RWS to unveil ocean conservation hub, as part of S$6.8 billion expansion
Previously known as the SEA Aquarium, the facility will be three times larger than its predecessor and mark the transition into an aquarium-based conservation institution.
This move has been 13 years in the making and is part of the S$6.8 billion transformation of Resorts World Sentosa (RWS), said Lam Xue Ying, acting senior vice-president of the upcoming attraction.
The aim is for Singapore Oceanarium to be Asia's leading aquarium-based conservation institution, as well as to educate the public on 'the threats that the oceans face', she added.
The Oceanarium will have 22 immersive zones that depict the evolution of marine life. ILLUSTRATION: SINGAPORE OCEANARIUM
The Oceanarium will introduce new species such as the Titicaca water frog and the American paddlefish.
'We must not only consider if we can provide the right environment for them, but also how new species fit into our broader mission – whether they help to tell important stories about biodiversity and conservation challenges,' said Lam.
A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU
Friday, 2 pm Lifestyle
Our picks of the latest dining, travel and leisure options to treat yourself.
Sign Up
Sign Up
The institution will thus collaborate with various partners – including the National University of Singapore (NUS) under the RWS-NUS Living Laboratory, a five-year applied research agreement.
Singapore Oceanarium aims to educate the public and highlight the effects of climate change on the ocean, says Kim Hoon, its assistant vice-president of planning and growth. PHOTO: SINGAPORE OCEANARIUM
The S$10 million tie-up will help to position Singapore and the Oceanarium as a hub for the conservation and restoration of vulnerable marine organisms and habitats.
The project also contributes to the city-state's commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of conserving and sustainably using the seas and marine resources.
Kim Hoon, assistant vice-president of planning and growth at the Singapore Oceanarium, said that there is 'a very clear purpose' behind the milestone transition from aquarium to conservation institution.
'We would like to drive meaningful progress in marine science through collaborative research,' she said, adding that the efforts go beyond Singapore through participation in international forums.
Visitors to the Oceanarium can walk through 22 immersive zones that depict the evolution of marine life. These zones support its mission to educate the public and highlight the effects of climate change on the ocean, she added.
The Oceanarium aims to tackle issues ranging from pollution to over-exploitation. PHOTO: SINGAPORE OCEANARIUM
Grant Abel, assistant vice-president of life sciences at Singapore Oceanarium, said that the institution aims to tackle issues ranging from pollution to over-exploitation, which have 'taken a devastating toll, leading to widespread ecosystem damage and biodiversity loss'.
He added that the goals for the next few years include accelerating conservation efforts for species that have been prioritised for conservation because of their vulnerability and their representation of broader ecosystem needs.
The institution also aims to support the relevant authorities in implementing robust policies on sustainability, among other roles.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
17 minutes ago
- Straits Times
US judge rejects states' bid to block Trump diversity research funding cuts
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he arrives at Lehigh Valley International Airport in Allentown, Pennsylvania, U.S., August 1, 2025. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno/File Photo A federal judge on Friday rejected a bid by 16 Democratic-led states to force U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to restore hundreds of millions of dollars of grants it canceled that support increasing diversity in science, technology, engineering and math fields. Democratic state attorneys general had urged U.S. District Judge John Cronan in Manhattan to block the National Science Foundation from canceling funding awarded to universities designed to increase the participation of women, minorities, and people in those fields, known collectively as STEM. They had argued in a lawsuit filed in May that the Trump administration lacked the power to cap research funding and eliminate diversity programs provided by the NSF that were mandated by Congress and urged the judge to reverse grant terminations that began in April. But Cronan, a Trump appointee, agreed with the administration that a challenge to NSF's already-completed grant terminations could not be pursued in his court but instead could only be taken up by the Court of Federal Claims, a specialist court that hears monetary claims against the U.S. government. He said the states likewise failed to show a new NSF policy stating that research "must aim to create opportunities for all Americans everywhere" and that research projects that preference "subgroups of people" do not reflect the agency's priorities was inconsistent with the agency's governing statute. The same day that policy was posted in April, NSF began canceling grants that had been previously issued that touched on among other topics of diversity, equity and inclusion. Trump has sought to eliminate DEI from the government and society. The states said the policy was inconsistent with the National Science Foundation Act's mandate that the agency award grants "to increase the participation of underrepresented populations in STEM fields." Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Tech Reporting suspected advanced cyber attacks will provide a defence framework: Shanmugam Business Singapore's US tariff rate stays at 10%, but the Republic is not out of the woods yet Asia Asia-Pacific economies welcome new US tariff rates, but concerns over extent of full impact remain Business ST explains: How Trump tariffs could affect Singapore SMEs, jobs and markets Asia Indonesia's Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki erupts Singapore Thundery showers expected on most days in first half of August Singapore Synapxe chief executive, MND deputy secretary to become new perm secs on Sept 1 Singapore 5 women face capital charges after they were allegedly found with nearly 27kg of cocaine in S'pore But Cronan said NSF's policy did not require it to cease supporting such projects and that it has in fact continued to fund a number of such projects, including at institutions within the plaintiff states. "This evidence powerfully undermines Plaintiffs' argument that the Priority Directive renders this class of projects categorically ineligible for funding," Cronan wrote. NSF declined to comment. A spokesperson for New York Attorney General Letitia James' office, which took the lead for the plaintiffs, said it is reviewing the decision. REUTERS
Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
‘Hot wasps' found at US nuclear facility in South Carolina
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox On July 3, workers found a radioactive wasp nest on a post near a tank used to store nuclear waste. Three additional nests have since been found. COLUMBIA - Four radioactive wasp nests have been discovered at a South Carolina nuclear facility, according to federal officials. The first nest, which was found by workers at the Savannah River Site early in July, was recently disclosed in a report from the Department of Energy, which owns the site. The facility, near Aiken, South Carolina, produced material for nuclear weapons throughout the Cold War. Three additional nests have since been discovered at the site, officials told The New York Times on Aug 1. 'The US Department of Energy is managing the discovery of four wasp nests with very low levels of radioactive contamination,' Mr Edwin Deshong, the manager of the department's Savannah River Operations Office, said in an emailed statement. 'The nests do not pose a health risk to SRS workers, the community, or the environment.' But the discovery raised questions about the extent of the environmental contamination at the site, said Professor Timothy Mousseau, a biologist at the University of South Carolina who studies organisms and ecosystems in radioactive regions of the world, including Chernobyl, Ukraine, and Fukushima, Japan. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Tech Reporting suspected advanced cyber attacks will provide a defence framework: Shanmugam Business Singapore's US tariff rate stays at 10%, but the Republic is not out of the woods yet Asia Asia-Pacific economies welcome new US tariff rates, but concerns over extent of full impact remain Business ST explains: How Trump tariffs could affect Singapore SMEs, jobs and markets Asia Indonesia's Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki erupts Singapore Thundery showers expected on most days in first half of August Singapore Synapxe chief executive, MND deputy secretary to become new perm secs on Sept 1 Singapore 5 women face capital charges after they were allegedly found with nearly 27kg of cocaine in S'pore 'This is an indicator that there are contaminants spread across this area that have not been completely encased and protected,' Prof Mousseau said. The discovery of additional radioactive nests, he added, indicates 'that much greater effort must be made to assess the possible risks and hazards of what appears to be a significant source of radioactive pollutants.' A 2011 photo shows workers decommissioning heavy water infrastructure at the Savannah River Site, near Aiken, South Carolina. PHOTO: NYTIMES Here's what to know: What is the Savannah River Site? The Savannah River Site, formerly known as the Savannah River Plant, sits on 800 sq km in the sandhills of South Carolina, close to the Georgia border. The facility was built in the 1950s to produce materials for nuclear weapons. For decades, the site produced plutonium and tritium, a key component of hydrogen bombs. The production of material for nuclear weapons ramped down after the end of the Cold War, and the Department of Energy began cleaning up the site in 1996. But the process has dragged on well past its initially projected completion date. Officials now say that cleanup activities will be complete by 2065. In 2018, the first Trump administration announced plans to repurpose an unfinished building at the site to produce plutonium 'pits' – the cores of nuclear weapons. Production is expected to begin in the 2030s. What did workers find? Workers at the site routinely monitor the grounds for signs of radioactivity. On July 3, they discovered a radioactive wasp nest on a post near a tank used to store nuclear waste. 'The wasp nest was sprayed to kill wasps, then bagged as radiological waste,' the federal report said. 'The ground and surrounded area did not have any contamination.' But the report omitted key details, Prof Mousseau said, including the absolute level of radioactivity in the nest and the specific isotopes that were found, which would provide clues about the source of the contamination. Three additional nests were subsequently discovered during 'routine work activities,' a spokesperson for the Department of Energy said in an email on Aug 1. How did the nests become radioactive? It's not entirely clear, but the initial Department of Energy report said that the radioactivity resulted from 'on-site legacy radioactive contamination,' rather than from a leak or 'loss of contamination control.' That's a reasonable explanation, said Prof Mousseau, who has studied birds at the site. 