposium!

Sharing Cyrene with CEOs NParks and URA

Last week, I had the pleasure of sharing Cyrene with two CEOs!

We had a great time exploring Cyrene's rich marine life!

Cyrene sea star featured in Singapore biodiversity poster

The Cyrene Reef Pentaceraster sea star is featured in the poster of "A Decade of Amazing Discoveries" by the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research!

Click on image for a larger view

Thanks to Kai-xin for using my photo and giving me the soft copy of the gorgeous poster! For more about the celebration of "Decade of biodiversity discoveries and conservation in Singapore".

Been to Cyrene: "Exceeding expectations"

"I was in anticipation after being able to go to Cyrene - expecting to see stuff on other intertidal shores of Singapore", says Tony.

Knobbly that seems to have raised its arm to "shake hands" -
remarks Tony of this photo he shared.

"However, I was able to see far more than I had seen before!"

Been to Cyrene: "An ecological jewel"

Azlin says: I'm thankful for this ecological jewel in the midst of a busy busy “highway”.

Cyrene lies in the middle of an "Industrial Triangle" and busy shipping lanes.

Been to Cyrene: "Mother Nature's treasure"

"It's great to be back with Mother Nature again and this always put life back into perspective for me," says Teck Hui.

Teck Hui recently visited Cyrene and is great at spotting the fascinating marine life there! She shares this scuffle among tiny moon crabs over a colourful shrimp.

Been to Cyrene: "Go visit at least once in your life!"

"It's a reef? A sea reef? It's off an island? Oh, it's part of an island? Erm it has starfish and other cool looking animals, corals on it. Do I get to see a 'Nemo'?". Probably common questions if I were to ask a land lover who's never been to our country's smaller islands (Mainland Singapore, Tekong and Sentosa doesn't count!!).

Just one of Andrew's many gorgeous photos of Cyrene.

So begins Andrew as he shares awesome photos and stories of his trip to Cyrene on his One° North Explorers blog.

Been to Cyrene: "A safari-load of animals!"

To probably anyone else around the area, it’s just a patch of rocks and sand.

Glorious weather over Cyrene, photo by Clarence Chua.

But take a boat out and take a close peek ....

Cyrene sea cucumber featured in global study

Thanks to Andy, Cyrene is included in the Ohio State University's Uncovering an Ancient Tree of Life video clip

giant synaptic sea cucumber ! ....from outaspace from BeachBum on Vimeo.

More on Andy's blog and check out his other awesome video clips of Singapore's marine life!

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!