NatureScouter

Crinoid Hunt at Hantu

2008-09-22T10:17:00.003+08:00

It's been a long time since my last entry. Just got so busy after my Korea's World Scout Youth Forum and Conference. But here I am again!

It was another hunt, but this time for crinoids or what you would call feather stars. Two researchers from Japan (Dr. Yoshihisa Fujita & Mr. Masami Obuchi) led the team.

Stupidly enough, I didn't take a single photo of any crinoids... but nonetheless a bunch of the usual critters found, with a couple of nice finds.

The octopuses were all out to play. Saw like 7 or 8 of them... big and small...

Fishes! No idea what the hell are these... Ain't a fishy guy here.

But I sure know this is a flathead or also known as a crocodile fish. Found quite a few of them embedded in the sand.

Also found quite a few anemones with clownfish or better know as Nemo. Even found a baby nemo measuring about 1cm long only!!

Crabbies.

Crabbie eating a snail. Escargot?

Flatworms. Apparently the one on the left is usually only seen during dives and not on intertidal. Wondering why is it doing at the intertidal area...

Nudis!! Can't remember the names...

A transparent peacock anemone. Have seen this a few times, and always by chance.

Hunter in action. This sea anemone was happily feasting on a tiny fish (about 1cm). This too was transparent and once again spotted by chance. Perhaps it's the silver sheen of the fish that gave away it's location.

CRINOID 101

A little something I've learnt from the researchers. Using an old photo as an example.
- Baby crinoids are born with only 5 arms!!
- Crinoids autotomise their arms at the base in order to grow more arms!!
- Crinoids are ID-ed by the number of segments in their arms and cirri!!
- They are a very difficult group to ID!! Duhz...
- Colour and patterning may or may not be unique within species...

Something new learnt everyday!!

YEP It's LEAP

2008-08-26T17:30:00.004+08:00

23 August 2008 marks the LEAP. Not having little froggies hopping around, but rather L.E.A.P - Leading Expeditions: A Problem?

L.E.A.P. is the first networking and resource sharing platform that Youth Expedition Project (YEP) is organizing specially for student leaders who are keen to embark on the journey of leading teams abroad for Overseas Community Service Projects.

A huge crowd of 110 youth leaped on down to *Scape Youth Centre for the event!

They were treated to a feast of experiences and information from YEP alumni and staff. It started off with a simple ice breaker by Jared. Having spilt the participants into countries of their interest or involvement, the youth not only exchanged names but also information and experiences with each other. There was so much to discuss that they had to be stopped for the next segment.

First up was the all time experienced and familiar Mr. Goh Ann Tat (Below left). "Why take the LEAP? - Are you there to save the world?" was his focus. His informative and interesting presentation sure got everyone start thinking of their journey.

Next it was a sharing session by ex-leaders Jonathan and Boon Kian (Above right) on their project, " Project First Step" which was done last year. Plenty of photos flashed across the screen and captivated the participants for sure.

Most important part was up next - Tea Break!! Oops, should I say Networking Tea Break. The word 'Networking' should be more important, also considering the fact that it comes before the words' Tea Break' or not in parenthesis. Enough said, photo speaks louder than words.

Intermission over and it's sharing Part II. Khariyah shared her project (Amor) experience and things that you will come across and learn throughout the project. It was really nice to have someone speaking so passionately.

Next up was me for Project Sirius... and I must say it was not well done. Didn't have time to do any ppt, so I marked down on a piece of paper what I wanted to touch on and shared. Lesson learnt for me... but I was right in one thing - no one in the room was going to do projects on conservation and environment. After asking the participants and receiving a null response, I turned and looked at Dawn and Shu Hui and said, "See... I told you so!" and we bursted out laughing. Of course, the publicity for such projects started, with the indication of the article I wrote for the first YEP journal.

Up next was a YEP veteran, who has led 7 projects - Jared, along with Zheng Ping, another experienced leader. They talked about the Guerrilla Guide and Expedition.SG. They also shared on the various resources and yahoo groups that are available. No doubts they are the YEP professionals.

Last but not the least, YEP sharing on application process, training & resources and the new mentorship programme. Interestingly staged, Dawn, Shu Hui, Siti and Yasmin put up a skit to intrigue the audience. A breath of fresh air I must say!

All in all, the presenters put up a good show and I'm sure the participants enjoyed and benefited from it. So I can conclude that the goal of YEP - 'Return Richer', was met.

Earth Hour at the World Scout Youth Forum

2008-07-05T10:35:00.005+08:00

First started in Syndey, Australia in 2007, Earth Hour globalized in 2008. But why only a day every year? The Singapore Scout Association's Youth Delegation to the 10th World Scout Youth Forum is bringing Earth Hour to Korea!

'Earth Hour in Korea' is fortunate to have the blessings of the World Scout Youth Forum planning committee, Korea Scout Association and Wonkwang University (venue of the Forum). Let's make the impact in Korea and spread it around to all the regions in the world! Who knows this might jolly well be the start of a common practice at all Youth Forums across the globe!

Star Tracking at Cyrene #3

2008-06-24T16:51:00.008+08:00

Been quite occupied with work and Scouting for this couple of months. It will continue till after July I'm sure... Nonetheless, managed to dig out time for a Cyrene trip yesterday for Star Tracking. This time round, CK and I tested a new site.

The sky was gloomy alright, but hey who will complain when it doesn't r***. Soon the sun greeted the regular visitors of Cyrene with the company of a few newbies.

CK and I wasted no time in surveying the new area and soon the stars started appearing despite the bright daylight. I'll save the star photos for CK to put on STAR TRACKERS. As with the usual monitoring, there's no time to walk around and snap much. However, today was few but good.

Not sure what was this exactly - Cushion sea star (Culcita novaeguinea) or Cake sea star (Anthenea aspera). Didn't think of snapping a photo of the underside as everything was in a mad rush - It was a 'snap and go'.

Update: KS mentioned that this is most probably a Cushion sea star as he has seen the juvenile of its kind and it's similar. Thanks KS!

This Nepanthia sp. was well hidden beside a Knobbly that I was measuring.

You can easily find Peacock Anemone (Cerianthus sp.) almost on every shore. They come in beautiful colours - orange, white, green, yellow etc.

But this particular one was a first for me. A black/dark purplish beauty as I would call it.

Of course, not forgetting my favourite nudibranchs. This find was a lucky one as I only saw this Dendrodoris denisoni moving while staring at a Knobbly. This one is about 7-8cm. The photo does the nudi no justice as the spots are suppose to be neon blue instead of grey...

This fellow is an amazing example of survival. When I found it, it was actually lodged sideways in the seagrass with the arms sticking out. CK and I assumed it was just normal till I picked it up, revealing a two-armed P. nodusus. After some examination, we realised the other 3 arms were chomped off at the oral disc edge. But we also noticed something else, it just so happen that the madreporite (P. nodusus has only one) is still there. Now we wonder, is the oral disc alone enough for survival? Or it requires the madreporite too?

The sieve-like madreporite is an opening used to filter water into the water vascular system of echinoderms, allowing the entry of seawater. Since the bodies of echinoderms are 'waster-based', it might be crucial for this structure to be present. Maybe I will go find out more.

Last but not the least, a quick report of the Protoreaster nodusus monitoring. As of initial analyze of data collected, a total of 64 individuals were recorded on this trip alone. This is more than the previous two trips in May combined (62)! What's more interesting is that babies comprised more than 80% of the total number!

After some comparison, out of the 64 seen, apparently almost all of them are new individuals (not recorded from previous trips in May)! This may jolly well bring the total number of Protoreaster nodusus population in Cyrene Reef to at least a whooping 120!!

This is definitely the largest population of P. nodusus you can find in Singapore. Be it seasonal or not, this proves that this safe heaven should be preserved for the sake of all its fauna, and for all our children to see. We should not be the ones to witness the demise of this wonderful patch of reef!

Four days, Four shores, Whole lot of insanity

2008-06-10T10:31:00.004+08:00

Having to wake up at what my colleague calls ungodly hours to do crazy things for crazy stuff, that's what a bunch of us did - all for the sake of zoanthids. Roaming around in the darkness when most Homo sapiens in the right mind would be tucked nicely in bed, we ventured four shores (Kusu, Hantu, Changi & Cyrene) in four days.

Here is to show the stuff that also do not sleep at ungodly hours, or simply those I-can't-move-or-run-so-I've-no-choice-if-you-disturb-me kind.

Corals are plentiful, but these are rather interesting. Turbinaria sp. (left) found at Cyrene, with an interesting yellow calcium carbonate skeleton and possibly a Ctenactis sp. at Hantu, that has grown to humongous proportion (about 2 feet in length).

Octopus (Order Octopoda)- one of those night critters...

Quite a huge prawn (Order Decapoda). Seafood anyone?

A long ribbon worm (Phylum Nemertea) that perhaps went back to sleep when it knows we were here.

A large Metopograpsus sp. crab wandering around a pillar of the jetty at Kusu.

Some Temnopleurus sp. (left) found at Changi, along with quite a handful of Diadema setosum found on Cyrene and Hantu.

Interesting looking sponge (Phylum Porifera) found in Hantu.

A couple of interesting looking soft corals (Order Alcyonacea) found at Changi. Looks like.... you-know-what....

Seafans (Order Gorgonacea) or gorgonians found at Changi. Quite a bunch of them around.

Seafans-look-alike, but boy... you don't want to mess with these... Hydroids (Order Hydrozoa) will give you hell of a time if you touch them.

Of course, there were the usual Knobblies (Protoreaster nodusus) at Cyrene. Well they now have a whole blog to themselves so here's the others - (left) a baby Cushion seastar (Culcita novaeguinea) from Cyrene and a Crown seastar (Asterina coronata) or rock star (imagine finding a guitar when you flip it over! Okay... lame.. but this is what we strive on at 2 or 3am in the morning) from Changi.

Cowries! Cypraea onyx (left) and Cypraea miliaris from Kusu. Aren't they beautiful with their mantle and foot extended?

Crinoids (Class Crinoidea) or feather stars seems to be in season. Seen more than two dozen of them across the four days. They come in such wide variety of colours that sometimes I wonder are they just colour morphs of only a few species. Well, let's wait for a crinoid expert to descend upon Singapore. Hehe...

Here's another crinoid. But if you notice carefully, there a Toadfish (Family Batrachoididae) right under it.

So now for more fishy stuff, (left) a Filefish (Family Monocanthidae) from Hantu and a Flathead (Family Platycephalidae) from Cyrene.

Seen the most numbers of nemos during this period, more than I've ever seen before. Hiding among anemones, these Amphiprion ocellaris were seen in Kusu, Hantu and Cyrene.

Interesting fishes that swims vertically are these Razorfish (Family Centriscidae) seen at Cyrene. Notice that their fins are modified to be extended throughout the underside of their body so that they can swim vertically easily. Cool eh? An adaptation to live among seagrass lagoons.

Flatworms!! Not sure about the top two's (from Kusu) ID, but bottom left is a Pseudobiceros gratus from Cyrene and Acanthozoon sp. (bottom right) seen in Hantu and Cyrene. A Flower anemone (Phymanthus sp.) is seen in the photo with the Acanthozoon sp.. These anemones come in different colours and are commonly seen.

Oh boy... I always do this. I'm not a nudibranch expert but I simply love them so I keep the best for last. From top, clockwise: Glossodoris atromarginata (Cyrene), probably a Hypselodoris infucata (Changi), two Phyllids, probably Phyllidiella pustulosa (Hantu, Cyrene) and Pteraeolidia ianthina (Cyrene). Didn't take a photo of Jorunna funebris thou.