'There's some legacy radioactive contamination sitting around in the mud in the bottom of the lakes, or, you know, here and there,' he said. The report did not disclose the species of wasp involved, but many wasps make their nests out of wood that they chew into a pulp. It was not far-fetched to imagine that they came across some contaminated rotting wood that had escaped previous detection and used the material to make their nest, Prof Mousseau said. How alarming is the discovery of radioactive wasp nests? Wasps don't typically travel far from their nests, Prof Mousseau said, and the 'hot wasps,' as he called them, probably posed little direct risk to the public. But there are other potential risks. 'The main concern relates to whether or not there are large areas of significant contamination that have escaped surveillance in the past,' he said. 'Alternatively, this could indicate that there is some new or old radioactive contamination that is coming to the surface that was unexpected.' In 2017, workers found radioactive bird droppings on the roof of a building at the site, and birds can carry radioactivity long distances, spreading it across the landscape, Prof Mousseau said. The wasp nests are a 'red flag' that should lead to more surveillance and investigation, he added. 'We would like to know a lot more about what this actually represents, and just how common it is and whether there is any evidence of these radionuclides being moved through the ecosystem,' Prof Mousseau said. NYTIMES
Straits Times
17 hours ago
- Straits Times
Europe is breaking its reliance on American science
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox FILE PHOTO: A man walks on the beach in Nice as storms and heavy rain lashed through southern France, October 23, 2019. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard/File Photo BRUSSELS/WASHINGTON/BERLIN, August 1 - European governments are taking steps to break their dependence on critical scientific data the United States historically made freely available to the world, and are ramping up their own data collection systems to monitor climate change and weather extremes, according to Reuters interviews. The effort - which has not been previously reported - marks the most concrete response from the European Union and other European governments so far to the U.S. government's retreat from scientific research under President Donald Trump's administration. Since his return to the White House, Trump has initiated sweeping budget cuts to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Centers for Disease Control and other agencies, dismantling programs conducting climate, weather, geospatial and health research, and taking some public databases offline. As those cuts take effect, European officials have expressed increasing alarm that - without continued access to U.S.-supported weather and climate data - governments and businesses will face challenges in planning for extreme weather events and long-term infrastructure investment, according to Reuters interviews. In March, more than a dozen European countries urged the EU Commission to move fast to recruit American scientists who lose their jobs to those cuts. Asked for comment on NOAA cuts and the EU's moves to expand its own collection of scientific data, the White House Office of Management and Budget said Trump's proposed cuts to the agency's 2026 budget were aimed at programs that spread "fake Green New Scam 'science,'" a reference to climate change research and policy. "Under President Trump's leadership, the U.S. is funding real science again,' Rachel Cauley, an OMB spokesperson, said via email. European officials told Reuters that - beyond the risk of losing access to data that is bedrock to the world's understanding of climate change and marine systems - they were concerned by the general U.S. pullback from research. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. World Trump modifies reciprocal tariffs ahead of deadline; rate on Singapore likely to remain at 10% Singapore PM Wong to deliver National Day message on Aug 8 Singapore Data breach involving Cycle & Carriage Singapore customer details under probe Singapore Man charged over kicking woman's face in Teck Whye Lane flat, leading to her death Singapore 'For one last time, let's go home': Tears, laughs as last scheduled Jetstar Asia flight touches down Singapore Over half of job applications by retrenched Jetstar Asia staff led to offers or interviews: CEO Life The Projector leaves Cineleisure, returns to Golden Mile Tower Singapore 3 men charged over living on the earnings of prostitution "The current situation is much worse than we could have expected," Sweden's State Secretary for Education and Research Maria Nilsson, told Reuters. "My reaction is, quite frankly, shock." The Danish Meteorological Institute described the U.S. government data as "absolutely vital" - and said it relied on several data sets to measure including sea ice in the Arctic and sea surface temperatures. "This isn't just a technical issue, reliable data underpins extreme weather warnings, climate projections, protecting communities and ultimately saves lives," said Adrian Lema, director of the DMI's National Center for Climate Research. Reuters interviewed officials from eight European countries who said their governments were undertaking reviews of their reliance on U.S. marine, climate and weather data. Officials from seven countries - Denmark, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden - described joint efforts now in the early stages to safeguard key health and climate data and research programs. LEANING ON THE U.S. As a priority, the EU is expanding its access to ocean observation data, a senior European Commission official told Reuters. Those data sets are seen as critical to the shipping and energy industries as well as early storm warning systems. Over the next two years, the senior official said, the EU plans to expand its own European Marine Observation