Changi Beach Intertidal Walk

🏖 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗱𝗮𝗹 𝗭𝗼𝗻𝗲
The coastal area affected by the tides is called the intertidal zone. Here, you can find many interesting plants and animals not found elsewhere!

💡 𝗗𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄?
🌊 Singapore has 2 low tides & 2 high tides a day. Height of tide differs every day. High & low tides don't happen at the same time every day, & the highest & lowest tide level change daily too!

𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗪𝗮𝗹𝗸𝘀
👍Best to visit a shore with an experienced and trained guide!
▫️Guides are familiar with the terrain & the seasons of the shores.
▫️They can show you more during the short window of low tide, tell you more about what you see, so you can learn more!

If you wish to visit on your own, here are some tips for you!

🌞 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙘𝙠 𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 - Visit on a clear day!
▫️ Immediately evacuate to a park shelter in the event of lightning and rain ⛈

🌊 𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙫𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙩?
▫️At low tides <0.5m. Check relevant tide tables (available online). ▫️Lower the tide = more shore exposed = wider variety of shorelife can be seen! ▫️Best to visit with outgoing tide. Try to reach about an hour before low tide then follow tide down to lowest level. The water is also clearer as tide falls.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴?

👕:
▫️Wear comfortable clothes
▫️Windbreaker/cardigan (may be cold & windy in morning/evening)
▫️If you're going to be wading in water, wear long pants that cover all skin to protect against jellyfish and other small stinging, drifting animals
▫️A pair of cotton gloves would be helpful

🥾: Wear water booties or covered shoes. Do NOT go barefoot on the shores!

🎒: Bring water, sunscreen, hat, insect repellent, spare clothes, extra footwear, raincoat/poncho, torch, beach toys & waterproof bags for valuables & dirty items after.

👶: Bring baby carrier if bringing baby along!

We got our aquashoes from Decathlon- affordable and good! They have baby sizes too!

Bring along beach toys to keep the little ones entertained while waiting for the tide to recede!

🗺 𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚? We did our intertidal walks at Changi beach

🤷‍♀️ 𝙒𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩?
📍Changi Carpark 6 @ Sandy shores nearby

📍Changi Carpark 7 @ Seagrass meadows nearby

🌊 𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙘𝙠 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙞 𝙩𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡?
Changi tide tables available online
e.g. https://www.csc.org.sg/seasports/tide-tables/

🌊 Sandy shores nearby Changi Carpark 6 can be explored at tides of 0.4m and below

🌊 Much lower tides needed for intertidal walk at Seagrass meadows nearby Changi Carpark 7
▫️Only a narrow portion of the meadows are exposed at a tide of about 0.2m

🚻 Toilet facilities are a distance away at a separate toilet block near open carparks. You can also find vending machines here.
💦 There is a wash area outside for washing up!

⭐ Now we are going to show you some of the interesting creatures that we encountered.

Try spotting them during your visit! 🔍

𝗧𝘂𝗯𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗺𝘀
As the tide recedes, look out for tiny tubes sticking out from the sand! They are homes to tubeworms, made with mucus (worm snot, yikes!), mixed in sand, bits of shells or other debris.

🦀 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝘂𝗯𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗯𝘀
We saw many little holes on the beach with tiny sand balls near the openings. The sand bubbler crabs are responsible for them!

These crabs live in burrows in the sand. They feed by filtering sand through their mouthparts, leaving behind balls of sand!

⚪ 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗮 𝗨𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻
This cute white fluffy ball is actually a white sea urchin! This urchin has a habit of grabbing pieces of seaweed, shell or pebbles with its tube feet and covering itself. This may act as camouflage and protect it from predators and the sun.

𝗦𝗲𝗮 𝗦𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝘁
💦 It has bands of muscles along its body. When its muscles constrict, water squirts out (thus its name)! It does this when disturbed, or to get rid of wastes.

𝗣𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝗮 𝗰𝘂𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿
We found so many of them in the intertidal zone!

💡Did you know? Sea cucumbers vomit parts of the gut in order to scare and defend against potential predators!

𝗧𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗻𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝗮 𝗰𝘂𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝘁 𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗯𝘀
🐚 Hermit crabs can't grow their own shells. They use empty snail shells or other hollow objects as a shelter for protection!

𝗛𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗲 𝗖𝗿𝗮𝗯𝘀
💡 Did you know? Horseshoe crabs have been around for more than 300 million years, making them even older than dinosaurs!

We had many other crab sightings too!

⭐ 𝗦𝗲𝗮 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿
Many sea stars can purposely drop off an arm if it feels threatened. This is how they might escape the jaws of a predator, or if a stone should accidentally trap an arm. Best to leave them alone!

⭐ 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿
We also found a tiny brittle star! Brittle stars are not sea stars. Unlike sea stars, brittle stars have very flexible and long arms attached to a small central disk. Most brittle stars are much smaller than sea stars, although some have very long arms!

⚪ 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘀
They got their name because they resemble a one-dollar coin. They are so flat and appear lifeless. It is hard to believe that these are living creatures!

𝗦𝗲𝗮 𝘀𝗹𝘂𝗴
Basically, sea slugs are snails🐌 without shells!

𝗘𝗴𝗴 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝘀𝘂𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗻𝗮𝗶𝗹 🐚
Some drills lay clusters of bright yellow egg capsules on hard surfaces. Each egg capsule may contain 20-40 eggs. The egg capsules turn purple when the free-swimming larvae hatch!

𝗘𝗴𝗴 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝘀𝘂𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗮 𝘀𝗻𝗮𝗶𝗹
The spiral melongena snail is responsible for the strange yellow zipper-like egg capsules that are often encountered on rocks and other hard surfaces. The young hatch as miniature snails with a shell and a foot.

🧽 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲
Sponges are animals and not plants! Many small animals live inside sponges. Some can cause skin irritation so avoid handling them!

𝗝𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘆𝗳𝗶𝘀𝗵
💡 Despite their name, jellyfish aren't actually fish—they're invertebrates, or animals with no backbones!

Here, the children were checking out a dead eel. The sun had set and it got really dark!

🔦 Bring a powerful torch for early morning or evening visits!

Apart from the interesting sea creatures, we also found the shore littered with trash! Trash on the beach is often washed back into the oceans when the tide rises back up, causing harm to marine life.

✅ 𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙬𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥?
▫️Throw our litter in designated bins.
▫️Even better, bring along trash bags, gloves and tongs to help in beach cleanup! Our little ones collected the trash enthusiastically and the bag was filled up in no time!

Each cleanup action counts towards a cleaner world! 😉

𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗶𝗽𝘀:
👀 Walk slowly & watch where you put your foot. Minimize impact!

⛔ Do not climb rocks (slippery with algae & covered with sharp barnacles!)

𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒅𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒘! ❤

To learn more about Singapore's tides, check out: http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/concepts/tides.htm

🏖 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙞 𝘽𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙄𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙡 𝙒𝙖𝙡𝙠 - 𝘽𝙚𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚, 𝙙𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩!