Sisters’ Islands Marine Park is a 400,000 square metre(40ha)

marine park A marine park is a designated park consisting of an area of sea (or lake) set aside to achieve ecological sustainability, promote marine awareness and understanding, enable marine recreational activities, and provide benefits for Indigenous peo ...

located in

Southern Islands The Southern Islands is a planning area consisting of a collection of islets located within the Central Region of Singapore, once home to the native Malay islanders and indigenous Orang Laut sea nomad tribes before they were relocated to the ma ...

planning area,

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, which was designated a

marine protected area A marine protected area (MPA) is a protected area of the world's seas, oceans, estuaries or in the US, the Great Lakes. These marine areas can come in many forms ranging from wildlife refuges to research facilities. MPAs restrict human activity ...

(MPA) by the Government of

Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Transport of the Government of Singapore. History The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) was established on 2 February 1996 by the MPA A ...

in 2014. The park encompasses the land and waters surrounding

Sisters' Islands Sisters' Islands are two of the Southern Islands in Singapore and are located to the south of the Pulau Ujong, main island of Singapore, off the Straits of Singapore. It can be reached via a boat ride from Marina South Pier or West Coast Pier. B ...

, and also covers the western coasts of both

St John's Island Saint John's Island ( ), also known as St John's, is an island in the Straits of Singapore located 6.5 km off the southern coast of Singapore. With an area of , it is the largest of the Sisters' Islands Marine Park, Marine Park islands wh ...

and

Pulau Tekukor Pulau Tekukor is a small island in the Singapore Strait, located off the southern coast of Singapore Island, and is included in the Southern Islands planning area. The island, with an area of approximately , has a relatively high diversity of p ...

. The park is Singapore's first marine park and it allows visitors to the park to experience the marine life around the region, through guided walks, the Marine Park Public Gallery and the dive trails where visitors can observe the marine life in the area.

Overview

In July 2014,

National Parks Board The National Parks Board (NParks) is a statutory board under the Ministry of National Development of the Government of Singapore. History In November 1989, Minister of National Development, S. Dhanabalan, presented the National Parks Bill ...

(NParks) announced their plans for a new marine park. In 2017, during the debate on the Parks and Trees (Public Order Amendment Act 2017) Bill, the marine and foreshore areas of the islands were decided to be protected under the law, with the changes making it clear that the government also considers the areas as a type "public park" to be safeguarded.

Biodiversity

The area that the park occupies has a vast variety of marine life, which includes hard and

soft corals Octocorallia, along with Hexacorallia, is one of the two extant classes of Anthozoa. It comprises over 3,000 species of marine and brackish animals consisting of colonial polyps with 8-fold symmetry, commonly referred informally as "soft cora ...

, and

sea anemones Sea anemones ( ) are a group of predatory marine invertebrates constituting the order Actiniaria. Because of their colourful appearance, they are named after the '' Anemone'', a terrestrial flowering plant. Sea anemones are classified in the p ...

. The

also house the local

Long-tailed macaque The crab-eating macaque (''Macaca fascicularis''), also known as the long-tailed macaque or cynomolgus macaque, is a cercopithecine primate native to Southeast Asia. As a synanthropic species, the crab-eating macaque thrives near human settleme ...

. Colonies of

corals Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

and

sponges Sponges or sea sponges are primarily marine invertebrates of the animal phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), a basal clade and a sister taxon of the diploblasts. They are sessile filter feeders that are bound to the seabed, and ar ...

were also relocated from

Pulau Semakau Pulau Semakau (or Semakau Island) is located to the south of the main island of Singapore, off the Straits of Singapore. The Semakau Landfill is located on the eastern side of the island, and was created by the amalgamation of Pulau Sakeng (also ...

to the park. Among the sponges relocated were rare species like the

Neptune's Cup Sponge ''Cliona patera'', commonly called Neptune's cup sponge, is a species of demosponge in the family Clionaidae. Among the larger known sponges at up to a meter in height and width, the common name ''Neptune's cup'' refers to its characteristic win ...

''(Cliona patera)'', which was thought to be extinct since 1908, until it was rediscovered in 2011 along Singapore's coast, precisely on

Saint John's Island Saint John's Island ( ), also known as St John's, is an island in the Straits of Singapore located 6.5 km off the southern coast of Singapore. With an area of , it is the largest of the Sisters' Islands Marine Park, Marine Park islands wh ...

. The Blue Plan was presented in 2009 under the auspices of the

National Council of Social Service The National Council of Social Service (NCSS) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Social and Family Development of the Government of Singapore The government of Singapore is defined by the Constitution of Singapore, Constitution ...