End of the trips = sleepy, tired, hungry always, but all worthwhile! Can't wait for the next researcher to come. Hahahaha...

Zoanthid Hunt (4-8 June 2008)

2008-06-09T15:45:00.005+08:00

Dr. James Davis Reimer, a zoanthid expert, was in town to work on the zoanthids found in Singapore. Together with staff from Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research and a bunch of volunteers, the team combed the shores of Kusu, Hantu, Changi and even Cyrene to look for the often ignored zoanthids.

As I was busy helping during the field trip, I didn't take a lot of photos. But I did learn a lot from Dr. Reimer. He taught the whole team well enough that most of us could tell the differences at least down to genus after a couple of trips.

Easiest to identify. Being a distinct mat-like, these are Palythoa tuberculosa. Can't miss it.

These are probably Zoanthus vietnamensis. They often come in what Dr. Reimer calls 'Hello Kitty Pink' or 'Mint Green'. Zoanthus may be identified by a stripe across the oral disc which can be seen sometimes even when the polyp is closed. Zoanthus have smooth columns as they do not incorporate sand particles inside their body.

These are Palythoa mutuki, another species in the same genus as Palythoa tuberculosa. If you feel Palythoa's column, they are rather grainy as this genus incorporates sand, unlike Zooanthus as mentioned above. Furthermore, P. mutuki has larger polyps than Zoanthus, with a noticeable white (usually) radial stripe that ends off with a bump (which can be usually seen when polyp is closed).

The smaller polyps (right) among the P. mutuki are actually Zoanthus sansibaricus. Compared to Z. vietnamesis, these have smaller polyps. More often than not, they are hard to distinguish. Hehe...

Here's an extended polyp of P. mutuki.

According to Dr. Reimer, there should be at least 6 species, and up to 12 species of zoanthids in Singapore. Z. vientnamensis, Z. sansibaricus and P. mutuki was found on all four shores we been. However, P. tuberculosa was not found only in Changi. There were also a couple of interesting finds, so we shall await good news from Dr. Reimer.

Well, for more on the zooanthid trips, visit the following links of wildfilm blog:
Kusu
Hantu
Changi
Cyrene

Marine little critters

2008-05-31T12:58:00.003+08:00

Wonder what you see on intertidal trips are all that you see? Ever ponder what could be all around you in the very water you stand? I did some water sieving using a fine net among the seagrasses, and even to my very own surprise... the following are what you can get!

Note: Everything here are smaller than 1cm (10mm), with some almost undistingushable with naked eye.

Cool looking shrimps, both carrying eggs.

Mini gastropods.

Amphipod.

Another two different type of amphipods.

Isopods, one green and one translucent just like the shrimps.

Two different types of copepods.

Seen a baby crab before? But not all baby crabs look like their parents as they go through a larva stage which is what you see here.

From left: Arrowhead worm, unknown nematod.

'Baby' bristle worm. This is just slightly longer than 1cm.

AND a nudibranch?!?! Cool eh? Anyone know what's this?

Never over look the micro organism in the water! You never know what surprises await you!

Pulau Tioman, Malaysia

2008-05-31T12:48:00.003+08:00

I was with Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research in Tioman to conduct a field study camp for Hwa Chong Institute. Being my first time there, it was a pretty good experience. The biodiversity there was rather familiar with the occasional new stuff. Also had a good snorkeling experience, seeing crown of thorns, cushion sea star, damn lots of sea urchins, damn lots of corals, damn lots of reef fishes. With no waterproof cameras, I can show nothing. Perhaps the others will put something up.

Beautiful view outside my room.

With the occasional rainbow after the rain.

Due to shortage of time, the photos are once again in montage style.

Damn lots of stuff, damn little time. Damn... I'm using too much... 'damn'...?

STAR TRACKERS!

2008-05-14T16:32:00.015+08:00

No, it's not Star Wars or Star Trek! It's STAR TRACKERS!

It is a monitoring programme of Knobbly sea star (Protoreaster nodusus) initiated by Chee Kong and me. It all started when I was sending CK photos of P. nodusus whenever I find any on my field trips, knowing that he was doing a study on them. One fine day, we just logged on MSN and discuss about them. That's it - STAR TRACKERS was borned.

For more information of what STAR TRACKERS is about, visit here.

This is not just a scientist's project. The public can be involved too! If you happen to be walking along a shore or on any guided nature walks and find a Knobbly sea star, you can help to gather the data too! Look here to find out more on how can you play a part in this!

First two monitoring sessions at Cyrene Reef were a success! Being able to identify them as individuals, we can easily monitor their population and growth over time! Look here and here for records of individual mug shots. I have personally named C0022 (Photo above) as 'White Chip', as the knobs are of an unusual white instead of black, reminding me of white chocolate chips. C0020 and C0025 are also easily recognisable - the former with only 5 central knobs and the latter with so many knobs, enough to form almost a circle around its central disc! =D

Just two trips alone, the results are shocking! Total of 62 individuals were found! This means there are at least 62 Knobblies living on Cyrene Reef itself, and definitely much more out there! Play your part in this programme by sending in your sightings, and watch the numbers grow!!

Go Star Troopers!

Acknowledgement: Special thanks to Ria for allowing us to leech on her trips to conduct Star Tracking. Also thanks to all those who helped us locate the Knobblies, plant the flags, and eventually collect the flags back.

Alicia at Cyrene Reef

2008-05-11T23:06:00.005+08:00

Just as in the Greek mythology, where Cyrene captures Apollo's heart - Cyrene Reef has captured our hearts and deeply mesmerized us with her beauty. First, she revealed her star jewel, which instead of splashing across the sky, it was splashed all over the news.

Now she reveals a 'daughter' of hers, Alicia. And this is how she looks like.

As stunning (literally) as Cyrene herself, Alicia flows with grace and dresses well.

She even puts gloss on her lips, and has dyes of pink streaks!

This is actually a sea anemone, Alicia sp. As quoted from Dr. Daphne Fautin, an expert in sea anemones:
"WONDERFUL!!!! This is a member of Family Aliciidae, which is one of those on which my graduate student is concentrating. So there is another one for her to seek when we visit Singapore! And it is an addition to our growing list. It is probably Alicia, of which there are 2-3 known species that this might be. My student will be looking at type specimens during the next six months, so will soon have a very good idea of the features distinguishing each."

This particular anemone was found by someone (you know who you are. =D) during the recent trip to Cyrene Reef. This family of sea anemones are rare and they can sting fairly severely. At night, the anemone spreads its crown of tentacles and expands its stalk decorated with numerous distinct outgrowths called pseudotentacles. During the day, the tentacles and the stalk contract, and the animal looks like a mass of clustered berries. Hence, many people who see this animal during the day don't recognize it as an anemone.

Pseudotentacles usually have stinging cells (nematocysts) similar to those in the tentacles. The function of the nematocysts differ, however. In pseudotentacles, they are used in defense, while in the crown tentacles, they capture food. Pseudotentacles may be highly branched and loaded with algal cells called zooxanthellae. In such cases, the pseudotentacles are exposed to light during the day and the algal cells photosynthesize. At night, the tentacles expand and the animal feeds on particles in the water.

Once again, Cyrene has amazed us with her biodiversity. Are there more out there? I betcha. Let us hope for the best for Cyrene and her amazing biodiversity!

Team Seagrass at Pulau Semakau

2008-05-10T19:07:00.005+08:00

It's back to Semakau again. Count number three.

Morning was good till we reach Semakau - it started pouring... So we decided to slack a little, excuse being to wait out the rain, and had a short briefing right at the doorsteps of the NEA building. When the downpour changed into a drizzle, we started off on foot to the shore.

Today I'm paired with Yixin, a newbie of TSG. I didn't realise one thing till Jerald (coordinator of the day) brought it up. This is his third TSG trip and for the past two, I've been always his buddy. Jerald was like complaining why Siti broke the two of us up. Lol...

Nevertheless, newbie saved me from the recurring nightmares of my initial smart excuse... OOPS! I meant reasoning, which came back to bite me. To the hell with Site 2! Here I come Site 1!

Site 1 Transect 2 is really interesting. There was lesser and lesser seagrass cover as we went down the line, to virtually empty barren sand. From left: Quadrat at 5m, 25m and 45m.

With the speedy work, Yixin and me started exploring. Other than the usual corals everywhere, it was a little disappointing as there wasn't much.

From top left, clockwise: Possibly a Oulophyllia sp.??, Lobophyllia sp., Goniopora sp. and Galaxea sp.

Large amount of squid egg capsules.

Cute little puffer fish that ram ashore, while darting around in the water. Saves us the trouble catching it to photograph.

While walking, Ayesha (another newcomer, correct me if I get your name wrongly) nearly step on this... A monitor lizard soaking itself in the cooling water just by the reef edge! It was huge, at least a good 1.5m. Neat!

Found this Magnificent Anemone (Heteractis magnifica). Too bad Nemo's not home...

Saw this beauty on the way back also. Don't know the ID of this flatworm thou.

Chay Hoon and I was trying to find our usual nudis, but was not in much luck till...

She spotted this Glossodoris atromarginata. The only nudi for me today...

Being the usual eagle-eyed Chay Hoon, she spots this too.

Looks familiar? I know ya going to say mushroom coral, but it is not. It was about 4-5cm in diameter, and in fact is an anemone! No idea of the ID, awaiting confirmation.

Despite the rain, it's still a nice day. Especially with the lunch at Botanic Gardens, where everyone gobbled up their food and stoned. =D

Sedili, Johor, Malaysia

2008-05-05T15:32:00.002+08:00

Was with a group of friends in Sedili over Labour Day weekend.

Wonderful place with a spectacular view, accompanied by amazing flora and fauna.

Apart from a nice rocky shore, there's also mangroves and forest.

And of course, not forgetting two mornings of beautiful sunrise...

And here's the flora and fauna of Sedili in montage style.

Never had a holiday for quite some time and this was definitely worth it!

Super Star in the News!

2008-05-04T09:25:00.002+08:00

Remember this Super Star of Cyrene Reef (Pentaceraster mammillatus)? It's up in the news!!

For those who missed it (like me... couldn't get a copy by the time I reached back in SG), visit here and here.

Note: My green rubber tubing is in the photo! Hahaha...

Super Star of Echinoderm Hunt! - Part II

2008-04-25T20:17:00.010+08:00

Part II is here! And this time we were off to Cyrene Reef with Dr. Lane.

Comprises 3 patch reefs - Terumbu Pandan, Pandan Beacon and South Cyrene Beacon, Cyrene Reef is one of the largest patch reef systems in Singapore. Located to the south of mainland Singapore, it is smacked right in the middle of a shipping lane. Hundreds of ships transit the waters around the reef every day. The reef is also next to huge industrial sites like Jurong Island and Pulau Bukom. Despite all these, the biodiversity on Cyrene is amazing. So much so that certain fauna found here could possibly be found no where else.

Our main aim for today is echinoderms and nothing else. So this post will be solely focused on echinoderms.

We set off just before sunrise on the 'Dolphin Explorer' managed by Melvin at the Singapore Yacht Club, and the scenery is beautiful as usual.

Approaching the reef, we transit to a smaller boat - 'Baby Dolphin Explorer' to land on the reef.

Once we set foot, no time was wasted and the search began, with a particular target in mind.

First critter of the echinoderm list - Sea Cucumbers. Not much, but still something.

From top left, clockwise: Sandfish (Holothuria scabra), Black Sea Cucumber (Holothuria leucospilata), and Synaptid (Family Synaptidae)

Next - Sea urchin. Well I saw only two species. One of which is a Salmacis sp., but I forgot to snap its photo!!

This is the other. This most probably is a Diadema setosum, as noted by the distinct orange anal ring.

Next - Feather sea star. One and only one I saw...

Feather stars, also known as crinoids (Class Crinoidea) are the most ancient of all echinoderms. They move by pulsating their 'feathers', but more often than not, they are directed by water currents. They have 'hooks' known as cirri, which they use to anchor themselves onto substrates.

Last but not the least - Sea stars!!

Common sea stars (Archaster typicus). They were abundant at a certain portion of the sandy area, and I meant really a lot... maneuvering around was difficult. The one on the right only has four arms, not that one was chomped off - it seems natural. I found two of this kind in total. Maybe five is a mess? Haha...

OMG!!! Not 1, not 2, but 15 Knobbly sea stars (Protoreaster nodusus)!!! Just by walking along my designated path together with some others, 15 individuals were easily found... I bet the others found many more!

However, the highlight of the trip must be this. It is THE ultimate aim of the trip.

Pentaceraster sp.!! This is not just another knobbly or a knobbly that has crossed over to the dark side. It is a new record of its type! Something new in our Singapore waters.

UPDATE: The sea star is now tentatively being identified as Pentaceraster mammillatus by Dr. David Lane. Its distribution is that of Indian Ocean, but apparently with its appearance in Singapore, it has expanded its range. It is usually found in lower eulittoral and deeper region, on sand and seagrasses. However, the taxonomy of this group has some uncertainties, with gradations between species, possible hybrids and a closely related form living in the Philippines region. Still it's an important find, indicating the cleanliness of our marine environment despite Singapore being one of the busiest port in the world.

The new find is the reason why Cyrene is so amazing. Should we preserve this patch of reef for our children to admire? Should we allow this amazing ecosystem and its rich biodiversity to continue its Nature course? Well, this is for you to decide!

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Echinoderm Hunting with Dr. David Lane - Part I

2008-04-22T20:51:00.004+08:00

Today was the first of two trips out with Dr. David Lane, who is an echinoderm expert. He often comes to Singapore to study our shallow water echinoderms.

Dr. Lane is currently a senior lecturer at Universiti Brunei Darussalam, teaching subjects like ecology, living resources and aquatic biology. More about him can be found here.

Pulau Semakau is our destination today and for those who doesn't know - it is one of our southern islands. This island is where all the ash from the incineration of our waste and non-incinerable waste ends up. The Semakau Landfill was created by enclosing Pulau Semakau and Pulau Sakeng when we exhausted our mainland landfill in 1999. Despite being developed as a landfill for our waste, biodiversity was protected. In fact, wildlife is striving very well. More about Semakau can be found here.

Our task was to find uncommon echinoderms. After the recent find of a new record, Pentaceraster sp., Dr. Lane was keen to see what else could be found. However, to find something new ain't a walk in the park. So I just find whatever I can.

Knobbly sea star (Protoreaster nodusus), the icon of Semakau. We found quite a number of them - three I think.

Octopus (Order Octopoda)

This was hiding under the sand. At first I thought it was a stingray till I notice the longish body. Thanks to Chay Hoon, I've gotten the ID! This is a Flathead (Family Platycephalidae), or also known as Crocodile fish. It inhabits estuaries and the open ocean.

Now, this is a stingray. Blue-spotted Fantail Ray, Taeniura lymma.

Hard corals - plenty of them in Semakau. From top left, clockwise: Heliofungia actiniformis, Goniopora sp., possibly Lobophyllia sp., Pocillopora sp., Centre: Pectinia sp.

These are also corals but they have a soft body instead, hence they are known as soft corals.

Feather worms or featherdusters worms or tube worms.

Jellyfish. Have seen this particular species quite often. Today alone was plentiful, at least seen 3-4 on the shores and another 3-4 at the jetty.

Anemones - From left: Peacock anemone, Star sea anemone

This is also an anemone, more specifically a flower anemone (Phymanthus sp.). If you notice, there a flatworm in the middle of the anemone! I wonder what it is doing there? Eating? Hiding? Clownfish-wannabe?

Sea cucumbers. From left - Sandfish (Holothuria scabra), Synaptid (Family Synaptidae), Stonefish (Actinopyga lecanora). If you notice carefully, there are two 'specks' on the sandfish sea cucumber. It is actually carrying a pair of mating Chromodoris lineolata on top of it... Imagine climbing on top of a cucumber so much bigger than you just to have sex... Looking for challenge eh?

Nudibranchs!!! One of my favs! From top left, clockwise: Polka-dot (Jorunna funebris), Marginated Glossodoris (Glossodoris atromarginata), the mating pair of Chromodoris lineolata that was found on top of the sandfish sea cucumber mentioned above, and another mating pair.

Not a good echinoderm day, but still a good day. Damn it's tiring thou! Kudos and admire Ria who has the energy to do this repetitively for weeks in a row. Had to go back to work after that and now I just complete this blog post.... and I'm dead... beat...

Now awaiting for part II.

TeamSeagrass at Chek Jawa

2008-04-12T22:04:00.005+08:00

I've been to and been counting every single TSG's CJ trip. This is trip no 7. In my notebook's folder, 'TSG-Chek Jawa' subfolders are slowly accumulating.

Another early morning trip with the usual beautiful sunrise.

With Vyna taking the lead, we all gathered and off we proceed to Ubin and then CJ. Siti and Ria then began with the usual briefing and distribution of the equipment.

I led site 1 group down and this was a nice shot taken from beneath the boardwalk.

A wide view of the seagrass lagoon.

Jerald was my buddy once again. And being used to working with each other, we cleared the transect in record time! And off we went exploring.

Here, in my usual style, is the critter list:

A round and spiky sponge.

Another sponge, but with a nice yellow and green cover.

This one is really spiky. Urchin, Salmacis sp..

Noble Volute, Voluta nobilis

Warty sea cucumber, Colochirus quadrangularis

Carpet anemone, Stichodactyla haddoni

Flowery soft coral, Dendronephthya sp.

Banded beads anemone, possibly Anthopleura handi

Thunder crab, Myomenippe harwicki. This one had one claw missing. Ain't the red/green eyes beautiful?

Geographic seahare, Syphonota geographica

Sea stars! Left is a Biscuit seastar, Goniodiscaster scaber, and right is an orange Cake seastar, Anthenea aspera.

And these were spotted on our way back - Cotton Stainers, Dysdercus decussatus. Apparently, these were at the same location since two weeks ago as confirmed by a friend of mine who saw them then too.

Thanks to the long period of low tide and the fast monitoring, the good one hour of exploration was fantastic. I will always return to Chek Jawa - a heritage of all Singaporeans.

TeamSeagrass at Cyrene Reef

2008-04-10T21:27:00.007+08:00

Today was a great day. First of all, it was my virgin trip to Cyrene. Couldn't make it for any of last year's Cyrene trips. Second, the weather was extremely kind. Last but not the least, we found damn lots of stuff today. So following this will only be a selection of critters.

What a beautiful morning. Everyone was of course still in a daze during the boat trip. Haha.

Soon we reached close to the edge of the reef and we hopped on a smaller boat to land on the reef. See the happy and excited faces of everyone.

What a view. Imagine an island that only appears at extreme low tides. That's how Cyrene works - in the middle of nowhere, right in a shipping lane.

While walking to site 2, this was one of the first critters we found - Anemone shrimps (Periclimenes brevicarpalis)! Not only one anemone, but quite a few anemones were occupied.

Common seastar (Archaster typicus) 'footprint'. In fact, they were actually buried underneath.

Urchins (Left: Salmacis sp., Right: Possibly a Jewel Box Sea Urchin, Mespilia globulus (Thanks Chay Hoon for ID!))! A couple of others saw urchins of other types too. Quite a variety indeed!

During the transect, I chanced upon this - an amphipod??

Swimming sea anemone (Boloceroides sp.). There's quite a lot of them. I could easily see at least one in every transect.

Jellyfish! Don't know much about it, but personally I haven't seen this type before.

One of my favourites - Nudibranchs! This one should be a Pteraeolida sp..

This was what puzzled Gaytri and Vyna. I found this near their transect and asked them what was it. Then I called out to Chay Hoon, saying that there are two blobs of stuff. While they walked over, I saw something that looked like rhinophores. Only then I realised - Damn! Nudibranchs?! Chay Hoon later confirmed, but not exactly nudis.

These were actually side-gilled slugs, Pleurobranchus forskalii. Instead of gills on their back, they have it on their sides.

There were quite alot of knobbly seastars (Protoreaster nodosus) on Cyrene. However, there was something different.

The one on the right. I asked Chee Kong (my FYP snake mentor, who now works on knobblies in TMSI), and he told me it could be a Protoreaster nodulosus. He's looking into it and we will soon know.

Update: The 'Knobbly' could jolly well be a Red Tubercled Sea Star (Pentaceraster tuberculatus). If it's the case, it could be a new record for the species and its genus even! Wow! *Awaiting for confirmation from Chee Kong.

Seahorses (Hippocampus kuda)! Collin from NParks was looking for them high and low, only to find them on our way back in a water channel. The left is a female and the right could possibly be a 'pregnant' male.

Last but not the least, I found this just before we were heading back to the boat after finding the seahorses. Kok Sheng said it was algae when he saw it. Well, that was before he saw the rhinophores.

Yes! It's another nudibranch (Melibe sp.). Called the 'holy grail' by Chay Hoon and Ria, they said it was last seen in 2006. It interestingly has a hood in front that envelopes everything in the way, hopefully a crustacean for its meal. And it is also as long as your hand (adult's hand of course!)

Not a bad day at all! Neat! Can't wait to return!

More on the trip:
Team Seagrass
Wildfilms
Wonderful Creation, with a special post on seastars
Budak
Colourful Clouds

Pulau Semakau with Dr Dan & students and Commonwealth youths

2008-03-26T15:18:00.008+08:00

Today was another great day! Not only without rain, but bright and sunny - perfect for an intertidal walk on Semakau. This time with Dr Dan, Dr Stan (his blog here) and his students from Duke University, and a group of Commonwealth youths from Brunei, Thailand, Malaysia, Maldives and Sri Lanka, hosted by National Youth Council.

Too bad I left my camera in my office... so no photos this time. The group I guided was lucky enough to see quite a fair bit as the tide was rising by the time we reached the shores. Hairy crabs, fan worms, corals (duhz...), sponges (another duhz...), nudibranch (yay!), seagrasses (better mentioned or else...) and many more. But the highlight got to be the Knobbly sea star! Apparently only Marcus's and my group saw it. Thanks to Alvin who is our hunter-seeker today!

The trip was fruitful and definitely enjoyable. During the boat trip back, everyone started to pen down what their experience for today either in words or drawings. Wow... you should see the art work. Hopefully Ria manages to scan all 40+ drawings and puts it up somewhere and then I'll link it here. I'll link up any blogs featuring this trip too.

One of the participants wrote a beautiful poem about the trip. Problem is... it's in Chinese and I can't put it up here. Damn... Anyone can put it up? I can sms you the text. Haha...

Here's the post of Dr Dan's previous trip to Semakau.

Update: (Thanks to Ria!!)
Details of the trip today!
Some of the participants' after-thoughts here.
Our Honorary Naked Hermit Crab, Dr Dan.

Turn OFF your LIGHTS!

2008-03-26T15:01:00.010+08:00

TurnOFFyourLIGHTS!
Originally uploaded by sarabcanada

EARTH HOUR 2008

What is Earth Hour?
Originally started in Sydney in March 2007, Earth Hour is a movement to urge people to take action against climate change by turning off all electrical appliances, including lights, for an hour on 29th March in all schools and homes nationwide. Last year, 2.2 million Australians and 2,100 Sydney businesses turned off their electrical appliances that day, including major Sydney icons like the Harbour Bridge and Opera House, resulting in wide media coverage over the significance of the event in a bid to slow down global warming.

As a result, many other major global cities are joining Earth Hour in 2008, thus turning a symbolic event into a global movement. To reach out even more extensively to the general public—even that of different nationalities—a website, www.earthhour.org, has even been set up to offer more information about the event and how one can do his or her part.

Indeed, Earth Hour aims to rally people to take a stand against one of the greatest threat our planet is facing— drastic climate change as a dire consequence of global warming. As a global initiative, it emphasizes the point that taking a simple action can culminate into significant results, as Earth Hour mainly seeks to engage as many households, communities and businesses by simply appealing to turn off the lights and electrical devices for one hour on 29 March 2008 from 8pm to 9 pm. Locals in Singapore are slowly gaining awareness of this event. With the usually bright, cosmopolitan buzz of the city in darkness for that one hour, a very powerful message about the pressing need for action on global warming by reducing carbon emissions can be thus conveyed to the general public, hence raising awareness on the importance of environmental conservation as a whole.

Why Take Part in Earth Hour?
Environmental conservation, in our point of view, is paramount, simply because all living organisms – humans, plants and animals alike – will be adversely affected if we continue to exhaust Earth’s non-renewable resources. It starts at home – indeed, turning off all electrical appliances for an hour for just one day in an entire year may seem too simplistic and superficial to overcome the massive problem of global warming, but then again, how long more can one afford to stall if one doesn’t start now to do his or her part now?

The environment is fragile and susceptible to change, and increasing consumption in Earth’s resources has become an extremely pressing problem. In the case of electricity, non-renewable fuels such as coal and oil are burnt to generate the latter. However, their high carbon content causes a large amount of carbon dioxide to be emitted into the atmosphere. The rate at which such fuels are being burnt is thus resulting in a rise in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, thus a main factor resulting in the greenhouse effect, and subsequently global warming and the adverse effects that comes with the latter, such as drastic climatic change.

One’s simple, albeit extremely meaningful act of completely turning off all her household electrical appliances for a mere hour, especially when done proactively as a communal effort, can go a long way against climate change. At the same time, Earth Hour reinforces the fact that we have to contribute collectively to protect the Earth as our home, instilling a sense of responsibility and duty in everyone that a little bit would go a long way. The most ideal message that we can put across to every Singaporean through this movement could perhaps be, “Have an Earth Hour Everyday! (HEHE)”

Electrical appliance - Watts used per hour
Stereo - 22
TV - 100
DVD player - 12
Computer Monitor - 70
Laptop - 29
Handphone phone charger - 5

The appliances listed above do not seem to use up too significant an amount of watts per hour when in use. However, when total household electrical usage of all households in Singapore is added together for just one hour, the number of watts used can amount to a significant sum. With that in mind, imagine what switching off all electrical appliances for just one hour can do to the environment if this is done on a national scale!

What Can We Do?
All staff and students can play their part by taking action today.
· Endorse Earth Hour by pledging to take part in Earth Hour.
· Switch off lights & other electrical appliances at home for one hour on 29 Mar from 8 – 9pm.
· Switch off all electrical appliances on 28 Mar before leaving the school. Leaving them on sleep mode would mean they still are continually consuming electricity.
· Invite your friends and relative to take part
· Convince your parents, friends and relatives to promote this event at their own homes, workplaces and schools

*Done by students in the Roots & Shoots LYFE group at Raffles Girls School .

Singapore Poly Campfire

2008-03-16T08:53:00.006+08:00

Griffin was invited for SP campfire, and having some close ties with them, we had to show up to show our support regardless of our strength. The theme was 'A Night in é Ville' and one of the emcee, Andy is an friend of ours. Cheeky guy and now I know he can sing (*thinking of an evil plan*).

The backdrop/gateway was quite good, especially the gateway which is impressive but I wonder is it usable? It would be cool if it is.

Small and simple campfire. So much easier to manage than our Griffin own Silver Jubilee Campfire.

The guys sure had fun. Seems to be quite some time since I've seen them like this. It's about time to get Griffin perked up. Haha!

And the usual singing, dancing around the fire and games of course!

Our dear Yuan Kai with the 'aku the rock', Aru.

The day started great with good weather, but soon rain drizzled and SP Rovers were quick to direct the participants to the sheltered area and carried on with the campfire. The rain stopped soon later thou.

And here's the empty campfire circle. Imagine if this is the turnout for your campfire... Horror...

Soon the campfire was close to the end, and souvenirs were given out. Here's Changci with the Principal of SP.

And how can we not take a group shot! Dear Samuel was in toilet... Give me a photo of you and I'll photoshop you in. Hehe...

Griffin shall await for more campfires!!!

Semakau Walk Critters!

2008-03-10T17:47:00.014+08:00

A simple and short post of the critters found during the Semakau trip. Plenty more but only took those that I could. Didn't have the usual ample time to slowly adjust till I get a good shot.

Here goes!

Carpet anemone (Stichodactyla haddoni)

Mushroom coral (Heliofungia actiniformis)

Scallop (Chlamys sp.)

Moon snail (Probably Polinices sp.)

Noble volute (Cymbiola nobilis) laying eggs. Bottom left photo shows a juvenile volute.

Shrimp, but no idea what type.

Hairy crab aka Teddy bear crab. (Pilumnus vespertilio)

Sea cucumbers. From left: Stonefish (Actinopyga lecanora), Sandfish (Holothuria scabra) and Ocellated (Stichopus ocellatus).

Flatworms. From left: Acanthozoon sp. and possibly Pseudoceros sp.

A first sighting of this flatworm as according to RY. Awaiting ID.

Octopus. (Order Octopoda)

No idea what fish is this. It was hidding in some crevice. Notice the red eyes? Looks like either a stonefish, scorpionfish or frogfish. Anyone can ID just by looking at the head and mouth?

Nudibranchs!! My favourite. This is Chromodoris lineolata. Saw Gymnodoris rubropapulosa and Jorunna funebris also, but no photos.

Another nudi. (Probably Discodoris lilacina)

Common sea star (Archaster typicus)

And I nearly miss this... Someone (you know who...) was trying to reallocate it before I took my shot.... The icon of Semakau - Knobbly sea star (Protoreaster nodosus).

Three previous trips and not even one sighted. Bet I wouldn't miss the chance to take a photo on my fourth trip and first sighting! The curse is broken!!!

PS: Thanks RY for the numerous ID. =D

Minister on the Shore! (Semakau Walk)

2008-03-10T15:01:00.004+08:00

This was the sight of Marina South Pier prior to the boat ride for a Semakau walk.

As Semakau began its new season of walks recently, Dr. Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for Environment and Water Resources, together with his family and friends joined in. Along with the members of the public, we set off for the island.

We got on a special VIP boat (thanks to the Minister =D). And with an open deck, everyone was all so excited. Only till the rain poured on us just as we reached the island.

Nevertheless, with the short introduction to Semakau and exhibit tour in the NEA building, the rain soon gave way to a relatively clear and fair weather.

While the minister's family was gearing up for the walk, we chanced upon this light-hearted moment that is seldom seen - Dr. Ibrahim (centre) helping his son take off a boot that was stuck.

While the rest of the participants headed out first to for the landfill tour, LK and RY showed the guests around the visitor centre - in & out.

Soon the van came and we continued with the landfill tour to the end of the 7km road, before heading back to the entrance of the forest.

While walking through the forest, despite the mosquitoes, LK showed the family some of the flora of Semakau.

And another light-hearted moment. When will you ever get a Minister to pose for you?!

It was then time to head on down to the shores. Most of the participants were already far out by the time we reached.

Across the seagrass lagoon and onto the coral rubble area, we were accompanied by beautiful scenery.

By following the flags planted by the hunter-seekers, we found trails of wonderful critters. The children was getting more and more hyped-up.

Trying to get in touch with Nature, but only those that can be touched as indicated by lead guide RY.

They were looking at everything they could land their hands on closely, and took countless of shots of them.

Look at the joy on their face with their first encounters.

The sea cucumber family!

Soon it was dark, and the groups started to head back. While walking back, many took one last chance to peep at the critters that pop up after dark, like the octopus.

Here they found a tidal pool with corals, and I found noticed a fish (either stonefish, scorpion fish or frogfish) hiding in a crevice after they left. A least Dr. Ibrahim saw it. Hahaha...

That ended our walk and we 'ran' through the mosquito forest once again, hopped on the bus back for our boat back. That's the end of a Semakau trip. Tiring but definitely exciting. Watch out for the next post for the critter list!

Tuas Grassland

2008-03-02T22:36:00.008+08:00

I wanted to look at it myself, so I dragged myself out of bed on a Sunday morning. Met LK, RY, ST and JL at Boon Lay Interchange to head for Tuas. LK was to meet her students at Tuas for their survey. Well, I was definitely not disappointed. I was in fact intrigued by the sight before my eyes.

Just beside the industrial estates in Tuas was a huge piece of green grassland.

Walking further in, a slightly barren grassland greeted us.

Throughout the area, there were alot of signs of apple snails, dead and alive. And I realised I didn't take any pictures of them. Perhaps there were too many of them to make me spend the effort to bend down and snap them.

But I did snap one thing. These are their eggs, and just like their owners - they were everywhere.

I was told that there are alot of dragonflies (Infraorder Anisoptera) and damselfies (Suborder Zygoptera) around here. It was so true. There quite a bunch of them, but lesser than usual as according to LK, probably due to the overcast and the imminent rain. Nonetheless, I tried my best to grab as may shots as I can (and if the darting critters would cooperate that is). Disclaimer #1: I know nuts about dragonflies and damselflies so I will not attempt to name them (Ron want to help? Hehe...).

Ceriagrion cerinorubellum

Acisoma panorpoides

Nannophya pygmaea (Female)

Nannophya pygmaea (Male). My favourite shot of the day! Thanks to Ron for all the ID.

Even further in was what I called a 'marshland'. Surprisingly, there were no mosquitoes. I was even scolded by LK for putting on repellant as she exclaimed, "You trying to kill my dragonflies?!".

Other than those 'flies', there were also 'crabs' - crab spiders (Family Thomisidae). They are called because of their first two pairs of legs, which are held out to the side giving them a crab-like appearance. Also, like crabs, these spiders move sideways and backwards more easily than forwards. They are also commonly called "flower spiders" because they are most often found on flowers, lying in ambush for prey. Crab spiders do not build webs to trap prey, but are active hunters much like the jumping spiders. Disclaimer #2 - I know nuts about spiders also (Should approach Mr. David Court who is a spider expert).

This species is always found in the wild orchids growing here. Their abdomen resembles the white interior of the flowers.

This species is always found in the pitchers plants here. This particular one is a rather large female.

This is actually the same species as the one above. And as you may have guessed, it's a male. Size comparison? - This male was hitching a ride on the female's abdomen. Yes, it is that small.

Other than the several bird sightings and those critters mentioned above, the grassland is also home to many plants. Disclaimer #3 - I'm no botanist. The End.

A type of fern.

Cattail (Typha sp.)

Pitcher plants (Nepenthes sp.). They were found growing in huge bushes. The most I've ever seen congregated together. And of course, most of the pitcher plants have the crab spiders 'living' inside.

The roots of this plant smells like the drink 'Sarsi'. LK mentioned although similar smell, but this is not the plant used for the drink. The plant for the drink is known as Sarsaparilla (Smilax regelii and other closely related species of Smilax).

