25 January 2011

Singapore has wild dolphins, porpoises and dugongs!

YES! And your help is needed to look out for and report sightings of them. How to identify them? Check out these awesome ID charts by the Singapore Wild Marine Mammal Survey (SWiMMS) project!
With their kind permission, these resources are now on slideshare for your download.

You can also learn more about marine mammals at N. Sivasothi's talk on 27 Jan (Thu) with Green Drinks. More information on this earlier post.

SWiMMS aims to monitor the dolphin, porpoise and dugong populations in Singapore waters by establishing a volunteer network and reporting system.

According to SWiMMS: 
It appears likely that Singapore and neighbouring waters are important for coastal and riverine marine mammals in that together they form a habitat for these animals, all of which are listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendix I (species threatened with extinction) or II (species not necessarily threatened with extinction, but in which trade must be controlled in order to avoid utilization incompatible with their survival).

However, more information is required to strengthen this concept of an extended habitat. With increasing coastal development and climate change, continued monitoring of marine mammals is essential to ensure their long-term survival.
The SWiMMS research team needs your help to look out for and report any sightings of these marine mammals in our waters!

If you prefer a simpler ID sheet, SWiMMS has also provided one.

There is also a full brochure with details on how to identify the different mammals, more about their behaviour to note, a map to help you locate your sightings, and a form to fill up about your sighting.

This brochure is also available in Chinese.

The brochure is also available in Malay.

So please look out for our marine mammals and send your sightings to the SWiMMS team!

If you would like hardcopies of these materials, or their lovely posters, please visit their website for more contact and other details: http://www.tmsi.nus.edu.sg/mmrl.

More also about the SWiMMS programme on wild shores of singapore.

More about Singapore's dolphins and dugongs on wildsingapore.

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