and Data Network which collects and hosts data on shipping routes, seabed habitats, marine litter and other concerns. The initiative was aimed at "mirroring and possibly replacing US-based services," the senior European Commission official told Reuters. Europe is particularly concerned about its vulnerability to U.S. funding cuts to NOAA's research arm that would affect the Global Ocean Observing System, a network of ocean observation programs that supports navigation services, shipping routes and storm forecasting, a second EU official told Reuters. The insurance industry relies on the Global Ocean Observing System's disaster records for risk modelling. Coastal planners use shoreline, sea-level, and hazard data to guide infrastructure investments. The energy industry uses oceanic and seismic datasets to assess offshore drilling or wind farm viability. In addition, the senior EU Commission official said, the EU is considering increasing its funding of the Argo program, a part of the Global Ocean Observing System which operates a global system of floats to monitor the world's oceans and track global warming, extreme weather events and sea-level rise. NOAA last year described the program, in operation for over 25 years, as the "crown jewel" of ocean science. It makes its data freely available to the oil and gas industry, marine tourism and other industries. The United States funds 57% of Argo's $40 million annual operating expenses, while the EU funds 23%. The White House and NOAA did not respond to questions about future support for that program. The European moves to establish independent data collection and play a bigger role in Argo represent a historic break with decades of U.S. leadership in ocean science, said Craig McLean, who retired in 2022 after four decades at the agency. He said U.S. leadership of weather, climate and marine data collection was unmatched, and that through NOAA the U.S. has paid for more than half of the world's ocean measurements. European scientists acknowledge the outsized role the U.S. government has played in global scientific research and data collection - and that European countries have grown overly dependent on that work. "It's a bit like defense: we rely heavily on the U.S. in that area, too. They're trailblazers and role models—but that also makes us dependent on them," Katrin Boehning-Gaese, scientific director of Germany's Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, told Reuters. 'GUERRILLA ARCHIVISTS' A number of European governments are now taking measures to reduce that dependence. Nordic countries met to coordinate data storage efforts in the Spring, Norwegian Minister of Research and Higher Education Sigrun Aasland told Reuters. European science ministers also discussed the U.S. science budget cuts at a meeting in Paris in May. Aasland said Norway was setting aside $2 million to back up and store U.S. data to ensure stable access. The Danish Meteorological Institute in February started downloading historical U.S. climate data in case it is deleted by the U.S. It is also preparing to switch from American observations to alternatives, Christina Egelund, Minister of Higher Education and Science of Denmark, said in an interview. "The potentially critical issue is when new observations data stop coming in," the Institute's Lema said. While weather models could continue to operate without U.S. data, he said the quality would suffer. Meanwhile, the German government has commissioned scientific organizations, including the center, to review its reliance on U.S. databases. Since Trump returned to the White House, scientists and citizens worldwide have been downloading U.S. databases related to climate, public health or the environment that are slated for decommissioning - calling it "guerrilla archiving." "We actually received requests—or let's say emergency calls—from our colleagues in the U.S., who said, 'We have a problem here... and we will have to abandon some datasets', said Frank Oliver Gloeckner, head of the digital archive PANGAEA, which is operated by publicly funded German research institutions. About 800 of NOAA's 12,000-strong workforce have been terminated or taken financial incentives to resign as part of Trump's Department of Government Efficiency cuts. The White House 2026 budget plan seeks to shrink NOAA even further, proposing a $1.8 billion cut, or 27% of the agency's budget, and a near-20% reduction in staffing, bringing down the NOAA workforce to 10,000. The budget proposal would eliminate the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, NOAA's main research arm, which is responsible for ocean observatory systems including Argo, coastal observing networks, satellite sensors and climate model labs. It is also reducing its data products. Between April and June, NOAA announced on its website the decommissioning of 20 datasets or products related to earthquakes and marine science. NOAA did not respond to requests for comment. Gloeckner said there were no legal hurdles to storing the U.S. government data as it was already in the public domain. But without significant funds and infrastructure, there are limits to what private scientists can save, said Denice Ross, a senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists, a nonprofit science policy group and the U.S. government's chief data officer during Joe Biden's administration. Databases need regular updating - which requires the funding and infrastructure that only governments can provide, Ross said. Over the last few months, the Federation and EU officials have held a series of talks with European researchers, U.S. philanthropies and health and environment advocacy groups to discuss how to prioritize what data to save. 'There is an opportunity for other nations and institutions and philanthropies to fill in the gaps if U.S. quality starts to falter," she said. REUTERS
