1st Day At Tropical Marine Science Institute

Brief Timeline

Time	Events
9.10am-9.30am	Reach The Pasir Panjang Ferry Terminal
9.30am -10.00am	Take The Ferry From Singapore To St John Island
10.00am-10.20am	Walk From Ferry Terminal To TMSI
10.20am-10.45am	Go To Biotech Lab
10.45am-11.35am	Go To Seminar Room To Watch An Introductory Video And Self-introduction
11.35am-12.40am	Lunch At The Canteen And Went To The Mini Library To Browse Through Some Marine Books
12.40am-4.40am	Help the Researchers With Their Research Work At Marine Bio Aquarium B
4.40am-5.00am	Go Back To The Biotech Lab Mr Lim Explained To Us Part Of His Research Work And Showed Us Some Pictures Of Marine Organisms.
5.00am-5.15am	Mr Lim Brought Us Back To The Marine Bio Aquarium B To Take A Look At Mr Lim’s Project On Anti-filing
5.15am-5.20am	Go Back To The Biotech Lab To Get Our Things
5.20am	Home

Walk From Ferry Terminal To TMSI

It is quite a long walk from the ferry terminal to TMSI about 200m. It is a rainy day today and the pathway is quite muddy and slippery. But on the other hand, St John’s island really feel like a resort with its fresh air and tranquility. On the way, we chat with our work guide Mr Lim and his colleague to get to know about their research work and also a bit about the history of St John Island.

Go To Biotech Lab

We were introduced to the working conditions of a research lab. When I went in, it looks very different from the lab that I expected it to be. There are rows of empty shelves, a computer and some equipments. Mr Lim introduced us to the project that he is currently working on which is on anti-filing. The term anti-filing is a new term to me. From the explanation that he has given us, I understand that anti-filing is a term used to described a type of coating used to coat underwater structures, the hulls of boats so that barnacles, seaweed or by slime-creating bacteria are unable to thrive and grow on it. This is to prevent these marine organisms to add on to the weight of the boat so as to prevent fouling of hulls which creates turbulence as a ship moves through the water. This is to minimize increasing the extra fuel consumption by as much as 30 percent due to the growth of these marine organisms. In the past, a tin-based coating is used on the hulls. Although it is highly effective to prevent fouling of hulls but these paints are highly toxic and can leach into the water, killing marine life. Nowadays a non-toxic paint is used to prevent fouling, whether by bacteria or barnacles. The paints act not only by minimizing adhesion by organisms but also by enabling hulls to become self-cleaning: As a ship moves through the water at 10 to 15 knots, the turbulence created removes the clinging barnacle or seaweed. Mr Lim also let us have a look at some of the samples that he had collected on anti-filing which he will be testing it for results soon.

Go To Seminar Room To Watch An Introductory Video And Self-introduction

We were shown a short introductory video of TMSI. From there we get to have a brief idea of the various departments in TMSI. Although the video shows researchers working on fishes, seahorses and dolphins, but from the researchers I understand that current projects does not involved much marine animals. I was a bit disappointed when I heard that I will not get to see marine animals.

After that we had a brief introduction of ourselves and our two researchers which will be following us in the next few days. From this session I get to know more about ther researchers work. I understand that the researchers must firstly come up with a hypothesis. Secondly, they have to work on a proposal, after which they have to collaborate with various similar organizations on their work before obtaining fundings from sponsors. After which they have to carry out the experiment over a period of time. Contrary to popular beliefs, researchers do not spend all their time in the lab doing testings and experiments. In actual fact, marine researchers have to go out to the natural habitats to collect specimens and to do testings. They can dive into the sea to collect corals, sea cucumbers etc. They spend a lot of time collecting specimens and doing the statistics. Hence maths is an important subject. From here I also understand that researchers have to be objective instead of subjective and there is no such thing as a failed experiment. A failed experiment only occurs if the researcher is bias or the statistics are made up. Hence having integrity is important as a researcher. Researchers also have to write papers and publish their papers in books and journals.

Lunch At The Canteen And Went To The Mini Library To Browse Through Some Marine Books

We have our lunch at the kitchen which is an open-space room. It has a long table and microwave ovens and stoves. The microwave ovens are for the researchers to warm up their packed food while I saw two researchers cooking up their lunches in the kitchen. As it is an open-space, occasionally there are some insects flying in while we are eating our lunch and we saw a huge bug at the ceiling lights.

The library we went to is really small. It has 5 shelves half-filled with videos and books mostly about marine animals. I glanced through a few books and get to know about some gems in South-east asia and also about the marine organisms in South-east asia. Although the library is small but it is cosy and comfortable.

Help the Researchers With Their Research Work At Marine Bio Aquarium B

We understand from the researcher that we are working with that corals a type of animal and they are able to reproduce by both sexual and asexual reproduction.

Firstly, we were taught how to mount corals on ceramic tiles using superglue. We were to use the clippers to cut pieces of coral(about 0.5cm to 1cm) from a small piece of coral that is broken off from a larger piece of coral. After which we are supposed to stick the small pieces of coral on the ceramic tile using superglue. The corals are supposed to be stuck on the protruding lines on the tiles at about 3cm away from each other to allow the corals to grow. Each tile can mount up to 15 pieces of coral. As corals are able to reproduce by asexual reproduction, mounting them on tiles and putting them back into sea water will allow them to grow. These corals can be used for further research purposes or to be put back into the sea. But as these corals are grown in a relatively controlled environment, when the corals are placed back into the sea, it may not survive thus most of these lab grown corals are used for experiments. While I am mounting the corals, I noticed that the corals secreting a transparent mucus-like secretion from itself. Upon clarification with the researcher Jani, I learnt that corals secrete mucus when they are taken out of water as a form of defense mechanism and also to keep “themselves” moist.

Secondly, we help Jani to transfer coral larvae from a container into small Petri dishes. We have to use a pipette to suck up the coral larvae from the container containing coral larvae and filtered sea water and placed 10 coral larvae into each Petri dishes. This experiment is carried out to find out the rate of coral settlement and try to come up with a method to ensure the corals survive after 3 days in a laboratory. We have to ensure that the sea water level is the same in each Petri dish to ensure that the experiment is accurate.

Coral larvae reproduced by sexual reproduction. This is to ensure that there is a variety of coral.

Go Back To The Biotech Lab

Mr Lim explained to us part of his research work on Anti-fouling and showed us some pictures of marine organisms that they have taken such as barnacles, sponges, algae, seahorse, starfish etc. We even get to see and touch a dead barnacle specimen.

Mr Lim Brought Us Back To The Marine Bio Aquarium B

Mr Lim showed us some adult barnacles that some of the other researchers have grown in the tank for some experiment. I have learnt the life-cycle of barnacles. The first stage of the larval development is called Nauplius stage which closely resembles the larvae of a Copepod. The next stage is called the Cypris larva because it resembles a member of another group of crustaceans, Cypris. At this stage, it does not eat but it is able to survive up to 13 days.During this period, it must find a place to attach itself, if it is unable to attach itself, it will die. Within twelve hours after attachment it builds a shell which the adult barnacle will spend its life inside.

Besides, Mr Lim showed us his project on anti-filing which is several pieces of different metals suspended in a tank containing seawater and barnacles. It is left for a certain period of time after which Mr Lim will inspect the metal and do a count. The metal with the least number of barnacles attach to it will be the most effective material used for anti-fouling.