When we saw this patch, morning glories (Family Convolvulaceae) were blooming everywhere.

Aren't they beautiful in full bloom? Unfortunately, as its name spells, the flowers usually wilt by noon.

This is the wild orchid that the white crab spider dwells in. Notice the white interior of the flower? That is where the spider camouflage itself and ambushes its prey.

Mimosa (Mimosa sp.) aka 'Touch-me-not'. Usually you will see the pink flowers (other two species). This species is the only one with yellow flowers.

This is the flower of a bladderwort, specifically Utricularia gibba. Like pitcher plants, they are carnivorous plants - they capture small organisms by means of bladder-like traps. This is the largest genus of carnivorous plants, consisting of some 215 species which occur in fresh water and wet soil across every continent except Antarctica.

Simpoh Air (Dillenia suffruticosa). This distinctive shrubby tree grows vigorously on eroded soil, wasteland, forest edges and swampy areas. Every part of the plant is large. The large yellow flowers usually last only for a day.

The red fruits are seen here. The ripe fruits spilt open into star-shaped segments to reveal seeds covered in red arils. The seeds are not seen here (probably dispersed/dropped).

Singapore Rhododendron (Melastoma malabathricum). Planted for aesthetic value of their bright purple flowers. The plant also has edible dark purple fruits.

And this... I don't know... Haha... (According to RY and ST's blog, this is the flower of 'Love in the mist'.)

Half-way through our exploration, the rain started pouring. All of us started to pull out our rain gear, except for one (He forgot to bring).

And here he is, trying to seek shelter from the rain in the middle of a grassland. He was also 'singing in the rain'.

On our way out, the rain decided to take a break. With that we were captivated by a couple of butterflies around a particular bush. We spent a good deal of time trying to grab a good shot. Soon testosterone kicked in between ST and RY to see whether who can take a better shot (that's why we spent so much time, as we were all chasing after the butterflies.)

Here's my shot of the butterfly Tawny coster (Arcea violae) feeding on the nectar of the flowers.

This is the caterpillar of the butterfly above.

Eventually, we made our way out and head to the nearest coffeeshop for a nice lunch while sharing the earlier moments in the grasslands. This could be the last time we visit the place, as it is soon to be cleared for motorbike-racing, which was already taking place at the edge of the grassland. Unfortunate but inevitable.

Team Seagrass P. Semakau

2008-02-22T11:18:00.007+08:00

It was a rush... Finish work, quick lunch, change of clothes and off I went. Arranged with Nicholas (NUS exchange student from New York) to head out together. And we were too early (1.15pm...), so we sat and enjoyed our lunch and the breeze at Marina South Pier. Soon enough, NParks arrived and many followed. And it was all aboard a VIP boat.

Red carpet, benches with tables and nice air-con. What a luxury (You can see from the faces of the people and those sleeping that is so comfortable)!

Thanks to Siti and my theory of 'consistency of scientific data collection', I was arrowed to Site 2 again... and I was tasked to guide the two young interns from NParks. That's not all as the first aid kit came along with me - Arrowed again... *Losing too much blood*

Everyone was all geared and ready to hop on the bus to make our way. Well, except for a certain group of people among us...

Who were still busy putting on their booties while everyone else was waiting.

After the bus ride, we braved the mosquitoe-infested forest again. This time, I made a quick stop, snapped and in a jiffy, picked up my feet again before any start to feast on me.

Weather was initially sunny, but an overcast soon took over. In fact, it was even better - cooler.

And here's my two 'interns', Meera (left) and Jion Chun. Just realised that their faces are not shown... well, guess they will remain faceless for now.

We actually started a little early. The water was rather high (left) as compared to some time later. You can clearly see the difference.

Well, I was rather surprised that my team completed our transect pretty fast, considering it's site 2. Good thing too as we have more time to explore.

Found this swimming crab at my transect.

And hairy crabs are everywhere.

While we were doing our transect, someone shouted to us, 'Heron!'. My team started to look at the sky, but nothing was there so we went, 'Where!?'. 'NO! There! In front of you!'. End up, the heron was just like 50 metres or so in front of us... so embarrassing...

Not much thou, but here goes the critter list.

Gigantic carpet anemone (Stychodactyla gigantea).

There are also quite a lot of these little anemones among some rocks.

These look like anemones, but in fact they are corals, more specifically mushroom corals (Heliofungia actiniformis).

These are also often mistook for anemones. This is actually a Fanworm, a type of tubeworm (Not that I really know of any other types of tube worms.. Hehe...).

From far, this looked like a branching coral (Pocillopora sp). When I took a closer look, it turned out to be a leathery soft coral.

Shufen said this was a sponge. Cool-looking one, like a fungus. Should have ask Swee Cheng... Are you here??

A nice pink sponge. Love sponges with striking colours.

A ball sponge (Indicated by Shufen). Note the bright orange inside. No harm was done to the sponge as sponge generates by 'splitting'. You cut one sponge and it becomes two. But never go around cutting everything up. This was done as an example.

Found a spider conch also. Don't mind the chopsticks. Was trying to raise it up abit for a clearer shot as the water was murky.

While we were walking towards the outer edge, someone spotted this little nudi (Jorunna funebris). Common fellow but at least I achieved my target of at least one nudi per trip.

Along the way, we also spotted several synaptic sea cucumbers. These are the browns ones. Black ones are also pretty common.

Look at the amount of tape seagrass (Enhalus acoroides). Endless...

Some of the tape seagrass were blooming. You can find the male flowers (styrofoam-like bits) floating around. The female flower is shown here with its 3 white petals.

Meera (one of the interns) nearly stepped on this. Note the electric blue spots among the sand. A blue-spotted fantail ray is hiding, with its venomous spine ready to jab anyone or anything that disturbs or steps on it.

Soon it was about time to leave as it was getting dark. While we all boarded the bus for a lift back to the NEA buidling, a film crew was 'left' behind. This film crew was there to shoot an episode for the currently-showing series, 'Once upon a Tree - Tides and Coastlines'. Catch it every Tuesday at 9.30pm on Arts Central. Discover Singapore's very own reefs!

At the dock, we were greeted by a huge barge carrying the ashes of trash. This barge arrives here twice a day, so take some time and imagine the amount of trash that a small island country like us can produce. Put that on a global scale and reflect.

The boat trip back was amazing, with everyone sitting on the open deck - eating, drinking and snapping photos every now and then. Was rather lazy and pre-occupied to take a photo, not that my camera is good for night shoots either. Haha...

Sumatran Rhino Conservation Project (NYC-YEP)

2008-02-18T00:39:00.014+08:00

INTRODUCTION
In 2003, I was part of a committee that organized a humanitarian project (Project Horizon)to build a single-storey community library in a village in Laos. This project was known as a Youth Expedition Project (Then under the wings of Singapore International Foundation. It is now under National Youth Council). It was after that project, I decided to embark on YEPs and lead projects focusing on Environment/Conservation issues.

After a couple of years of constant contacts hunting and several fruitless attempts , finally my 'dream' was fulfilled in June 2007. I was involved in a National Youth Council - Youth Expedition Project (YEP). Together with my team of Rovers from Singapore Scout Association (SSA), and in cooperation with SOS Rhino Borneo, we went on a Sumatran Rhino Conservation Project in Sabah. This project was known as Project Sirius - Rovering with Rhinos.

Preparation started in Feb 2007, and the 2-weeks overseas project was carried out from 12 to 26 June 2007. This part of the project required us to build a base camp at the border of the reserve, and also to interact with the locals to understand their lifestyle while living so close to Nature. This very much needed base camp serves as a rest-point for the rhino field researchers, and doubles-up as a guardpost. Eventually the project officially ended in Sep 2007 with a post-event.

The following is the hard work of a fellow team mate of mine, Shamir. He painstakingly put together a 'documentary' of our whole expedition to Sabah. It would be a waste if his efforts are only viewed by those of our team. So here's to share it with all! Enjoy! Feel free to leave any comments!

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10

Added:

This is the completed basecamp as of Jan 2008, and in use. We did not manage to complete the whole building (only about 1/2 to 2/3 of it, in just 6 days) during the expedition. The staff continued to work on it and in Jan, I received the photographs from them.

Thanks to NYC, SSA and all fellow Scouters for making this happen. And of course, not forgetting the whole team (Aru, Kangwei, Wilson, Austin, Yizhen, Shamir, Dickson, David, Sox) for going through the ups and downs together. Cheers!

Tree Climbing at Pasir Ris Park

2008-02-10T17:09:00.000+08:00

The tree climbing crabs are back again!! The same bunch of Naked Hermit Crabs who conquered trees in Kent Ridge are back out to terrorize the trees in Pasir Ris Park!

The weather couldn't be better - both sunny and windy, just by the beach.

Everyone was like panicking at the last minute to revise all the knots required to set up the system. Some people (I shall not name who. Haha...not many live in Boon Lay so make a guess.) even spent all the time we had while traveling on the train from Boon Lay to Pasir Ris!

We were required to set up the system in 13 minutes and ascend in 7 minutes. Setting up includes throwing, hoisting the rope and tying the knots. Chee Kong and I were first up. I was lucky enough to get mine set up fast while Chee Kong's weight pouch went diving into the sea - I guess he was attempting to fish by knocking them unconscious with the weight pouch.

Went up too fast, so here's the only shot of me at the top. The rest of the time I was busy snapping photos away at everyone.

Cheeky Chee Kong trying to be funny while putting on his harness, and I caught this. Hahaha...

Ascending up. Hmmm... seems like the belayer can't be bothered about CK.

Kissing the tree at the top. Not too intimate or else girlfriend jealous wor.

July was up next. Erm... after tying his knots... Oops!

Ascending, and someone cheated by standing on a lower branch to gain leverage...

Guess he can't be bothered as long as he's at the top.

Helen is a 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'. She never revised the knots at all, and without looking at the notes, she tied the knots within minutes... She should come join Scouts. Haha...

Ascending. It seems like all belayers can't be bothered with their climbers. Thanks god this ain't rock/sports climbing...

And with tremendous speed never seen before, Helen reached the top like in record time. Indeed a master-in-disguise...

It was then Juan Hui's turn. All hail the monkey from NParks (I'm so dead!).

Soon she was at the top. But she refused to take our offering of an orange... perhaps she still prefer bananas... Oh wait! We wouldn't want to get fined right? Hehe...

While Juan Hui was climbing, Chee Kong ascended the other tree and began shooting us from the top of the tree. That's what is called a bird's eye view.

Last but not the least, Tiong Chin!

Just about 2-3 metres off the ground, he already had to stopped for a break of water!! Can't blame him - He was such a gentleman to help Valerie (Main instructor) change her punctured tire before climbing. She ought to let him pass on that account!

See what Tiong Chin has to go through!!

And here's Tiong Chin at the top!

Secretly at one side, Chee Kong was trying to learn all the secrets of knot tying from one of the instructor.

The climbing wasn't all. We were then tested our theory in pairs. Like shout commands, environmental factors, hazards and safety precautions. But like what Valerie said, we all passed with flying colours!

After packing some stuff and a short break, we bidded the instructors farewell. But surely to join them for event facilitation someday!

Just as we walked out to Tiong Chin's car, we spotted something beautiful.

A tree full of wild Pigeon Orchids (Dendrobium crumenatum) in bloom! It was said that usually the orchid would bloom after a heavy rain (sudden drop in temperature). Why called the Pigeon Orchid? Apparently the flower bud looks like a miniature pigeon.

Short but a cool day! Very tired too... thanks to four days of constant activities! But I'll never give it up for anything in the world for sure!

PS: Thanks Tiong Chin for giving us a ride back home! PRP to Boon Lay is damn far...

CNY Day 3 at Kusu Island

2008-02-10T00:37:00.000+08:00

This is it! The last of the CNY series! Kusu Island!

This series have been blessed with good weather and today was no exception. My last visit here was when I was young, along with my family. So long ago that I remembered nuts about it... perhaps except the tortoises, terrapins etc.

The view of the northern lagoon was amazing, and it's quite huge. Marcus was telling me the great stuff was right at the lagoon's mouth. Couldn't wait to get there then. However something was wrong, the tide doesn't seem to go out as much as we expected it to. Guess it's one of those days where the tide table doesn't work as expected. Last incident was during Team Seagrass on one of its Sentosa transect. Oh well, since we were there, we made full use of it.

Apparently, I was a little lazy today... Didn't really bothered to walk everywhere to check out everything. Usually I'm a little hyper... Haha... Emo perhaps. Lol... So I think I missed out on an anemone shrimp and a phyllid (Damn it!). Budak should have the photos.

So not really alot today, but still quite interesting and here goes!

Hard corals - Faviidae (left) and possibly Pocillopora sp..

Gigantic carpet anemone (Stychodactyla gigantea). There were alot of such anemones, especially in the smaller lagoon.

Found quite a few snapping shrimps (Family Alpheidae) on the shore too.

This is another snapping shrimp. Different species as indicated by the body markings.

Found this fellow again (found it on P. Hantu the previous night). It was buried underneath the sand, looking like a buried sand dollar (which I thought so). No clue as to why it was buried... maybe due to sediment deposition by the tide/waves.

Upon seeing that there is no chance the tide is going any lower, we decided to explore other parts. We went to the small area beside the jetty.

And the whole shore is covered with tons of beautiful zooanthids! And I seriously mean tons... I had to tip-toed my way through, stepping only on rocks and small patches of unoccupied sand.

We found a couple of traps which is set by the islanders. One of them sadly had two dead red egg crabs, and the other had a copper-banded butterfly fish inside, alive! After some 'chit-chat' with a guy living there, we finally released the fish to its freedom. Then after we decided to visit the smaller lagoon.

Along the way, we bypassed the temple on the island.

And of course, the iconic tortoises.

Just within minutes of exploring the smaller lagoon, Marcus suddenly shouted stingray! I hurried over, but realised it was a dead one. There was a swimming crab already scavenging on the carcass.

Managed to get a shot of the acorn worm. Erm okay... the rear end of the worm. See the yellow butt?

There were plenty of gobies (Gobiidae) around as usual. Can't miss them.

And I found a fish that I recognised - a Crescent Perch (Terapon jarbua).

Unknown crab. One of those few that stops and let me snap them.

Ghost crab (Ocypode sp.). Usually they are found on the sandy beach (large holes on beaches are usually made by them), but I found this far out on the mudflat. It was probably stunned by my headlamp and allowed me to snap it at macro.

Gong gong (Strombus canarium), an edible molluscs. Note the operculum. It uses it to shut the slit of the shell, preventing any intrusion. It also uses it to flip itself over and perhaps sometimes 'pole-vault' around.

Found this bunch of shells. Mass orgy? Oops... And I think there's a drill trying to look for a 'quick' meal.

Quite a fair bit of onchs (Onchidiidae) around also. Love these cute little slugs!

Can you spot the octupus? You can see the head in the small crevice. This was a juvenile octopus. It slipped right away into the hole when I saw it. See the bivalve? I think it just had a nice meal before I interrupted it.

Was walking along the shore back to the jetty with Ria when we started spotting the fanworms (Sabellidae). This was one of them and I missed out on another white one.

I also spotted this peacock anemone (Cerianthus sp.). This one was a little different from most that I've seen. Instead of being brightly coloured, this was almost translucent. I was simply lucky enough to spot it.

That's it! And of course, we went to Lau Pat Sat for satay! Haha... It has been amazing for the all the three trips! Thank you Ria for organizing the trips (and a special thanks for giving me a reason to be kidnapped for CNY! KIV for next CNY!). Also thanks a lot to Andy for giving me lifts on some occasions.

Cheers everyone and happy CNY!!

CNY Day 2 at Pulau Hantu

2008-02-09T01:18:00.000+08:00

Second of the CNY intertidal walk series - Pulau Hantu.

I've been here several times and it never ceases to amaze me. This trip was no exception.

The weather was once again good to start with, and the wind was not as strong as yesterday's. The boat ride was somehow particularly relaxing for me.

And we reach in no time - just when a bunch of folks were getting ready to leave the island.

Not sunny but was good enough for me.

This looks like Acropora sp..

Bubble coral (Euphyllia sp.).

There're no common sea star on Sisters' but sure they are plenty on P. Hantu.

Found this bivalve. No idea what it is. No idea what made me snap it too...

Walking along the breakwater and I found this top shell (Trochus sp.).

And these Nerites (Nerita sp.). Their shell colour pattern is quite variable even within a species.

There were quite some sponges lying around, including this one.

Found these, but have no idea what are they. Close to about 1cm in diameter.

Sand collar. Looks slightly different from those found on CJ. These are much longer, hence twirled into a spiral (right).

Tape seagrass (Enhalus acorides) were plentiful, and so were these ascidians that grew on them. It seems like this particular species is somehow associated with seagrass.

Soft corals are everywhere. This was a mine field of soft corals, and huge ones.

See the size comparison?

And here's some of them. Leathery soft coral in this case.

This another type of soft coral.

Dead men's fingers. Don't ask me why...

A nice view of the lagoon's mouth.

And the view from the end I was standing. Full of Fiddler crabs...

With much patience (and I meant alot...), they got used to my presence and I snapped this little fellow (actually one of the largest I can find - the pincer was about 3cm or so) foraging.

And I found this one. A green Fiddler? At first I though it was algae, but realised it was tinted green almost everywhere - mouth part, limbs etc. Interesting...

Swimming crab. And I caught this in the process of moulting. Sometimes you see 'dead' crabs on the shores. In fact they could be moults, as they do so in order to grow bigger. Upon moulting, they are most vulnerable as their shells are soft. That is probably where your Japanese soft shell crabs come from.

A leaf-porter crab. Named so as it carries a leaf (usually) on its back and moves around. Supposedly for camouflage. This is its underside and that's the leaf it was carrying. Can you spot its tiny pincer claws?

Notice the 2 pairs of limbs that are situated on the top part of the body and the other 2 pairs are below. The 2 top pairs are used to hold the leaf.

Nudibranchs again!! Yay. Discodoris boholensis.

Jorunna funebris.

Gymnodoris rubropapulosa.

Dendrodoris tuberculosa. Can be identified through the white spots underneath. This is one of the contenders for the largest nudibranch. This one was easily the size of your palm. The Gymnodoris rubropapulosa above is only about 4cm.

After seeing one feather star yesterday, they just keep on coming today. Found a couple of these lovely red crinoids.

A pale yellow one.

And lastly quite a large and beautiful one.

Saw this flatworm (Acanthozoon sp.) at Sisters' yesterday too.

Unknown flatworm. It has a greenish central lining underneath thou.

As the night falls deeper, more critters emerges.

A synaptic sea cucumber.

The usual octopus.

This jellyfish was spotted wash ashore when we were on our way back. It was so transparent that you hardly see it once you put it in the water.

And just before we head back to the shore, a small group of us were 'hunting' nemos among the magnificent sea anemone (Heteractis magnifica). There were quite a number of these anemones. I don't remember seeing so many during my last trip here. Perhaps I'm just blind or my memory is failing me...

All in all, another great day once again! Can't wait for day 3!! Tune in for more!

CNY Day 1 at Big Sister's Island

2008-02-08T00:11:00.000+08:00

Well, last year I spent my whole Chinese New Year catching Dog-faced Water Snakes for my Honours project. This year I found myself to walk the shores of islands throughout the three days of CNY.

First up - Big Sister.

And the weather was great with the sun up and the wind blowing strong.

And of course, the critters were plenty as usual.

There were tons of corals, but I only took snap them every now and then. Not as religiously as the coral id workshop trip at Semakau thou.

A huge Faviidae.

Oulophyllia sp.

Oulastrea sp.?

Also Oulastrea sp.? Once again... couldn't confirm due to lack of close-up shots. The wind wasn't making the task of taking photos of stuff under water easy too. The water ripples were killing my shots...

Goniopora sp.

Fungia sp.

Anemones.

A different type of anemones.

Soft corals. Leathery soft coral (left) and dead men's finger.

Another soft coral. Perhaps omelette?

Sponges and Ascidians together.

And this should be a colony of ascidians.

Barrel sponge.

A young giant clam. Only about 5cm in length.

Spider conch with quite some dressing.

And look who's home.

Fanworm, a type of tubeworm.

Looks like Discodoris boholensis, but it's actually a flatworm (Acanthozoon sp.).

Possibly a feather star.

Moon snail. Predatory snail and a good burrower.

Marine spider.

Red egg crab. Bad shot... cause it was dark and darn strong wind...

A diadema sea urchin (Diadema setosum). Notice the direction of the long spines? That's how strong the wind is - even the urchin is having a bad hair day, or rather a bad 'spine' day.

A hermit crab. Possibly Dardanus sp.. In fact not one, I found a pair of them - both housed in spider conch shells. Talk about matching wear. And so far they mark the record for the largest hermit crab I've found so far. The body width is a good 3-4cm.

And guess what?! One of them was carrying eggs. See the red mass inside the shell. Damn cool.

Here's another hermit. But this is a land hermit crab (Coenobita sp.), and will drown if put underwater.

And of course, how can I forget my favourite critter of them all - Nudibranchs!

First up is the common polka-dot (Jorunna funebris).

An Aeolidina (Superfamily). Chay Hoon says that it's new (hence not sure about ID).

Phyllidia varicosa, uncommon as I was told. I found this while I was searching an anemone for nemos. Was shifting the seaweed away from the anemone, and there it was sitting just beside the anemone. What luck.

At first I thought this was a nudi. But it's actually a type of sap-sucking slug. This one is probably an Elysia sp..

What a day! And a great one to start my CNY! As the night falls and the tide rises, we took a short break before heading back to mainland - to prepare for another day!

PS: Thanks Ron for letting me bug you for the info. Haha...

Changi at Night (25 Jan 2008)

2008-01-26T13:10:00.000+08:00

What sort of 'night life' is there in Changi? Most probably not the type ya thinking now. A small group of us decided to head down to Changi beach to take a peek at the night life there.

View of the Changi beach.

One of the first few critters we saw was the hairy seahare. The seasonal animal was noted in my recent CJ trip. However, the number is much lesser in Changi. If there are seahares, there are eggs of cause. Two makes a pair since they are hermaphrodites.

Walking along, we found a few dead critters unfortunately.

Horseshoe crab. Despite its name, it actually does not belong to the same group as crabs. This particular one measures about 45cm.

Fresh dead fish anyone? Right out from the water. Doubt it.

Peacock anemone, but retracted as it was exposed due to the low tide.

Quite a huge bivalve. I think Ron mentioned that it was a Venus shell. Sorry... STM...

Another bivalve but with 'passengers'. The smaller one should be an acorn barnacle. The larger one is actually a drill. Seems like it was having its meal. Drills are able to 'drill' a hole in bivalve shell and feed on the succulent flesh inside. It may take hours for it to drill through the shell, hence if you were to see such sightings, do not try to separate them or else you will deprive the drill of its meal and waste its effort.

A striped hermit crab.

A fat type of bristle worm. Seen this at CJ before. This worm can actually burrow into the sand and swim rather well in the water. However, do not touch with bare skin as its bristle can really irritate your skin.

Saw this in the rocky area. I thought it was a juvenile Eunice sp., but Ron told me it might not be as it lacks the distinct collar.

Also on the rocky area was this little slug called onchidium. I love this little critter. They are usually found on rocks at low tide. Beware as they are masters of camouflage. And I really mean it. Unless you stare hard to find them, most likely you'll miss them or worse... step on them.

A tiny little orange shrimp that caught my eye.

Moon snail. I waited but it doesn't want to come out... Accounts for the numerous number of sand collar (its eggs compacted with sand). Similar to drills, they drill a hole in bivalves to feed on the inside. Only difference is that they engulf their prey with their foot, encasing them totally before starting to drill for their meal.

An unknown snail with a 'passenger', a sea anemone. Not only one but I actually saw quite a number of the same type of snails, each with a sea anemone on their shell. Some critters do this to deter predators.

Crabbies!

Elbow crab. Notice the long 'arms' and the pronouced bend in it, hence its name.

Leaf porter crab. This was flipped over for a photo shot. This crab uses last two pairs of its legs to hold a dead leaf or debris and uses the others to walk around. So next time you see something moving when the water is not flowing, try flipping it over and you might find this critter.

Moon crab. I realised that this crab actually has paddles on all its legs rather than just the last pair.

Unknown crab.

Fishes!

Can you spot the fish? In fact there are two. Note the long green strip from the bottom and the long brown strip across the middle? These are pike fishes.

Scorpion fish. The long extended dorsal fin rays are actually venomous. If you step on them, be prepared for quite some excruciating pain.

Cucumbers!

Thorny sea cucumber.

This one has its feeders out (right end), savaging for food.

Wonder what's this? I saw it poking out of the sand, squirting water out when touched.

Tada! A slimy smooth sea cucumber emerges. It has a disgusting layer of mucus thou...

Sand dollar!

The currency of the sea. I wish... cause they are commonly found...

Seastars!

Sand star

Another sand star, but with a nice distinct pattern.

A very small seastar. Not sure what type thou. It measures the most only 2cm in diameter (inclusive of arms).

Another similar size juvenile seastar. Hey its green!! Cool!

Urchins!

Sea urchin was quite common at Changi. I was rather careful not to step on them.

Looks like another species perhaps. Different arrange of the spikes.

This one got itself entangled with seaweed. Interesting thing is that, it is actually on a desserted durian shell. Talk about relatives... mistaken identity?

A dead urchin. What is left is the 'skeleton' called test.

On our way back, we saw this plant. Avicennia alba I believe. It has pretty much set foot on the beach.

The highlight of the night has got to be this. A seahorse! Well, a sand star decided to steal some limelight also. Do you know that male seahorses are the ones that 'give birth'? Actually the female deposits the eggs in a pouch of the male and the male carries it to term and hence 'gives birth' to the young.

It was definitely an eventful night. But boy, were we hungry... and off to Changi Village for a heavy meal we went. Special thanks to Ron for inviting me along, and also Luan Keng and Samson for showing me around too.

The Lorax - By Dr Seuss

2008-01-23T11:26:00.001+08:00

In memory of the Hopea sangal tree in Changi.
Hopea sangal was assumed to be locally extinct till the tree was re-discovered in Changi in Sep 2002. Unfortunately, it was felled by developers two months later. Now nine pieces of its trunks, sculptured, are displayed in the Singapore Zoo.
In Nov 2004, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew planted a Hopea sangal sapling in Henderson, which was grown from a seedling collected when the tree was discovered.

At the far end of town, where the Grickle-grass grows
and the wind smells slow-and-sour when it blows
and no birds ever sing excepting old crows...
is the Street of the Lifted Lorax.

And deep in the Grickle-grass, some people say,
if you look deep enough you can still see, today,
where the Lorax once stood, just as long as it could
before somebody lifted the Lorax away.

What WAS the Lorax? And why was it there?
And why was it lifted and taken somewhere
from the far end of town where the Grickle-grass grows?
The old Once-ler still lives here.
Ask him. HE knows.

You wont see the Once-ler. Dont knock at his door.
He stays in his Lerkim on top of his store.
He lurks in his Lerkim, cold under the roof,
where he makes his own clothes
out of miff-muffered moof.

And on special dank midnights in August,
he peeks out of the shutters
and sometimes he speaks
and tells how the Lorax was lifted away.

He'll tell you, perhaps...
if you're willing to pay.

On the end of a rope he lets down a tin pail
and you have to toss in fifteen cents and a nail
and the shell of a great-great-great
grandfather snail.

He pulls up the pail,
makes a most careful count
to see if you've paid him the proper amount.

Then he hides what you pay him
away in his Snuvv,
his secret strange hole in his gruvvulous glove.

Then he grunts, "I will call you by Whisper-ma-Phone,
for the secrets I tell are for your ears alone."

"SLUPP!"
Down slupps the Whisper-ma-Phone to your ear
and the Once-ler's whispers are not very clear,
since they have to come down
through a snergelly hose,
and he sounds as if he had
smallish bees up his nose.

"Now I'll tell you," he says,
with his teeth sounding gray,
"how the Lorax got lifted and taken away...
It all started back...
such a long, long time back...

Way back in the days when the grass was still green
and the pond was still wet
and the clouds were still clean
and the song of the Swomee-Swans rand out into space...
one morning, I came to this glorious place.
And I first saw the trees!
The Truffula Trees!
The bright-colored tufts of the Truffula trees!
Mile after mile in the fresh morning breeze.

And, under the trees, I saw Brown Bar-ba-loots
frisking about in their Bar-ba-loot suits
as they played in the shade and ate Truffula Fruits.

From the rippulous pond
came the comfortable sound
of the Humming-Fish humming
while splashing around.

But those TREES!
Those TREES!
THOSE TRUFFULA TREES!
All my life I've been searching
for trees such as these.
The touch of their tufts was much softer than silk
And they had the sweet smell Of fresh butterfly milk.

I felt a great leaping
of joy in my heart.
I knew just what I'd do!
I unloaded my cart.

In no time at all, I had built a small shop.
Then I chopped down a Truffula Tree with one chop.
And with great skillful skill and with great speedy speed,
I took the soft tuft. And I knitted a Thneed!

The instant I'd finished, I heard a GA-ZUMP!
I looked.
I saw something pop out of the stump
of the tree I'd chopped down.
It was sort of a man.
Describe him?...That's hard.
I don't know if I can.

He was shortish. And oldish.
And brownish. And mossy.
And he spoke with a voice that was sharpish and bossy.

"Mister!" he said with a sawdusty sneeze,
"I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees.
I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues.
And I'm asking you, sir, at the top of my lungs"--
he was very upset as he shouted and puffed--
"What's that THING you've made out of my Truffula tuft?"

"Look, Lorax," I said. "There's no call for alarm.
I chopped just one tree. I am doing no harm.
I'm being quite useful. This thing is a Thneed.
A Thneed's a Fine-Something-That-All-People-Need!
It's a shirt. It's a sock. It's a glove. It's a hat.
But it has OTHER uses. Yes, far beyond that.
You can use it for carpets. For pillows! For sheets!
Or curtains! Or covers for bicycle seats!"

The Lorax said,
"Sir! You are crazy with greed.
There is no one on earth
who would buy that fool Thneed!"

But the very next minute I proved he was wrong.
For, just at that minute, a chap came along,
and he thought that the Thneed I had knitted was great.
He happily bought it for three ninEty-eight

I laughed at the Lorax, "You poor stupid guy!
You never can tell what some people will buy."

"I repeat," cried the Lorax,
"I speak for the trees!"

"I'm busy," I told him.
"Shut up, if you please."

I rushed 'cross the room, and in no time at all,
built a radio-phone. I put in a quick call.

I called all my brothers and uncles and aunts
and I said, "Listen here! Here's a wonderful chance
for the whole Once-ler Family to get mighty rich!
Get over here fast! Take the road to North Nitch.
Turn left at Weehawken.
Sharp right at South Stitch."

And, in no time at all, in the factory i built,
the whole Once-ler Family was working full tilt.
We were all knitting Thneeds just as busy as bees,
to the sound of the chopping of Truffula Trees.

Then..
Oh! Baby! Oh!
How my business did grow!
Now, chopping one tree
at a time was too slow.

So I quickly invented my Super-Axe-Hacker
which whacked off four Tuffula Trees at one smacker.
We were making Thneeds
four times as fast as before!
And that Lorax?...
HE didn't show up anymore.

But the next week
he knocked on my new office door.

He snapped, "I'm the Lorax who speaks for the trees
which you seem to be chopping as fast as you please.
But I'm ALSO in charge of the Brown Bar-ba-loots
who played in the shade in their Bar-ba-loot suits
and happily lived, eating Truffula Friuts.

"NOW...thanks to your hacking my trees to the ground,
there's not enough Truffula Fruit to go 'round.
And my poor Bar-ba-loots are all getting the crummies
because they have gas, and no food, in their tummies!

"They loved living here. But I can't let them stay.
They'll have to find food. And I hope that they may.
Good luck, boys," he cried. And he sent them away.

I, the Once-ler, felt sad
as I watched them all go.
BUT...
business is business
And business must grow
regardless of crummies in tummies, you know.

I meant no harm.
I most truly did not.
But I had to grow bigger. So bigger I got.

I biggered my factory. I biggered my roads.
I biggered my wagons.
I biggered the loads of the Theends I shipped out.
I was shipping them forth to the South! To the East!
To the West! To the North!
I went right on biggering...selling more Thneeds.
And I biggered my money, which everyone needs.

Then AGAIN he came back!
I was fixing some pipes
when that old-nuicence Lorax came back
with MORE gripes.

"I am the Lorax," he coughed and he whiffed.
He sneezed and he snuffled. He snarggled. He sniffed.
"Once-ler!" he cried with a cruffulous croak.
"Once-ler! You're making a smogulous smoke!
My poor Swomee-Swans...why, they can't sing a note!
No one can sing who has smog in his throat.

"And so," said the Lorax,
"--please pardon my cough--
they cannot live here.
So I'm sending them off.

"Where will they go now?... I dont hopefully know.
They may have to fly for a month...or a year...
To escape from the smog you've smogged-up around here.

"What's more," snapped the Lorax. (His dander was up.)
"Let me say a few words about Gluppity-Glupp.
Your machinery chugs on, day and night without stop
making Gluppity-Glupp. Also Schloppity-Schlopp.
And what do you do with this leftover goo?
I'll show you, you dirty old Once-ler man, you!

You're Glumping the pond where the Humming-Fish hummed!
No more can they hum, for their gills are all gummed.
So, I'm sending them off. Oh, thier future is dreary.
They'll walk on their fins and get woefully weary
in search of some water that isn't so smeary."

And then I got mad.
I got terribly mad.
I yelled at the Lorax, "Now listen here, Dad!
All you do is yap-yap and say 'Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad!"
Well, I have my rights, sir, and I;m telling YOU
I intend to go on doing just what I do!
And, for your information, you Lorax, I'm figgering
on biggering,
and Biggering
and BIGGERING
and BIGGERING,
turning MORE Truffula Trees into Thneeds
which everyone, EVERYONE, EVERYONE needs!"

And at that very moment, we heard a loud whack!
From outside in the fields came a sickening smack
of an axe on a tree. Then we heard the tree fall.
The very last Tuffula Tree of them all!

