Our destination this time is Pulau Semakau - Singapore's only offshore landfill. Now, many people have the impression that a landfill will be dirty and smelly. Well, this is definitely not the case for Semakau. It is my first time visiting the island, and I'm truly amazed at how clean, scenic and serene the place is! The weather is also lovely today - pleasantly warm with an occassional breeze.
We were greeted by a pair of eagles soaring high in the clear blue sky.
The lone Casuarina tree in the middle of nowhere... a most useful landmark for us to get our bearings while we were out on the vast shore!
The shore at low tide... and this is only one small part of it. That's how huge this shore is!
There are many different types of soft corals on Pulau Semakau. This is an Asparagus Flowery Soft Coral. 
And this is the Broad Feathery Soft Coral... (Thanks for the id, Kok Sheng!)
There are many different kinds of hard corals on Semakau too... This is a Favid Hard Coral.
Here's another type of hard coral - a Sunflower Mushroom Coral. This coral may look like a sea anemone at first glance. However, its hard skeleton tells us that it is really a coral.
And now, for the real anemones. This is a Wiggly Star Anemone.
The shore is peppered with these beautiful Magnificent Anemones. It's a pity that we did not manage to spot any anemonefish though.
Although I did not get to see any Knobby Sea Stars or Cushion Stars today, it is still good to find a colony of Common Sea Stars that are actively mating. Yippee! More babies! =)
And this is a first for me - an Upsidedown Jellyfish. As its name suggests, this animal prefers to be upside down, with its bell facing the sea floor and tentacles facing upwards towards the light.
Is this the famous Blood Cockle (aka "see-hum") that can be found in our local delights such as laksa and char kway teow?
The main lead of the day - a Burrowing Giant Clam. This creature is not easy to spot as it is tucked among rocks and corals. But sharp-eyed Kok Sheng managed to find two today!
Also spotted is this huge Noble Volute. According to the Singapore Red Data Book, this beautiful snail is restricted to our part of the world, in particular, Singapore and Peninsular Malaysia.
This is a first sighting for me - a Spoon-Pincer Crab.
Many swimming crabs were spotted scurrying about. Here's one of them.
Also seen were quite a number of Hairy Crabs. These small crabs are mildly poisonous and are not the same as the large 'hairy crabs' that are served in our restaurants.
It is always a pleasure to see a Five-spot Anemone Shrimp. They're just so pretty! This fella was found on a Haddon's Carpet Anemone.
And this is a Long-spined Black Sea Urchin.
Aaahhh.... a baby octopus! The tiniest one I've seen on my field trips thus far....
And here's another first sighting for me - a Fan-bellied Filefish.
There were many fan worms on the shore. This is an Orange Fan Worm.
This is the only flatworm we saw today - a common Spotted Black Flatworm.
Also spotted is this huge Black Phyllid Nudibranch.
And here's my most favourite find of the day - a Lined Chromodoris Nudibranch! Isn't it pretty? This is yet another first sighting for me. =)
All too soon, the tide turned and we slowly made our way back towards higher ground. My first visit to Pulau Semakau has indeed been as interesting as I had expected it to be. This huge shore definitely deserves a revisit - we barely covered 10% of it today!
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