Adventures on Sentosa Island

13 May 2009 - A group of us were out at 7am today to explore the shores of Sentosa island. Now, you may wonder, would there be any marine life in areas as heavily developed and commercialised as Sentosa?

The answer? You bet! And this time, we're not exploring natural shores, but the man-made islet opposite Siloso Beach.

The substrate at the islet was rather silty and every step we took made the water murky. Nevertheless, the group still managed to make some interesting finds like this Laganum Sand Dollar.

Laganum Sand Dollars are rather rare. They are listed as 'Vulnerable' on the Red List of threatened animals of Singapore. Thus, it was really a nice surprise to find one in this man-made lagoon.

Another interesting find will be this tiny horseshoe crab. It is only about 1cm in diameter!

There were plenty of these Pearl Conch (better known as "Gong-Gong") on the shores... See its cute little eyes peeking out at us?

Another surprise find will be this Polka-Dot Nudibranch which Kok Sheng found.

And here's another interesting creature - a Spotted Moon Crab! This fella is really quick at burrowing into the sand!

Spotted this track while exploring the area near the rocks... Can you figure out what made this?

It's a track left behind by a monitor lizard!

And quite by chance, we spotted a huge colony of these Common Sea Stars near where the tracks were. They are really well-camouflaged, lying half-buried in the sand. But once you spot one, the rest just seemed to just "pop" into sight! They are probably at least 50 of them in this area. We caught this pair engaging in some "hanky-panky". =P

And while Kian Wah and I were bending over to photograph the sea stars, this Blue-tailed Penaeid Prawn suddenly sprang from its burrow and stranded itself on the sand right in front of us!

And here's a photo of the "rescued" prawn. We later released it back to the sea. =)

After this little episode, the group decided to check out another shore nearby - the natural reef at Tanjong Rimau.

This is my second visit to the shore and I'm nevertheless still amazed at the amount of corals there. The photo above is just a small sample of what we saw.

Also spotted is this special nudibranch. I've no idea what species this is though...

Many different types of crabs can be found in the coral reef area. This is a Hairy Crab.

And this is a Brown Egg Crab (aka Floral Egg Crab). It's poisonous, so don't attempt to eat it!

This Red Egg Crab is also poisonous and cannot be eaten.

Another poisonous crab we saw today is the Mosaic Reef Crab. It looks rather similar to the Red Egg Crab, but has more white mottled patterns on its red shell. Unfortunately, it scuttled away too quickly for me to get a picture.

The funny thing was, as the mosaic crab scurried to hide underneath a rock, it "chased out" this Three-spined Toadfish!

Some people find this fish ugly, but Kok Sheng and I think it has a pretty cute face! I didn't manage to get a close-up shot of its face, but you can check out Kok Sheng's photo here.

We found a few of these cowries too...

And a Reef Bristleworm...

The group today was pretty adventurous and we explored the area beyond the beacon. In fact, we took a 30 minute walk round the island to finish our trip at the shore near Underwater World!

As you can see, the terrain was not that easy to navigate... Very rocky, which means lots of foot reflexology! Some areas can be a bit slippery too...

Nevertheless, it was a pretty good walk. We saw some interesting stuff, like this patch of zoanthids in a rock pool.

There were a couple of Orange Fan Worms in the rock pool too...

And plenty of gobies in the tidal pools. I think this is a Common Frill-fin Goby.

Here's another cute looking fish. Not sure what species it is though...

And another one... Is this a Bengal Sergeant?

There are plenty of these snails too. They can be found in a variety of colours and patterns!

Soon, it is time for us to say goodbye to this beautiful shore. Tanjong Rimau is not only home to wonderful marine life; we also got to admire the spectacular natural cliff formations of Sentosa!

Changi's Rocky Shores

11 May 2009 - My third consecutive pre-dawn intertidal trip of the week! As compared to the earlier two trips which were around 4am, this time, we were out at a slightly more "earthly" hour of 5am. Our destination: the rocky shores of Changi Beach.

At first glance, it seemed that the "bare" rocky shores of Changi might be boring. But it wasn't long before Kok Sheng spotted this pretty nudibranch hidden beneath a rock.

This is a Hypselodoris Nudibranch. We found quite a few of these pretty nudibranchs during the trip. I love the colourful bright spots on its body!

Also spotted in abundance are these Rock Stars (aka Crown Sea Star). As their name suggests, these sea stars do look like star-shaped rocks! They are usually found under rocks or on coral rubble on our northern shores.

One of the first surprise on this trip is this beautiful feather star which Ria found. This feather star is quite different from the ones spotted the day before at Pulau Hantu. It's much more "feathery" and colourful. (Photo courtesy of Kok Sheng)

There are also quite a number of cowries...

And a few sea anemones... not sure what species this is though.

There are also many Common Peacock Anemones on the shores. These anemones can be found in a variety of colours and patterns.

Also spotted are these Yellow Clustered Bead Ascidians.

And a Thumbs-up Sea Squirt... Watch out! As its name suggests, it does squirt water! =)

We came across some Flowery Sea Pens too. Now, you may wonder what's so "flowery" about these rather dull-looking stalks on the sand. But that's only because the sea pen's secondary polyps are retracted during low tide. They are really pretty when they extend their flowery secondary polyps!

Also spotted is this Orange Fan Worm. Fan worms are very sensitive to their surroundings and are quick to retract into their tubes at the slightest disturbance.

We found quite a few sea cucumbers too... This is a Ball Sea Cucumber.

And this is a Purple Under-a-stone Sea Cucumber.

Also spotted were a few Black Sea Urchins. Unlike the Long-spined Black Sea Urchin seen at Pulau Hantu yesterday, the spines on these sea urchins are quite short. They are sometimes found in large groups.

And a beautiful Blue-spotted Flatworm! This little flatworm is often seen on our northern shores. They can be found on rocky shores, boulders and under stones.

Many crabs were spotted today. Not sure what species this is though. Is it a Mangrove Tree-dwelling Crab?

Another crabby find of the day would be this Stone Crab (aka Thunder Crab). These crabs are commonly found on our northern shores, sheltering among stones, coral rubble, rubbish and other hiding places.

Stone crabs can be identified by their bright green eyes that are circled with red. These crabs have huge and powerful pincers, so don't touch them!

We spotted this huge jellyfish towards the end of the trip. The diameter of its bell is easily over 30cm wide!

And now, for our last, but most special / surprise find of the day...

A cute Smooth Otter! We spotted this fella scampering across the shore at dawn. It's really curious, and kept diving into the water and popping it head out at different locations to watch us. While we were all keeping a lookout for it, it suddenly surfaced and started making sounds at Kok Sheng! And Ria managed to get a photo of it at just the precise moment! Thanks Ria for sharing this photo!

The shore we visited today is probably the last natural rocky shore left on Changi. Was pretty sad to see the beautiful shore littered with rubbish when we arrived. There was a strong petrol smell in the air and oil patches were also spotted on the water. It is really amazing to see that the animals are alive and well even in such conditions. We should all preserve what is left of our natural heritage. Please discard rubbish properly and responsibly.

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?