By Jillian OoiThe eastern islands of Johor are super special to us! It was here that we first started studying subtidal seagrass in 2005. Since then, we've found ourselves drawn back again and again, always finding something new and curious about the seagrass and coral reefs of this relatively quiet cluster of islands. Most of our postgraduate students were plunged into their first field experience with Team Sea Habitats in this very spot. They survived! And have fallen equally in love with the marine life here.
The state of Johor is blessed, indeed, to have what I'm sure is the largest expanse of subtidal seagrass in Peninsular Malaysia. What makes these meadows even more special is that they lie right next to the equally beautiful and untouched coral reefs that fringe the islands. Today, the area has been rebranded into the Taman Laut Sultan Iskandar, with the Johor monarch himself being especially keen on keeping the area protected. It'd be a shame to keep this special place all to ourselves, though, so here's a link to an old blog post I wrote for the World Seagrass Association in 2012. I describe the fun times we had settling into the routine of studying the seagrass of Pulau Tinggi, one of the larger islands in the vicinity. Here's to many more years in the exquisite seagrass playgrounds of Johor! Comments are closed.
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