Discovering a new Singapore shore

Went exploring a new shore and was surprised with what I saw in the 90 minutes I was there.
Tide was low at 0.1m.
RT had already gotten to the shore earlier and was busy flashing away at all manner of tiny marine organisms at the far end of the shore.

I decided to head straight onto the shore not at all expecting to sink in knee deep.
Both legs slipped into the soft soft mud so effortlessly and I was suddenly knee deep in mud. Good thing the tide was very low at that point. I looked over to where RT was and she was sooo far away....too far away and out of earshot. The thought of drowning when the tide came back in occurred. Mustering strength from the thought of drowning, I managed to wriggle onto my knees and crawled out on all fours...that was the only way to stop from sinking into the mud.

Happily free I kept to walking on the sandy shore away from the muddy stretches.

Came across a few small carpet anemones.


and other tiny anemones...








Seagrass was present too with Ovalis patches here and there and even Halodule (probably univervis)




There was also a rather rare sand dollar shell. No live dollars seen though.


Snails were plentiful and their shells were all of a wide variety.


thorny pink sea cucumber :-


ball cucumber


snapping shrimp


ghost crabs - these guys can run very fast! but these chose to play hide and seek



can you see the crab?

other crabs were plentiful too


There was also a horseshoe crab shell. Just one.


striped hermit crab



All in all, it was a wonderful new shore!

Read RT's version and sights here :
http://wildshores.blogspot.com/2008/11/rare-sand-dollars-and-other-surprises.html

Sentosa Blue Spotted Fantail Ray 15Nov2008

Came across this small blue-spotted fantail ray on Sentosa. It was swimming in the shallows probably looking for food like small shrimp or bottom dwelling fish. The disc was slightly bigger than my palm. This seems to be a first record for Sentosa's Tj Rimau reef although it is frequently seen on our other Southern islands.

This is a large video so do wait for it to stream fully before viewing! or join Vimeo to download the file. Click on the Vimeo link for better quality viewing.


Sentosa Blue-Spotted Fantail Ray from BeachBum on Vimeo.

As with most marine ecosystems and organisms in Singapore waters, conservation should be a key concern for all Singaporeans. Amazing Singapore!. In which other capital city can you get to see such wildlife?

Want to know more about the blue spotted fantail ray? Visit wildsingapore.com
http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/vertebrates/fish/dasyatidae/lymma.htm

Evolving Tides by Peter Naylor

Came across this HD video on Vimeo.... beautifully done!


Evolving Tides from Peter Naylor on Vimeo.

A short wildlife film showing the wildlife that can be found along the North Norfolk Coast during the winter.
Directed & Produced by Peter Naylor
Written & Narrated by Martin Wase
A Fall Time Productions & Kestrel Films Short

Anemones & Kite Butterfly Fish @ Chek Jawa

Anemones & Kite Butterfly Fish @ Chek Jawa from BeachBum on Vimeo.

This is a large video so do wait for it to stream fully before viewing! or Join Vimeo in order to download the clip. Click on the Vimeo link for better quality viewing.

This seems to be the 'season' for kite butterfly fish (Parachaetodon ocellatus). A good many juveniles were spotted at Chek Jawa by quite a few people (including some over on the Changi side).

The clip shows kite butterfly fish taking shelter in close proximity to two kinds of anemones. The first shows a green carpet anemone whilst the second shows a peacock anemone (see http://www.wildsingapore.com/chekjawa/text/p510.htm for more on anemones.)
"Many sea anemones have tentacles armed with nematocysts, stingers that can inject toxins. They also have stingers that produce only a long adhesive threads (called spirocysts). These make the tentacles sticky and are used to capture hard-bodied prey such as crabs. Tentacles then move the meal to the central mouth, which can expand wide to swallow it whole."

Noting that contact with the anemones could be potentially fatal to the fish, it is a wonder why the fish would want to be so close to the anemones. The carpet anemone stings only at the top and so the area below it could provide refuge for small marine organisms. The only organisms which seem to have immunity are anemone shrimps and clownfish. It is probable that the KBF take refuge knowing that although the anemone could kill them, it would also keep away other predators like larger fish.

The peacock anemone can be seen to attach some of it's tentacles to the KBF. At one point, the fish seems to be struggling and it manages to pull away from the sticky tentacle. Perhaps the KBF do have a limited immunity to the stinging cells of the anemone?

Sentosa shortclips

Sentosa shortclips - 17October2008 from BeachBum on Vimeo.

