Abandoned net at Chek Jawa (27 Jan 2013)

A large abandoned net was seen during TeamSeagrass monitoring at Chek Jawa.

Fortunately, most of it was no longer able to trap animals. We removed a small portion that was still 'active'.

Most of the net is already completely covered with living animals and thus could no longer accidentally trap animals. But there was a small portion where the net was not yet encrusted.

Here, I found a small Mud crab (Scylla sp.) (body width about 10cm across) trapped in the net! It had lost one claw but was still very much alive and successfully released. There were no other animals trapped in the net.

Thankfully, we had so many strong young TeamSeagrass volunteers to help take turns carrying the net out all the way to the Information Kiosk. Thank you!

TeamSeagrass trips not only allow us to gather data about our seagrasses but also an opportunity to keep an eye on some other threats to our shores including abandoned driftnets. More about TeamSeagrass and how ordinary people can join the Team.