St. John's Surprises

11 July 2009 - It's feels great to be out on another field trip after such a long absence! This time, a group of us were out at 6am to explore the shores of St. John's Island. Was really excited as this is my first trip to the island, and I know that many interesting finds await!

And true enough, we were not disappointed. Despite the not-very-ideal tide, many interesting creatures were still spotted. Like this slug here...

Spotted this greyish sea slug crawling on a rock. Is this an Ornate Onch Slug?

And the cute little Polka-dot Nudibranch! This creature is so adorable, I never get tired of seeing it! =)

Kok Sheng found this special orange coloured nudibranch by flipping a rock. Hmm... Is this a Rose Nudibranch?

And here's another type of sea slug - a Pimply Phyllid Nudibranch!

Here's another shot of it. This fella's pretty small; only about 1cm to 2cm long...

And this is a Blue-lined Flatworm. This flatworm is regularly encountered on Singapore's shores. Isn't it pretty?

Eek! A snake! No, no, no... This creature is actually a Very Long Ribbon Worm. Yes, a marine worm, and a very long one at that! It's easily over 1m in length!

Kok Sheng found this black brittle star by flipping a rock... Did you spot something else in the photo? There are two tiny white brittle stars above the black one! I only noticed them when I was processing the photos at home. =S

Eh? Why are there vegetables growing on our shores? Nah, this is actually a Banded Frilly Anemone.

And here's another one, with its tentacles retracted when out of water.

There are many types of corals (both hard and soft) on St. John's Island. I think this is an Omelette Leathery Coral.

In the water, soft corals extend their living polyps, creating a furry look. See the furry-looking thing on the left? It's not another coral, but a submerged portion of the same coral!

There were many of these Black Long Sea Cucumbers. Most of them were spotted under large boulders or rocks. The photo on the right shows a close-up of its feeding tentacles.

Stephen and James found this unidentified sea cucumber. Ok, I think I am seriously cock-eyed! Again, I failed to notice that shrimp just beside the sea cucumber! =S

[Update: This is a Purple Under-a-stone Sea Cucumber. Thanks Ria for the id!]

This is the same sea cucumber... Except that it has kind of "shrunk".

And here's another shot. It has inflated itself a little... Is it stressed out?

Now, for my favourite and most exciting find of the day... An octopus!

Octopuses are really the masters of disguise! This is how it looks like when I first spotted it.

And another shot a few seconds later...

And here's the next shot - also my sharpest shot. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to capture the whole octopus. Interesting patterns on the octopus though.

And the last shot before it hid underneath a rock. Noticed the different colour and markings on the octopus in the 4 photos? It took just a blink of an eye for the octopus to change its colour and pattern. Impressive!

While we were all having a good time, the weather suddenly turned ominous and we were forced to take shelter as it is extremely dangerous to be out in the open during a thunderstorm. Fortunately, we didn't have to wait long for the rain and lightning to ease.

Here's what the team discovered in the sandy lagoon after the thunderstorm...

A creepy-looking Bristleworm. Watch out! Their bristles can cause severe pain. Do not touch!

And a cute little Gong-gong (aka Pearl Conch).

Kok Sheng spotted this beautiful shell. I love its vibrant colour!

And a pair of Spotted Moon Crabs which stayed obediently still while we snapped photos of them.

Here's the other one, which is in a more vibrant, sunshine yellow.

Here's a shot of the island taken from the lagoon during low tide.

Today's trip has been really interesting and exciting for me. And the best part is, we learnt a new and creative method to dry wet ponchos! Thanks Kok Sheng and Ivan for the brainwave! Am really tempted to post those photos... *Grins*

Tanah Merah's Sandy Lagoon

27 June 2009 - Was out exploring the shores at Tanah Merah this morning with a few friends. At first glance, the quiet sandy lagoon may seem lifeless, but looks can be deceiving. It didn't take long before the gang made some interesting finds!

This is the shore we explored. See those stones and pebbles-like thingy on the ground? They are actually Zoned Horned Snails and the casts of acorn worms!

"Poo"? Nope, this is actually the cast of an Acorn Worm. Acorn worms swallow mud and sand and process these for edible bits. At low tide, they stick out their rear ends at the surface and excrete coils of processed sediments.

There were also some corals in the sandy lagoon.

Is this a Short Ribbon Worm?

There were many fan worms in the lagoon. We counted at least 15. This is a Banded Fan Worm.

And this is an Orange Fan Worm.

There were many different types of snails on the sandy shore. Not too sure what this is though...

Hmm... Is this an Elegant Banded Creeper Snail?

James and Allen spotted a pair of these moon snails.

As with most shores, there were many hermit crabs around too...

And here's another one...

Waiting for it to emerge from its shell...

Aah! So that's how hermit crabs look like!

There were many small fishes in the tidal pools too...

And a fish that got stranded at low tide...

Here's a closer look... Does anyone know what this is?

We saw many swimming crabs in the lagoon too. This is a Flower Crab.

Here's another swimming crab. We caught it snacking on a snail!

And another one... This crab is a bit aggressive. It tried to attack my booties when I stepped too close when taking photos!

The shore is peppered all over with these "holes"...

Here's a closer look at the burrow and the tiny balls of sand surrounding it... What created it?

The culprit is none other than the Sand Bubbler Crab! The sand bubbler crab eats the thin coating of edible particles on sand grains and then discards the sand in a little ball. As it processes sand, a little path is scraped out from the burrow entrance. Little balls of sifted sand is piled up on either side of this path.

Towards the end of our trip, we were nicely surprised by a trio of this bird... No idea what they are though.

And here's a nice shot of the lagoon to end off... (Photo courtesy of Edna)