This is a large video so do wait for it to stream fully before viewing!
Click on the Vimeo link for better quality viewing .

This is a quick compilation of short clips shot at Sentosa after the Team Seagrass (http://teamseagrass.blogspot.com/2008/10/sentosa-17-oct-08.html) session.
The cast(in order of appearance) :-
1. File fish
2. Juvenile Kite Butterfly fish
3. anemone shrimp
4. plain shrimp
5. swimming crab

Synaptic Sea Cucumber @ Cyrene

Synaptic Sea Cucumber @ Cyrene Reef from BeachBum on Vimeo.

This is a large video so do wait for it to stream fully before viewing!
Click on the Vimeo link for better quality viewing.

Saw this synaptic sea cucumber at Cyrene Reef. It had body markings which were different from the others usually seen on the reef. The others usually have a dark brown or reddish body but this one had a patchwork of patterns along the length of the body.

Here is a link to another synaptic sea cucumber...
http://sgbeachbum.blogspot.com/2008/07/giant-mother-of-all-synaptic-sea.html

strange anemone@cyrene

Mysterious Anemone @ Cyrene from BeachBum on Vimeo.

Saw this lovely anemone on Cyrene in about 10cm of water.
It was about 9cm in diameter.
Anyone know what kind it is?
The central area looks as if it was designed to entice prey to come closer and take a bite.

Is this a new record for Singapore?

IYOR 2008 - Yang Shufen - Green Mean Photosynthesizing Machines

IYOR 2008 Singapore - Yang Shufen - Green Mean Photosynthesizing Machines from BeachBum on Vimeo.

[join vimeo to download the clip instead of streaming]

A special talk held at the Reef Celebrations!
by Yang Shufen of TeamSeagrass
and NParks' National Biodiversity Centre

Seagrasses are marine flowering plants that are the much forgotten cousins of the marine world. Find out more about Singapore's rich seagrass flora and the fauna that depend on these marine plants. Get to know the fun and wacky team that's looking after the health of our seagrasses and the adventures and scrapes they get themselves into!

About the speaker: Shufen is a Biology graduate from NUS. She's spent the last two and a half years working with the National Biodiversity Centre of NParks, the bulk of which was spent doing field surveys in both land and intertidal areas of Singapore. Although Shufen is a mangrove girl at heart, she also has a soft spot for seagrasses, which led her to agree to speak on behalf of Siti for the seagrasses of Singapore.

More :
http://iyor08singapore.blogspot.com/2008/07/green-mean-photosynthesizing-machines.html
http://teamseagrass.blogspot.com/

reticulated slug @ cyrene

reticulated slug @ cyrene from BeachBum on Vimeo.

[join vimeo to download the clip instead of streaming]

This one was seen on Cyrene Reef during a particularly gray morning. The sky was forgiving on the reef with just a few drops hinting of the thunderstorm that besieged the rest of Singapore that morning. The clip starts with one of the Star Trackers (TSJ) unknowingly approaching the reticulated slug which was, for all intents and purposes, in another dimension....under water. In their element, slugs are not 'sluggish' but graceful animals. Little is known of these slugs. Can they be useful to science? Amazing Cyrene!

More from the same expedition :
http://me-w-andering.blogspot.com/2008/08/cyrene-calling.html
http://wildshores.blogspot.com/2008/08/cyrene-reef-last-sunrise-trip.html

Check out this link for more on the reticulated slug...
http://www.seaslugforum.net/display.cfm?id=9053

And more on Cyrene Reef here...
http://wildshores.blogspot.com/2008/08/cyrene-reef-mapped.html

IYOR 2008 - Debby Ng - Southern Haunt

IYOR 2008 - Debby Ng - Southern Haunt - The Hantu Blogs from sgbeachbum on Vimeo.

[join vimeo to download the clip instead of streaming]

Read More! http://www.pulauhantu.org/
http://iyor08singapore.blogspot.com/2008/07/southern-haunt.html

A special talk to be held at the Reef Celebrations!
by Debby Ng of the Hantu Bloggers

Pulau Hantu is one of Singapore's most renowned Southern Islands. Despite its prominence, it is constantly left to cope with a relentlessly changing coastline and marine environment. For a long time, the threats to Pulau Hantu have avoided the scrutiny of the public and the brilliance of its marine habitat gone unheralded. Debby Ng will bring clarity to the usually murky waters of Pulau Hantu with her underwater photos and videos.

About the speaker: Debby Ng is a full-time environmental journalist. She began her work in film and moved on to television, but eventually realised that she gained the most satisfaction from communicating her concerns on the environment through her photography and writing. Her work has been published in several regional and international magazines, including the award-winning Lebanese magazine, Environment & Development. She has also worked with numerous Asian and international non-government organisations such as the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA). In 2005 she assisted the Indonesian government in their assessment of fisheries, a project funded by The World Conservation Union (IUCN), the only conservation organisation with official observer status at the United Nations. Debby Ng is founder of the Hantu Blog, an education and awareness project powered entirely by volunteers and utilising free electronic media. She is also a volunteer dive guide and a freelance nature guide with Creative Kids.

For more about Pulau Hantu and the volunteers that dive there, visit the Hantu Blog.

IYOR 2008 - Jeffrey Low - Does Singapore have Coral Reefs?

IYOR 2008 - Jeffrey Low - Does Singapore have Coral Reefs? from BeachBum on Vimeo.

[join vimeo to download the clip instead of streaming]

Read more! http://iyor08singapore.blogspot.com/2008/07/are-there-reefs-left-in-singapore.html

A special talk held at the Reef Celebrations
by Jeffrey Low
NParks National Biodiversity Centre

Singapore is well known as a "Garden City", and many people do not know the natural wonders that exist just off shore. As much of the country has been reclaimed, many of the marine environments have been impacted. However, marine life still has a tenuous hold in many of the islands off the coast of mainland Singapore.

A small, but growing, number of conservationists have endeavoured over the past 20 years to promote the conservation of our least known natural heritage. The speaker will give a brief insight into the history of the marine conservation movement in Singapore, focusing mainly on the southern islands and coral reefs. Individual efforts and group activities will also be discussed to highlight the actions Singaporeans can take to help conserve the wonderful underwater world.

About the speaker: Jeffrey graduated from NUS in with a Bachelors of Science degree in 1988, and obtaining his Masters degree in 1999. He has worked on many coral reef and marine-related projects as a Research Assistant with NUS, first at the Reef Ecology Laboratory and then at the Tropical Marine Science Institute. He joined NParks in 2003 as a Senior Biodiversity Officer, overseeing development and marine conservation issues in the southern islands of Singapore.

An experienced scuba diver with over 2000 dives, he has dived not only in many parts of Asia, but also on many of the reefs in Singapore. He is an active guide and trainer with the Blue Water Volunteers, a local marine conservation NGO, in their Reef Walk, Reef Friends and Reef Xplore! programmes.

He has also co-authored a Singapore Science Centre guidebook Common Marine Fishes of Singapore, was a research writer for the ASEANAREAN Expedition series The Marine Parks of Thailand (1997), as well as the for the Marine Parks of Indonesia (1999), in which he was also the principal underwater photographer.

IYOR 2008 Singapore - Wishing upon a Star by Ivan Tan Sijie & Chim Chee Kong

IYOR 2008 Singapore - Wishing upon a Star by Ivan Tan Sijie & Chim Chee Kong from BeachBum on Vimeo.

[join vimeo to download the clip instead of streaming]

See also http://startrackers.blogspot.com/
http://startrackers.blogspot.com/2008/08/wishing-upon-star.html

http://iyor08singapore.blogspot.com/2008/07/wishing-upon-star.html

A special talk held at the Reef Celebrations!
by Tan Sijie & Chim Chee Kong
Star Trackers

The Knobbly seastar (Protoreaster nodosus) is perhaps one of the most charismatic features of our shores. However, sightings of this endangered species were rare and hence our understandings of local populations were poor. Recently, there was a widespread emergence of recruits at various shores and a discovery of a large population at Cyrene Reef. These findings rekindled our hopes in the future of this species in our waters. The Star Trackers grabbed this opportunity to collect scientific data, in the hope that they will be useful for the better management of the remaining populations in Singapore.

About the speakers: In 2008, Chim Chee Kong and Tan Sijie founded The Star Trackers, which has a blog to share knowledge and create public awareness regarding the knobbly seastar populations in Singapore.

Chee Kong is currently a Research Assistant with the Tropical Marine Science Institute, and has worked with various types of marine animals such as snails, seastars and snakes. He is obsessed with local nature and loves to share this passion with other people.

Sijie is the Education and Public Relations Officer for Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, NUS. His past research areas include water snakes and environmental conditions of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. With an immense interest in nature and research, he is often involved in public outreach and education.

IYOR 2008 Singapore - Life & Death at Chek Jawa by Loh Kok Sheng

IYOR 2008 Singapore - Life & Death at Chek Jawa by Loh Kok Sheng from BeachBum on Vimeo.

[join vimeo to download the clip instead of streaming]

See also http://iyor08singapore.blogspot.com/2008/07/life-and-death-at-chek-jawa.html

A special talk held at the Reef Celebrations!
by Loh Kok Sheng

Lauded for its high biodiversity with six distinct ecosystems, Chek Jawa received a ten year deferment from land reclamation in 2001 and has subsequently become a popular attraction among Singaporeans. However, a mass death of several marine animals occurred in January 2007. A study was later done to understand what contributed to the mass mortality event and evaluate the recovery of marine animals. It is true that a better understanding is essential to protect this fascinating shore. In this talk, Kok Sheng will share with the audience how is Chek Jawa faring and also his experiences and discoveries from the study.

About the speaker: Kok Sheng is currently an undergraduate in NUS, majoring in Life Sciences with specialization in Biology. In July 2007, he received the MOE Teaching Award. Kok Sheng has great interests in ecological work and did an UROPS (Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme in Science) project under the supervision of N. Sivasothi, Peter Todd and Dan Rittschof. His project aimed to study the mass mortality and recruitment of macrofauna at Chek Jawa in Pulau Ubin. Since the project has application value in understanding and conserving the Singapore macrofauna at Chek Jawa, Kok Sheng's project has been featured in Protecting nature's beauty in The Straits Times (September 10, 2007), Embracing Passion Going Places, the NUS Advertorial in The Straits Times (March 25, 2008) and Tuesday Report: Children Of The Earth on Channel 8, Mediacorp TV (July 8, 2008). Kok Sheng is also a volunteer with TeamSeagrass, Naked Hermit Crabs and Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research. He also runs the Chek Jawa Mortality and Recruitment Project blog and God's Wonderful Creation blog.

IYOR 2008 Singapore - Update on the Singapore Marine Conservation Community by N. Sivasothi

IYOR 2008 Singapore - Update on the Singapore Marine Conservation Community by N. Sivasothi from BeachBum on Vimeo.


[join vimeo to download the clip instead of streaming]

IYOR 2008 Singapore - Keynote Address - Prof Chou Loke Ming

IYOR 2008 Singapore - Keynote Address - Prof Chou Loke Ming from BeachBum on Vimeo.


[join vimeo to download the clip instead of streaming]

IYOR 2008 Singapore - Presentation of Sponsorship Cheque by Herman Ho

IYOR 2008 Singapore - Presentation of Sponsorship Cheque by Herman Ho from BeachBum on Vimeo.


[join vimeo to download the clip instead of streaming]

IYOR 2008 - Singapore. Welcome Address by Mr Francis Lee - 08 Aug 2008

IYOR 2008 Singapore - Welcome Address by Mr Francis Lee from BeachBum on Vimeo.


[join vimeo to download the clip instead of streaming]

uw spectacular discodoris nudibranch @ cyrene

uw spectacular discodoris nudibranch @ cyrene from BeachBum on Vimeo.

Came across this lovely Discodoris boholiensis at Cyrene in a seagrass (Halodule uninervis and Enhalus Acoroides)patch. It's striking pattern was an eye catcher.

It was moving slowly through the seagrass patch and curled it's way around each blade.
See http://www.seaslugforum.net/display.cfm?id=7223 for more pictures.
and also http://www.nudipixel.net/species/discodoris_boholiensis/

This specimen was about 4 cm long and was found in a 30cm deep water pool.
More about Cyrene : http://www.wildsingapore.com/places/cyrene.htm

crossing paths with the dog-faced water snake@semakau

dog-faced water snake@semakau from BeachBum on Vimeo.

6am....the hunters are out hunting....the Semakau intertidal zone is a rather unusual place to find a dog-faced water snake. We've encountered them in the Pasir Ris mangroves....hordes of them all looking for food...fish...they are expert hunters of small fish.

We came across this specimen (about 60cm long) [the biggest one seen so far was about 1.2m] whilst en route to the Semakau seagrass transect 1 just past the storm canal.

Although mildly venomous (if you are a small fish)...it is mostly harmless to humans...although getting sprayed with snake faeces is not a nice thing if you decide to pick one up and it does a 'helicopter' on you.

links :
http://www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/verts/water_snake.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerberus_rynchops
http://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/snakes/dog-faced_water-snake.htm

seagrass lagoon nursery @ semakau 1

seagrass lagoon nursery @ semakau 1 from BeachBum on Vimeo.

