Sunday, May 17, 2009

Exploring Pulau Hantu

10 May 2009 - My second pre-dawn intertidal trip of the week! Destination this time: Pulau Hantu - a beautiful island located south of mainland Singapore, right next to the oil refineries on Pulau Bukom.

"Pulau" refers to "island", while "Hantu" is the Malay word for "ghosts". So, this island is aptly named "Island of Ghosts". Legend has it that ancient Malay warriors once dueled to death on the island and their ghosts is said to wander the isle...

Legends aside, it's amazing how rich the shores of Hantu is despite its close proximity to the oil refineries...

Hard corals are aplenty on the shores of Pulau Hantu...

And so are the soft corals...

Plenty of common sea stars can be found on the intertidal shores too... Quite a few of them were half-burrowed in the soft substrate.

Saw many of these prawns in the tidal pools too... I think this is a Blue-tailed Penaeid Prawn.

Fiddler Crabs are just so cute! The males have one large, oversized colourful claw which is used to attact the females and to intimidate rival males. Like human beings, they can be left or right-handed too!

They are really shy creatures and are super quick to pop into their burrows at the slightest disturbance!

There are many Blue Swimming Crabs swimming around in the lagoon... They're really fast swimmers!

Spotted this Brown Egg Crab (aka Floral Egg Crab) partially hiding beneath a rock... This crab is poisonous, and its toxins is not destroyed by cooking. So don't attempt to eat them!

Like the Brown Egg Crab, this Red Egg Crab is poisonous and cannot be eaten!

We saw this Thorny Sea Cucumber... according to Kok Sheng, these sea cucumbers are rarely sighted on Southern shores, even though they are very common on our Northern shores.

Cowrie... These beautiful and highly prized shells were used as currency in the past!

Kok Sheng found this Stonefish Sea Cucumber (aka White-rumped Sea Cucumber). The common name is as such because it looks like a smooth stone when disturbed; bloating up into a rounded, smooth shape and retracting its tubed feet. However, when relaxed, the animal can be quite long and thin.

Also spotted was this Brittle Star Sponge... From a distance, the sponge looks a little furry... but on closer look, the holes on the sponge are actually occupied by tiny brittle stars!

And now... for some fishy finds of the day! Saw this beautiful Head-stripe Goby... I love the beautiful blue stripes and markings on the fish.

Saw this fish too... but I have no idea what this is... Is it a Spotted Glass Perchlet?

And here's another unknown fish to me... pity I didn't manage to get a good photo of it though...

And last but not least, a False Clown Anemonefish! This poor fish got itself stranded on a carpet anemone at low tide... We later helped ease it back into the anemone by splashing seawater.

Sharped-eyed Kok Sheng spotted this Long-spined Black Sea Urchin nestled among some large boulders...

And now... for my favourite / special finds of the day!

Spotted this beautiful Spider Conch among some corals. It's my first time seeing it. From the top, this snail is pretty well camouflaged. But when turned over, it's pretty pinkish and white shell interior just takes my breadth away!

Saw a pair of this Black-margined Nudibranch... It's nice "folds" on top reminds me of shirt ruffles!

There's also a Polka-dot Nudibranch... Isn't it cute?

Kok Sheng found this pretty flatworm... I'm not sure what species it is though... This flatworm may look plain black at first glance, but upon closer inspection, there are actually many "starry" spots in an assortment of colours!

Janette spotted this beautiful Persian Carpet Flatworm when we were making our way back towards the meeting point. I love its intricate patterns!

The shores of Hantu is peppered with many of these Red Feather Stars! There's so many of them, and with their bright red colour, it's hard to miss seeing them even in the dark!

And here is another feather star, this time in black...

And another, in beige and brown... This poor fella is pretty stressed out. It's arms are all curled up!

And now... for the last, and most wonderful find of the day... a Spotted-tail Frogfish! Kok Sheng found this weird-looking fish as we were heading back towards the jetty. If you look closely, there is a lure at the top of its head to attract prey within striking distance. It is capable of "sucking" small fishes into its huge mouth simply by opening it!

And as usual, time flies when we're having a good time. Soon, it's time for us to say good bye to the beautiful island. As seen from the picture above, the Pulau Bukom oil refineries are just a stone's throw away from the reefs of Pulau Hantu. Now, who said nature and progress can't coexist together?

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