It has been another exhilarating series of low tide trips, with a dive at Pulau Hantu as well. All kinds of intriguing marine life were encountered, from nudibranchs to new snails and strange fishes with beards.
The Hantu Bloggers just had another fabulous dive at our wild reefs at Pulau Hantu.
Besides the ever endearing "Nemos" there were lots of sightings of nudibranchs, hard corals, a big fat Cushion star!
These small red feather stars are seen both by divers as well as intertidal explorers. It's nice for us non-divers to see what they look like underwater!
Our reefs are very much alive!The Sisters Islands have among the best reefs that are accessible to the public. These reefs can be explored even by non-divers at low tide. Although the Sisters Islands have been reclaimed and sea walls built to create swimming lagoons, the reefs have slowly crept back to reclaim their original locations.
A brief visit during a not-so-low tide gave glimpses of reef fishes, living corals and this heartening sight of a Giant clam growing on a hard coral!
There were also encounters with this intriguing moon snail, which a blog reader has suggested to be Tanea areolata. It looks like a gourmet chocolate snack!
It was a fishy day at Cyrene as the working team gently find out more about the fishes on this special reef in the middle of our port.The lush seagrass meadows there are home to these strange fat Alligator pipefish (Syngnathoides biaculeatus).
And several Bearded filefishes (Anacanthus barbatus)! These elongated fishes do indeed have a little goatee.
This was also the first trip to Cyrene opened to others outside the working team. Selection is via a blogging contest. And the first winner is Gloria (in white , fourth from the left)!
Changi is often dismissed as reclaimed land. But marine life have reclaimed their place on these shores, delighting those who take the time to see them.Changi's last natural rocky shore was teeming with nudibranchs! This particular cow-like nudibranch (Chromodoris tumulifera) with blotchy spots is seldom encountered.
While the pretty Hypselodoris infucata is more regularly sighted. Four were seen at a Changi trip!
Changi is also full of stars! While Rock stars (Asterina coronata) are generally well camouflaged , sometimes, bright orange ones are seen.
Recent sightings suggest Knobbly sea star juveniles are settling on the seagrasses of Changi.
Other marine life encountered include octopus, bright orange sea cucumbers, sea urchins and all kinds of crabs. The creepiest find were lots of hairy, scary fireworms: Do NOT TOUCH is the correct approach to these creatures.Other shores visited included Ubin's less famous shores. Here fiddler crabs enthralled resulting in a flurry of video clips of their amusing antics.
Observing things washed up on our shores also lead to questions: Are there seagrasses off the East Coast? and why are they so many dead mud crabs on Changi?There were also lots of trips to other shores, with public walks at the Chek Jawa boardwalk, and walks at Semakau and Changi. Here's the many blog posts of the trips by destination, from the wildsingapore google reader.
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