The seagrass lagoon at Semakau is a very important place for young marine organisms to take shelter from predators. The young include both shrimp and fish fry. The dense seagrass lagoons make it difficult for larger fish to find the smaller fish or shrimp fry and this allows for more fry to reach adulthood and pro-create the next generation. Seagrass lagoons therefore play an important part in ensuring our fish stocks are managed well. Without seagrass lagoons, our fish stocks will be greatly reduced.

A well managed seagrass lagoon is a crucial asset to ensuring that our local waters are good breeding grounds for young fish and shrimp.

See http://research.myfwc.com/features/view_article.asp?id=20720 on the importance of seagrass lagoons.

The clip shows very young shrimp. The bodies are translucent and each was only about 1cm in length. The seagrass seen in the clip is Enhalus acoroides or Tape seagrass as it is commonly called. (see http://mangrove.nus.edu.sg/pub/seashore/text/108.htm) .
More links :
http://www.wildsingapore.com/chekjawa/text/g106.htm - on Tape Seagrass.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulau_Semakau - on Pulau Semakau.
On Seagrass Watch :
http://www.seagrasswatch.org/Info_centre/education/Seagrass_Educators_Handbook.pdf
http://www.seagrasswatch.org/home.html

flathead@semakau...gone in a flash!

flathead fish@semakau....gone in a flash! from BeachBum on Vimeo.

Was at Semakau early this morning for a Team Seagrass(TS) session.
[see http://teamseagrass.blogspot.com/ and http://wildfilms.blogspot.com/2008/08/semakau-with-teamseagrass.html]
Managed to observe this flathead fish (Family Platycephalidae?) lying in the sand. With some gentle persuasion from the end of a TS ruler, it took all of a blink of an eye for this fish to disappear in a flash of sand.

nudibranch ~ up close and personal! @ cyrene reef, singapore!

Nudibranch ~ up very close and very personal @ Cyrene Reef, Singapore from BeachBum on Vimeo.

This is a large video so do wait for it to stream fully before viewing!
Click on the Vimeo link for better (HD) quality viewing.

According to http://wildfilms.blogspot.com/2008/07/cyrene-walk-with-ura.html, it could be "some sort of Dendrodoris, possibly Dendrodoris tuberculosa, see entry on Dr Bill Rudman's Sea slug forum." There seems to be great potential for colour variation in this species.

See also http://wildfilms.blogspot.com/2008/04/earth-day-with-echinoderms-at-pulau.html for what could be a different colour variation of this species.

The specimen in the video was about 5 inches long and found in a sandy area on Cyrene Reef off the West Coast of Singapore in an area surrounded by a container port and petrochemical hub. (More on Cyrene here : http://www.wildsingapore.com/places/cyrene.htm)

More links on Nudibranchs :-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nudibranch
http://www.seaslugforum.net/
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/06/nudibranchs/holland-text - a recent National Geographic article on Nudibranchs
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/06/nudibranchs/doubilet-photography - more superb u/w photos!
http://slugsite.tierranet.com/
http://www.sio.ucsd.edu/voyager/nudibranch/
http://www.accessexcellence.com/BF/bf07/gosliner/index.php - about the evolution of colours in sea slugs

giant mother of all synaptic sea cucumbers!

giant synaptic sea cucumber ! ....from outaspace from BeachBum on Vimeo.
This is a large video so do wait for it to stream fully before viewing!
Click on the Vimeo link for better quality viewing .

Could this strange creature be from outer space? Does planet earth really have such creatures?
Does Singapore have them as well?

Well, Singapore definitely has synaptic sea cucumbers! Lots of them can be found on wonderful Cyrene Reef off the West Coast. (More on Cyrene here : http://www.wildsingapore.com/places/cyrene.htm)

Found this rather large synaptic sea cucumber of Cyrene Reef. It was very much larger (about 3cm in diameter) than any other I'd seen before. You can really see how it uses it's grasping tentacles to grasp material and shove it into it's mouth. The tentacles look like they have some sort of sticky ability. Anything they come across gets pulled into the mouth and passed down the digestive tract. You can just about make out the wave-like motion along the body of the animal.

The body is unlike that of other sea cucumbers. The synaptics' use the surrounding water to stretch themselves out. When they need to, they can instantly expel the water by contracting the body wall. (see the clip ending when the synaptic contracts itself away from the camera).