. The plan called for the protection of coral reefs and the creation of protected areas. On 17 May 2018, a Coral Aquaculture project was jointly launched by

JTC Corporation JTC Corporation (JTC), formerly the Jurong Town Corporation, is a statutory board under Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry that champions sustainable industrial development. It master-plans clean, green and smart estates to create attr ...

and NParks to support Singapore's Year of Climate Action 2018 and aid with coral reef restoration. The project involved the creation of 500 squares metres of artificial reef area using concrete structures to support existing ecosynthesis and

Coral reef protection Coral reef protection is the process of modifying human activities to avoid damage to healthy coral reefs and to help damaged reefs recover. The key strategies used in reef protection include defining measurable goals and introducing active manag ...

efforts to conserve

marine biodiversity Marine life, sea life or ocean life is the collective ecological communities that encompass all aquatic animals, plants, algae, fungi, protists, single-celled microorganisms and associated viruses living in the saline water of marine habitat ...

. In November 2018, the first of eight structures was lowered to the sea floor. The 10 metre tall structures, which stay on the seabed using their own weight, are made with concrete and fiberglass, and have a rough surface made with recycled rocks which allows organisms such as barnacles and shellfish to attach to the structure. On 13 December 2020, in an update by NParks and the Friends of Marine Park community, it was announced that preliminary findings from a comprehensive biodiversity survey on the

had discovered several rare and

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

, including the

hawksbill sea turtle The hawksbill sea turtle (''Eretmochelys imbricata'') is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Eretmochelys''. The species has a global distribution that is largel ...

''(Eretmochelys imbricata)'', which had previously been recorded hatching their eggs on

, the

Oriental magpie-robin The Oriental magpie-robin (''Copsychus saularis'') is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but now considered an Old World flycatcher. They are distinctive black and white birds with a long ...

''(Copsychus saularis)'', which was newly recorded on

, the

spotted wood owl The spotted wood owl (''Strix seloputo'') is an owl of the earless owl genus, ''Strix''. Its range is disjunct; it occurs in many regions surrounding Borneo, but not on that island itself. Description The spotted wood owl grows to a length o ...

''(Strix seloputo)'', which was recorded on the

as well as the vulnerable and highly venomous ''

Conus textile ''Conus textile'', the textile cone or the cloth of gold cone is a venomous species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails, cone shells or cones. Textile cone snails live mostly in the Indian Ocean, along ...

'' sea snail which was newly recorded on

Lazarus Island Lazarus Island, also known as Pulau Sekijang Pelepah, is one of the Southern Islands in Singapore. It is south of the main island of Singapore, off the Straits of Singapore and is uninhabited. It is connected by a causeway to Saint John's Isla ...

that year. The update was given at the halfway mark of the two-year study, which covers the islands that make up Sisters' Islands Marine Park, including well known islands such as

Sentosa Island Sentosa Island ( ), known mononymously as Sentosa, is an island located off the southern coast of Singapore's Singapore Island, main island. The island is separated from the main island of Singapore by a channel of water, the Keppel Harbour, a ...

, Semakau Island, as well as smaller and lesser-known islands such as

Pulau Biola Pulau Biola (or Violin Island) is a small 0.4-hectare island located off the southwestern coast of Singapore, between Pulau Senang to its north and Pulau Satumu to its south. It is a famous diving spot in Singapore, and it has a wide variety of cor ...

Pulau Jong Pulau Jong or Junk Island is a conical island about off the southern coast of Singapore. The small island lies north of Pulau Sebarok and the former Pulau Sakeng (now merged with Pulau Semakau). The island is uninhabited, undeveloped, and larg ...

, and Pulau Keppel.

Activities

Guided walks

Free guided walks are offered at low tides at the intertidal areas of Sisters’ Islands Marine Park, allowing the marine life in the area to be seen which is usually submerged under water. Nature guides will be at hand to bring visitors on a tour to experience the Marine Park's amazing biodiversity. Each guided walk session is open to a maximum of 45 people. The walks are currently limited to the shores off of the Sisters’ Islands.

Dive trails

Opened in September 2015, the park features 2 dive trails as part of the Marine Conservation Action Plan to protect and enhance marine heritage and biodiversity in the area. The two circular dive trails are located at different depths, the Shallow Dive Trail where divers can observe giant clams, sea anemones and clown fishes circles around coral reef and sandy habitats is around 4 to 6 metres underwater, while the Deep Dive Trail features coral rubble and rocky and silty habitats at around 10 to 16 metres deep where divers can observe sea fans, sea stars and the Neptune's Cup Sponge. Underwater signboards are also located along each dive trail provides information on marine biodiversity in the area. There are also plans to build facilities in the big lagoon of Big Sister's island to allow access to intertidal areas.

Sisters' Islands Marine Park Public Gallery

The gallery, which is about was officially opened on 15 July 2015 by President Tony Tan Keng Yam. Features include a seminar room and teaching lab where talks, seminars and teaching activities for school and community groups can be facilitated at the park. Plans to include viewing pools to display marine organisms and a mangrove ecosystem, which is an area where mangroves can be planted under controlled conditions to facilitate experiments for research projects, were set to be completed by 2016.

References

External links

National Parks Board – Sisters' Islands Marine Park
{{Parks in Singapore Sisters' Islands Marine Park Parks in Singapore Southern Islands