A long abandoned driftnet in the middle of the swimming lagoon at Pulau Hantu was spotted two weeks ago by Debby, Pei Yan and other
Hantu Bloggers who were conducting a guided walk at the time. More about this on
Pei Yan's blog.
Today, we removed the net.
On this trip, we had a team of experienced people to quickly and safely deal with the mono filament net, which we estimate to be about 100m long with a mesh size of 8-10cm.
The driftnet seems quite recent as it was not yet encrusted by marine life.
But a few marine life were found trapped in the net. These included three crabs and a Noble volute.
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| Photo by Andy. |
The net also snagged many sponges, some corals. We were relieved that no fishes were found trapped in the net.
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| Photo by Andy |
Lots of seaweed is stuck in the net too. We try to remove as much as possible as tiny animals live on the seaweed, and besides, it just adds to the weight of the net during removal.
The driftnet removal effort is documented on The Drone by the Drone Commander, Pei Yan. The net was removed all the way to the mainland and disposed properly in a bin at the Pier.
Thanks to all who came to help remove the net and also check up on the shore: Marcus, Nicole, Pei Yan, Chay Hoon, Sankar, Ivan, Rene and Kwan Siong. Special thanks to Andy and Russel for the delicious snacks that kept us going during the very long wait for the return boat trip.
Special thanks to Drone Commander Pei Yan for documenting the net removal with The Drone.
Here's more photos of the net clearing shared by Andy. Thank you!
More about the reefs, mangroves and seagrass meadows seen at Pulau Hantu on
wild shores of singapore blog.
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