Interesting points to ponder on:-
Do sea cucumbers have eyes?
Do sea cucumbers have brains?
Are there separate male and female sea cucumbers?

blowing brown cucumber 2 @ cyrene reef

blowing brown cucumber from BeachBum on Vimeo.
[Click on the Vimeo link for better quality]
This clip shows the blowing ability of the mysterious brown cucumber. It can really put out a real force of water. But why the need for such a forceful spurt? The cucumber's skin is seen close up!...It's covered in hairs! or hair-like structures.

The clip does not show off the mouth sections well but you can get an idea as to how it goes about looking for food and sucking it up. Much like a vacuum cleaner. The exhaust is thrown out the back.

In all of my 10 minutes with this cucumber, it hardly moved at all. I've seen snails move faster!

links :
on Cyrene http://www.wildsingapore.com/places/cyrene.htm

blowing brown cucumber + black cloud + petrochemical plant flare @ Cyrene reef

blowing brown cucumber + black cloud + flare @ Cyrene reef from BeachBum on Vimeo.

Found this sole brown cucumber at Cyrene. Not seen another one of it's kind anywhere else. There are other species of sea cucumber on Cyrene but this was the only one of it's kind on Cyrene I spotted that day.

It is noticeably different from the other cukes in that it has a rather large hole at the rear end...an anus! At least it was on the other end of the animal from it's mouth!. Some other cukes seem to have only one main aperture...i.e the mouth is also its anus.

This cuke was about 12 inches long and sitting in a shallow lagoon at low tide. It was actually blowing water out from the big hole. You can make out the turbulence at the water surface just above the hole. Why is it doing this? Maybe it is just expelling water which it takes in from the from end?

In the background is Singapore's Jurong Island. A rather loud alarm was sounded slightly before one of the chimneys was lighted up. A huge black cloud resulted upon first ignition....looks like that cloud would disappear towards the eastern. Flares are emergency measures put in place at such industrial locations to burn off excess waste gases.
"One of the prominent features of every oil refinery and petrochemical plant is a tall stack with a small flame burning at the top. This stack, called a flare, is an essential part of the plant safety system. In the event of equipment failure or plant shutdown, it is necessary to purge the volatile hydrocarbons from operating equipment so that it can be serviced." ~ www.britannica.com

If the flare results in a clear burn (apart from the initial black cloud), then the system is running as designed. However, if the flare continues to produce a black cloud, then the system is not performing as designed. So if the black cloud heads your way.......Run! or hold your breath before it reaches you.!

sand star regeneration @ cyrene

sand star regeneration @ cyrene from BeachBum on Vimeo.

[Click on the VIMEO link for better quality video]
Seastars have a remarkable ability to re-generate their limbs.
This one had lost two of its arms but it was growing two new ones.
You can see the tiny arms jutting out.

Link : http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-213X/7/115
This Article explains all about regeneration in sea cucumbers.

moving star @ cyrene

moving star @ cyrene from BeachBum on Vimeo.
[Click on the VIMEO link for better quality video]
Ever wondered how sand stars move?
They use their tube feet. Each arm has numerous tube feet.
The clip shows how a sand star moves over undulating terrain....much like a hovercraft...except you have to pay attention to see the tube feet at work.

More on sand stars !...
http://www.wildsingapore.com/chekjawa/text/p610.htm
http://www.wildsingapore.com/chekjawa/text/s603.htm
http://mangrove.nus.edu.sg/pub/seashore/text/221.htm

sand star w central hole @ cyrene

sand star @ wonderful cyrene from BeachBum on Vimeo.

[Click on the VIMEO link for better quality video]

Came across this sand star (amongst the thousands at Cyrene) which had a peculiar vent at its top. It was opening and closing the hole as if on some periodic cycle. It looked like it was passing water through. This vent was not the madreporite as you can see the madreporite a little to the left. (someone correct me if I am wrong here). Apparently, some star species have an anal aperture at the top side. This is likely what the hole is.

The aperture is lined by a membrane which opens up just below the exterior minute fingers surrounding the hole.

Notice the tiny conical snail shell slightly off centre.
More on sand stars !...
http://www.wildsingapore.com/chekjawa/text/p610.htm
http://www.wildsingapore.com/chekjawa/text/s603.htm
http://mangrove.nus.edu.sg/pub/seashore/text/221.htm

anemone shrimp @ surprising cyrene

anemone shrimp @ cyrene reef from BeachBum on Vimeo.
[click on the vimeo link for better video quality]

It's always a joy to wake up really early (5am) and head out of the house in search of adventure. Today (Tuesday - 22 July 2008) was no exception.

Cyrene Reef (Terumbu Pandan in Malay) was full of surprises as usual. There is always something new to discover.

