The Mangroves for Berlayer Creek

Berlayer Creek is located at the entrance to Labrador Park MRT and is connected to the greater Labrador Nature and Coastal Walk. It is named after a historic rock formation, Batu Berlayer ('Sail Rock' in Malay), that stood at its mouth to the sea. This creek contains one of two remaining mangroves in the south of mainland Singapore.

This 960 m long Mangrove Trail boardwalk runs through rocky shores and mudflats and is connected to the Alexandra Road Garden Trail on one end and the Bukit Chermin Harbour View Walk on the other end.

According to the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum is this creek home to a myriad of fauna and flora. About 60 bird species, 19 fish species and 14 true mangrove plant species have been recorded. Along the boardwalk, visitors will get a chance to see the Bakau Pasir (Rhizophora stylosa) and the Nypah Palm (Nypa fruticans)—both are vulnerable mangrove plants.

The only problem with boardwalks, from a photographer's point of view, is that boardwalks are elevated walks which makes nature photography difficult. On the other hand, being elevated means that you will be photographing down to the mangroves which makes it easier to exclude the high rising skyscrapers in the background.

According to the above-mentioned website, at low tide, it is possible to see all sorts of marine life, including the Giant Mudskipper (Periophthalmodon schlosseri), sponges and anemones. I did walk the boardwalk during low tide and, although I did not see so much wildlife, I did mention to see some turtles basking in the sun (last photo above).

All photos were taken with a Fujifilm X-T1 infrared converted camera with the Fujifilm 50mm F2 lens - part of my ideal travel kit!

(This was previously posted on my Weku Blog