Brochure in English on how to identify wild marine mammals in Singapore, their behaviour, location map for sightings and sightings form by the Singapore Wild Marine Mammal Survey (SWIMMS) http://www.tmsi.nus.edu.sg/mmrl with permission from SWIMMS.

1. Dolphins, Porpoise & Dugong: Singapore’s Wild Marine Mammals
Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin Bottlenose dolphin Irrawaddy dolphin
Sousa chinensis Tursiops truncatus aduncus / Tursiops aduncus Orcaella brevirostris
Dorsal fin
Beak (jaw)
Colour varies with age from dark grey when young (see Dark grey with pale sometimes pink underside. Prominent Varying grey colour with pale underside. Rounded head
below right photo) to pink when adult. Young adults beak (jaw) and large dorsal fin. without prominent beak (jaw). Small rounded dorsal fin.
appear speckled grey and pink. Long beak (jaw) and Maximum length is approx. 2.7 m (8.9 ft)1. Maximum length is approx. 2.8 m (9.2 ft)1.
hump on back in front of dorsal fin. Maximum length is
approx. 2.8 m (9.2 ft)1.
Courtesy of Dr Mai Sakai,
Courtesy of Dr Thomas A. Jefferson
The University of Tokyo
Finless porpoise Dugong
How to identify marine mammals in Singapore?
Neophocaena phocaenoides Dugong dugon
Skin Colour? Nostrils
Blowhole
Pink Grey
Indo-Pacific
humpback dolphin Dorsal fin?
Dark grey in colour with rounded head. No distinctive
beak (jaw) or dorsal fin. No Yes No Grey-brown colour with pale underside. Bulbous chin
Maximum length is approx. 1.7 m (5.6 ft)1. with two nostrils on top of snout. No dorsal fin.
Prominent dorsal fin? Beak (jaw)? Blowhole? Nostrils/Flat Maximum length is approx. 3.3 m (10.8 ft)1.
Quick moving Snout?
Generally slow
swimmer
Yes Yes No
Bottlenose Irrawaddy Finless Dugong
Courtesy of Laurence Courtesy of Wang Xiaoqiang, Dolphin dolphin porpoise
Couquiaud-Deversin Institute of Hydrobiology,
Chinese Academy of Sciences
1 & Ilustrations Jefferson, T.A., Webber, M.A. & Pitman, R.L.(2008). Marine Mammals of the World: A Comprehensive Guide to their Identification. (1st Ed). Academic Press.
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Sighting Details
All sighting records are extremely important. Please fill out as much of the form as you can. Be as accurate as possible. Use a separate form for each sighting and species.
Contact Information Photographs and Videos
Number of adults
Name If you have taken photographs or videos of the
Number of calves sightings, you may wish to send them to us via email
Address
Distinctive marks (number, position, colour, scars etc.) at swimms@nus.edu.sg
Weather and Sea Conditions (Optional)
Sea state
Tel ¨ 0 - Mirror calm
What was their behaviour?
Email ¨ 1 - Slight ripples
¨ Bow-riding
Can we contact you if we ¨ 2 - Small wavelets
¨ Yes ¨ No ¨ Leaping
need more information? ¨ 3 - Large wavelets, crests begin to break,
¨ Spy-hopping some whitecaps
Location and Time ¨ Milling ¨ 4 - Longer waves, many whitecaps
Country ¨ Travelling ¨ 5 - Moderate waves
Location (for example the jetty at St. John’s Island) ¨ Others ¨ 6 - Large waves, whitecaps everywhere
¨ 7+ - Breaking waves, whitefoam everywhere
GPS Coordinates (if known) ¨ Not sure
Description of Water
Latitude degrees mins North What activities were you engaged in during the
¨ Clear ¨ Muddy
Longitude degrees mins East sightings?
¨ Cloudy ¨ Debris
¨ Travelling on a boat
Distance of animals from observer m ¨ Greenish ¨ Blue
¨ Swimming / Snorkelling / Diving
Direction of travel of animals
¨ Fishing Weather Conditions
Date ¨ Sunny ¨ Cloudy
¨ Sightseeing onshore
DD / MM / YYYY
¨ Others ¨ Very Cloudy ¨ Raining
Time : am / pm
Duration of sighting mins Other animals present (birds, fish etc.)
Overall Visibility
¨ Excellent ¨ Good ¨ Poor
Sighting Details
Wind Direction °
Which species?
Observed ¨ with binoculars
¨ Bottlenose dolphin Wind Speed m/s / knots
¨ without binoculars
¨ Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin
Other comments Estimated
¨ Irrawaddy dolphin m
¨ Finless porpoise Depth of Water
¨ Dugong
¨ Other species
¨ Not sure

2. Types of Behaviour Background
Five main categories of behaviour help us understand The Marine Mammal Research Laboratory (MMRL) is part
more about marine mammals. of the Tropical Marine Science Institute (TMSI), National
University of Singapore (NUS). MMRL was previously
known as the Dolphin Study Group (DSG).
About the Project
Pilot studies by TMSI have shown that several species of
coastal dolphins, the finless porpoise and the dugong are
Bow-riding - riding the bow waves produced by boats and
sighted in Singapore waters. It appears likely that Singa-
ships, weaving in and out of groups trying to get the best
pore and neighbouring waters are important for coastal
position for the best ride.
and riverine marine mammals by collectively forming a
habitat for these animals (all listed in CITES Appendix I
or II). However, information to support this concept is very
limited.
The Singapore Wild Marine Mammal Survey (SWiMMS),
a research project funded by the Wildlife Reserves Sin-
gapore Conservation Fund, aims to monitor wild dolphins,
porpoises and dugongs in the sea around Singapore by
Leaping - coming out of the water and re-entering head establishing a volunteer network and reporting system to
first or belly/ back flopping extend our field studies.
Please Help us Report Sightings
With increasing coastal development and climate chang-
es, continued monitoring of marine mammals is essential
to ensure their long-term survival. The Singapore Wild Ma-
rine Mammal Survey (SWiMMS) is collecting information Marine Mammal Research Laboratory
Tropical Marine Science Institute
about marine mammals in local waters. National University of Singapore
Spy-hopping - rising out of the water vertically so that the 14 Kent Ridge Road
Singapore 119223
head is above the surface The SWiMMS team needs your help. If you see a marine
mammal in Singapore waters, please let us know. Email us Phone: (65) 6516 5587
or fill in our on-line reporting form with as much informa- Fax: (65) 6776 1455
Email: swimms@nus.edu.sg
tion as you can, such as the number of animals you saw Website: www.tmsi.nus.edu.sg/mmrl
and what they were doing. You can find more information SWiMMS Hotline/ SMS: 8100 8022
about the different species of marine mammal that can be
seen in Singapore and the work done by the Marine Mam-
mal Research Laboratory (MMRL) at www.tmsi.nus.edu.
sg/mmrl Funded by:
Milling - very low activity while staying in one general
area.
Travelling - regular diving and surfacing pattern while
heading in one direction.
(Please mark position of sighting and indicate direction of travel of animals if appropriate) Map of Singapore