The clip shows an (actually two) anemone shrimp in a carpet anemone.
The shrimp benefits from practising commensalism where it lives in a symbiotic relationship with the anemone which is not harmed. Usually, there are two shrimps...one male (smaller) and a female (bigger). The males are usually less spotted and are more transparent. The females have more noticeable spots.

Have a look here for a more detailed narration of the wonderful trip to Cyrene!
http://wildfilms.blogspot.com/2008/07/another-cyrene-walk.html

More links...on Anemone Shrimps :
http://www.divegallery.com/anemone_shrimp_P_brevicarpalis.htm
http://uforest.blogspot.com/2008/03/anemone-shrimp.html
http://budak.blogs.com/the_annotated_budak/2007/07/anemone-shrimp.html

Fancy a scientific article on the life and times of an anemone shrimp? Costs and benefits of the symbiosis between the anemoneshrimp Periclimenes brevicarpalis and its host Entacmaea quadricolor http://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v129/p77-84/ - co-authored by Dr Daphne Fautin who recently visited Singapore to research Singapore's anemones (see  http://www.wildsingapore.com/news/20070708/070804-2.htm and http://wildfilms.blogspot.com/2007/07/show-me-mone.html)

Dr Fautin's website : http://hercules.kgs.ku.edu/Hexacoral/Anemone2/

Snake@Labrador Nature Reserve

snake @ Labrador Nature Reserve from BeachBum on Vimeo.

This agile snake startled me by landing on some leaves on the ground near my foot and started wriggling towards the railing. It probably dropped from a tree above.

Is it a bronzeback or a paradise tree snake (a.k.a flying snake)? Someone do let me know. (I think it's a Painted Bronzeback - see http://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/snakes/painted_bronzeback.htm)

It had this amazing sideways head move as if it was saying 'no' and a very red forked toungue which tasted the air at amazing speed. It's agility can be seen when it weaves it's way effortlessly through the green fence.

Does Singapore have flying snakes?
Yes it does ! - see http://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/snakes/paradise_tree-snake.htm and http://www.flyingsnake.org/.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/05/050512201549.htm
http://jeb.biologists.org/content/vol208/issue10/

Surprising Singapore!

hairy crab @ hantu

hairy crab @ hantu from BeachBum on Vimeo.

See http://www.wildsingapore.com/chekjawa/text/c324.htm

See also http://mangrove.nus.edu.sg/pub/seashore/text/211.htm

Want to know more about Pulau Hantu?
See http://www.wildsingapore.com/places/hantu.htm

eel-egant hunter @ hantu

Eel-egant hunter @ Hantu from BeachBum on Vimeo.
This was shot on Pulau Hantu, Singapore.
(more on Pulau Hantu here http://www.wildsingapore.com/places/hantu.htm)
It could be an eel blenny {http://www.wildsingapore.com/chekjawa/text/c212.htm} or a green worm eel.{http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/guidebooks/marinefish/text/213.htm}
I'm not sure. It was not green at all but a pale white in colour.About 8cm in length.

It was actively looking for food and was busy poking it's snout into every hole.
Eventually, it found a tiny hole in the sand and disappeared into it without re-appearing. Maybe it found another way out or got eaten by something else!

More on this Hantu trip from Wildfilms : http://wildfilms.blogspot.com/2008/07/accidentally-hantu.html

octopus surprise @ hantu

octopus surprise @ hantu from BeachBum on Vimeo.
An octopus is always a surprise. This one appeared within a rockpool and constantly changed it's patterns. It's ability to pulsate it's patterns and colours at will and on demand is simply amazing!

More interesting facts ...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A2818659

ze great octopus escape @ Labrador Nature Reserve

ze great octopus escape - part 1 from BeachBum on Vimeo.


ze great octopus escape - part 2 from BeachBum on Vimeo.


ze great octopus escape - part 3 from BeachBum on Vimeo.

See also http://sgbeachbum.blogspot.com/2008/06/great-octopus-escape-15-june2008.html

nerite snails @ labrador

snail story @ labrador from BeachBum on Vimeo.
Visit http://www.wildsingapore.com/chekjawa/text/r422.htm for info on Nerite snails.

Here is a recent WildSingapore blogpost on some Singapore nerites
http://wildfilms.blogspot.com/2008/06/nerites-of-changi-and-labrador.html
The colours and variety are simply amazing!

other interesting links :
http://mangrove.nus.edu.sg/guidebooks/text/2078.htm
http://mangrove.nus.edu.sg/pub/seashore/text/135.htm

red featherstar @ labrador

red featherstar @ labrador from BeachBum on Vimeo.

This one was rather small but it was very active swimming although stuck in a small pool.
The months of May and June seems to be the season for Echinoderms as there have been reports of urchins congregating at Pasir Ris, other reports of feather stars and sea stars in great numbers on Cyrene Reef.

Once the tide comes in, this red featherstar will get lifted out of the pool and be free to roam the seas.

FeatherStars are Echinoderms.
What are Echinoderms? Have a look here : http://www.wildsingapore.com/chekjawa/text/p600.htm
http://www.starfish.ch/reef/echinoderms.html
http://ebiomedia.com/prod/BOechinoderms.html

More info :-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crinoid - general info
http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Feather.htm
http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Echinodermata&contgroup=Metazoa - must read!
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8168 - about sea lilies being able to crawl away from danger.

snapping shrimp and goby symbiosis @ labrador

snapping shrimp & goby @ labrador from BeachBum on Vimeo.

When you visit to an intertidal area such as the Labrador Nature Reserve Beach, you would almost certainly hear occasional snapping pops coming from the ground. These are from snapping shrimps. They live in excavated burrows lined with small stones as a sort of embankment or reinforcement to keep the surrounding sand in place.

One of the amazing things is that the snapping shrimps usually have a live-in goby fish. These two rely on each other. The goby probably relies on the shrimp for protection whereas the shrimp relies on the goby as a lookout. The goby is seen frequently at the edge or rim of the burrow and darts in and out whenever it feels threatened.

In the clip, you can see a dark banded goby coming out first before the shrimp starts housekeeping by clearing sand which has flowed into the burrows with the waves. If there is a hint of trouble, the goby darts into the burrow.

How does the snapping shrimp make the snap?
Look here for more information :-
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/10/1003_SnappingShrimp.html

another earlier post : http://sgbeachbum.blogspot.com/2008/05/beautiful-cyrene-4-red-snapping-shrimp.html

eagle @ labrador nature reserve

Eagle @ Labrador from BeachBum on Vimeo.

This one flew in and tried to land on a high tree but it missed it's footing and had to try again. A rough guesstimate would be that this was a white bellied sea eagle. This species is native to Singapore and can be seen at Labrador Park. It is quite likely a resident at Labrador.

More info and pics :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-bellied_Sea-eagle

ze great octopus escape @ 15 June2008

ze great octopus escape - part 1 from BeachBum on Vimeo.

One of the fishermen along the promenade was busy the whole morning catching lots of tiny fish. He threw some back but kept the others. I wonder how our fish stocks are going to improve if our fishermen keep taking the young fish well before they can mature and produce offspring.

He caused a stir when his line pulled up a squiggly squirmy blob. It turned out to be an Octopus. This must have been one really hungry octopus to have gone out looking for trouble in a super sunny morning when there were sooooo many fishermen around at the promenade and all along the main aisle of the Labrador jetty.

Lucky for the octopus, the fisherman did not want it and freed it from the sharp hook. The Octopus immediately and without hesitation made a straight line for the nearest water. It did not get disoriented and knew exactly where the water was.

How it did this is beyond me. Maybe it instinctively headed for the sunny side of the promenade...but this would have been unusual as an octopus would want to hide (?) in a dark place instead of being out in the open. Maybe it could 'smell' the seawater?

It managed to drop over the promenade onto the granite embankment and got tangled up with some leaves. It stopped for a few brief moments as if to gather it's breath...and probably to psyche itself up for another spurt of energy...and then it continued it's desperate crawl for life.

When it seemed to give up (or rather stop to catch it's breath again), the fisherman came along to give it some help. Once in the water, there was no looking back. Home Sweet Home.

Note : Fishing along the main aisle of Labrador jetty is an offence. Fine up to $5,000!!! This rule was put in place to help protect the sensitive near shore area where there is a good selection of natural corals growing but which may face certain destruction with the numerous fishing lines and hooks crossing it each day (and night) if fishing were to continue unrestricted there. Fishing is allowed further along the jetty.
HELP PROTECT the natural environment and organisms which habit Labrador Reserve.

some interesting links about Octopi:-
http://mangrove.nus.edu.sg/pub/seashore/text/168.htm
http://www.wildsingapore.com/chekjawa/text/c490.htm
info on the eye structure of octopi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus - lots of info about octopi !
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2796607.stm - jar opening octopus
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1529397.stm - octopus arm self-intelligence