No more trees. No more Thneeds. No more work to be done.
So, in no time, my uncles and aunts, every one,
all waved good-bye. They jumped into my cars
and drove away under the smoke (or smog)-smuggered stars.

Now all that was left 'neath the bad-smelling sky
was my big empty factory...
the Lorax...
and I.

The Lorax said nothing. Just gave me a glance...
just gave me a very sad, sad backward glance...
as he lifted himself by the seat of his pants.

And I'll never forget the grim look on his face
when he heisted himself and took leave of this place,
through a hole in the smog, without leaving a trace.

And all that the Lorax left here in this mess
was a smaLl pile of rocks, with one word... "UNLESS."
Whatever THAT meant, well, I couldn't guess.

That was long, long ago.
But each day since that day
I've sat here and worried and worried away.
Through the years, while my buildings have fallen apart,
I've worried about it with all of my heart.

"But NOW," says the Once-ler,
"Now that YOU'RE here,
the word of the Lorax seems perfectly clear.

UNLESS someone like you
cares a whole awful lot,
nothing is going to get better.
It's not.

"SO...
Catch!" calls the Once-ler.
He lets something fall.
"Its a Truffula Seed.
It's the last one of all!

You're in charge of the last of the Truffula Seeds.
And Truffula Trees are what everyone needs.
Plant a new Truffula. Treat it with care.
Give it clean water. And feed it fresh air.
Grow a forest. Protect it from axes that hack.
Then the Lorax and all of his friends may come back."

Team Seagrass at Chek Jawa (20 Jan 2008)

2008-01-21T09:33:00.000+08:00

It was a bright and sunny day (sound so like primary school essay..., who cares! It's a fact.). TSG is once again back at CJ. Meeting time was at 12.30pm so I decided to leave home early to have lunch at Changi Village. But... it was way too early... Reached Changi Village at 11am... Soon enough, all seagrassers arrived, with only a 'certain and usual' group of people late again. Haha...

Upon reaching House No. 1, Siti started to brief the team as there are quite a number of new seagrassers.

This time round, I was paired with another newbie, Nicholas - a NUS exchange student from New York who studies environmental science. And of course, I'm at my usual site A again for the sake of consistency in data collection (so I claim).

The first thing that most of us saw was a familiar sight - spaghetti-like orange masses everywhere. Can you spot them?

Here's a closer look.

Wondering what's that?

It belongs to this creature - the Seahare. It's a type of sea slug which is said to resemble a sitting hare (pretend that the rhinophores are ears). The orange masses are their eggs, which they lay them in a string-like manner, all twirled up. More info can be found here. The last time we saw this kind of mad mass breeding activity was back in Jan/Feb 2007. Seasonal hermaphrodite critter.

And here goes the list of few critters today, along with the usual swimming crabs, snails, barnacles, mussels, moults etc. Seagrass of course (better mention before 'someone' nags):

A catfish found just beside my transect line. Had to convince it into the water, reminding it that dry ground is not good for its health.

Update: These are drill eggs, more specifically from Thais lacera carinifera. Purple indicates mature eggs while yellow ones are immature. Hatched eggs are probably transparent or indicated by broken capsules? Another sighting of a different type of drill eggs, from Thais malayensis, were back in Oct 07. All identification courtesy of Dr. Tan Koh Siang, a molluscs expert. He once did studies related to Thais sp..

I believe this is a warty sea cucumber. A little fellow, only about 2-3cm long. Grow up, little one!

These are found by the NParks intertidal walk guides. Can you spot the tiny seahorse beside the cake sea star?

A brittle star. This type of sea star usually hide in crevices, sponges or corals. As the name indicates, it has a tendency to break its arms off easily, perhaps to escape from being a meal for predators.

And last but not the least, common sea star which is no longer that common in CJ after the CJ mass death incident in early 2007.

Since there was no hurry, we decided to walk along the mangrove area from the northern end towards the boardwalk.

Plenty of mangrove trees. They have unusual roots and other characteristics as they have to adapt to being covered in seawater at high tide and also to grow in soft mud.

And this particular one is rare in Singapore. Someone please let me know the species? Avicennia?

Walking along and I found this bunch of guys (gals too, I guess). Seeing mudskippers waddling and floating around as a school was so cute that I couldn't resist snapping a photo of them.

Good weather = nice view from the top of Jejawi Tower.

With a beautiful sunset view on our way back.

Surprisingly, almost everyone is awake on the boat trip back to the mainland.

And here's to end it off - a snapshot of the view from the back of the boat - the sky, sea and boat, each with its own shade of blue.

Tree Climbing at Kent Ridge (12 Jan 08)

2008-01-13T12:11:00.000+08:00

A bunch of Naked Hermit Crabs decided to evolve. Evolution is a process that takes hell of lot time, but we made it happen in a day.

Yesterday, six of us (Tiong Chin, July, Juan Hui, Chee Kong, Helen and me) took a leap of faith to evolve into tree climbing crabbies, with the help of instructors from Sunny Island TreeClimbers Society. Thanks to the lift by Tiong Chin, we reached Kent Ridge at around 10am, all eager to scale some trees.

We then met our coordinator, Valerie and her instructors. And things took off from there. After a short theory and safety lesson, we began our ascend up the trees.

Tiong Chin, July, Chee Kong and me shared a tree while Helen and Juan Hui occupied another tree with a couple of other participants. First off was Tiong Chin, assisted by July.

Harness and ropes all ready and ...

Up he goes!

Meanwhile...

Juan Hui was 'hanging' around on another tree.

Up next was Chee Kong with my assist.

The snake man making his way up, perhaps to meet his fellows?

Then it was July's turn.

I asked him while he was up there, "No mosquitoes eh?" and he nodded. Hahaha...

I was up next.

Making my way up. Having done a little bit of vertical ascending back in ODAC does help a little. Hehe...

Last but not the least was Helen.

Making her way up slow and steady.

Wonder why she's smiling? Cause she actually got stuck and could not descend. Apparently her blake's hitch bit on too tight. Eventually with the help of Alwin (one of the instructors), she managed land on earth again. We had so much joy and laughter while trying to get her down. Haha...

After everyone got a go at climbing the trees, a few of us went for second round. Juan Hui then had an ambition, to go up the tree and stand on the fork where the anchor point was. So she embarked on her journey while July was climbing on another.

July then decided to climb on his tree's fork too, and he was faster than Juan Hui.

Juan Hui's agony in climbing up the fork.

It was a pity that we did not capture a moment that was so hilarious. One of the instructors bought along his niece and nephew, who were perhaps about 4 or 5 years old. While Juan Hui was trying all means to climb up, the niece was happily eating her bread while watching on. Suddenly out of the blue, we all heard this most innocent, little voice saying, "She cannot climb up is it??". We all burst out laughing and it soon became the joke of the day!

Nevertheless, she eventually did it and sure is proud of it, despite being embarrassed by a little girl! Hehe...

While Juan Hui was hugging the tree, so did the rest of us. Now I've a slightly better understanding of why koalas like to hug trees.

From top left, clockwise: Chee Kong, July, me, Tiong Chin and Helen.

We then sat down for a quick lunch. Most of us either brought sandwiches or biscuit, and a couple of us ordered fried rice. After a real heavy meal, we went on to the intermediate level for our course. We learnt how to set up our own system.

We began by learning how to choose a tree and anchor point. Then followed by the knots required for the rope system. And also how to throw the weight pouch in order to get the line over the anchor point. After learning how to choose the tree, we all realised that wherever we went, we started a habit to look at the trees and decide which is climbable.

Here are the knots we learnt. Good thing being in Scouts is that I've learnt most of the knots and picked up the only new knot pretty quick. From left to right: Double figure of 8; single figure of 8 and blake's hitch.

Chee Kong finishes and looks on at his piece of work.

Helen securing the climbing rope with the end of the throwing line, and eventually pulling it till the rope is set up.

While we were doing the practical part of setting up the system, those who have finished decided to climb the highest rope set up.

Helen taking a photo from way up there.

Juan Hui also ascended halfway up the rope, and decided to eat a banana.

Hmmm... see any similarities? Perhaps NParks can use the 'new' image to spread the awareness of 'Do not feed the monkeys'. Wait... it should be 'Do not feed the Homo sapiens'. (Photo by Chee Kong and Junrebayla(flickr))

Soon, it was about time. The course came to an end and we packed our stuff. We had so much fun that now we can't wait for our test date, whereby we will be doing some theory work and of course, the practical session!

Food for Thought - This Earth Is Precious

2008-01-04T13:11:00.000+08:00

In 1854, the "Great White Chief" in Washington made an offer for a large area of Indian land and promised a 'reservation' for the Indian people of the North West of the USA. Chief Seattle of the Suquamish was said to have made this reply. Although this piece of writing is commonly attributed to Chief Seattle, historians do not believe he said these precise words.

Whoever is responsible for the text below, there is no doubt that it is a beautiful and profound statement on the environment and our relationship with it.

How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land?
The idea is strange to us.
If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?
Every part of the earth is sacred to my people.
Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people.
The sap that courses through the trees carries the memories of the red man.

The white man's dead forgot the country of their birth when they go to walk among the stars.
Our dead never forget this beautiful earth, for it is the mother of the red man.
We are part of the earth and it is part of us.
The perfumed flowers are our sisters: the deer, the horse, the great eagle, these are our brothers.
The rocky crests, the juiced in the meadows, the body heat of the pony, and man - all belong to the same family.

So, when the Great Chief in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land, he asks much of us.
The Great Chief sends word that he will reserve us a place so that we can live comfortably to ourselves.
He will be our father and we will be his children. So we will consider your offer to buy our land.

But it will not be easy. For this land is sacred to us.
This shining water that moves in the streams and rivers is not just water but the blood of our ancestors.
If we sell you land, you must remember that it is sacred, and you must teach your children that it is sacred and that each ghostly reflection in the clear water of the lake tells of events and memories in the life of my people.
The water's murmur is the voice of my father's father.

The rivers are our brothers, they quench our thirst.
The river carries our canoes, and feed our children.
If we sell you our land, you must remember, and teach your children, that the rivers are our brothers, and yours, and you must henceforth give the rivers the kindness you would give any brother.

We know that the white man does not understand our ways.
One portion of land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs.
The earth is not his brother, but his enemy, and when he has conquered it, he moves on.
He leaves his father's graves behind, and he does not care.
He kidnaps the earth from his children, and he does not care.
His father's grave, and his children's birthright, are forgotten.
He treats his mother, the earth, and his brother, the sky, as things to be bought, plundered, sold like sheep or bright beads.
His appetite will devour the earth and leave behind only a desert.

I do not know. Our ways are different from your ways.
The sight of your cities pains the eyes of the red man.
But perhaps it is because the red man is a savage and does not understand.
There is no quiet place in the white man's cities.
No place to hear the unfurling of leaves in spring, or the rustle of an insect's wings.
But perhaps it is because the red man is a savage and does not understand.
The clatter only seems to insult the ears.
And what is there to life, if a man can not hear the lonely cry of the whippoorwill or the arguments of the frogs around a pond at night?
I am a red man and do not understand.
The Indian prefers the soft sound of the wind darting over the face of a pond, and the smell of the wind itself, cleaned by a midday rain, or scented with the pinon pine.

The air is precious to the red man, for all things share the same breath - the beast, the tree, the man, they all share the same breath.
The white man does not seem to notice the air he breathes.
For a man dying for many days, he is numb to the stench.
But if we sell you our land, you must remember that the air is precious to us, that the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports.
The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also receives his last sigh.
And if we sell you our land, you must keep it apart and sacred, as a place where even the white man can go to taste the wind that is sweetened by the meadow's flowers.

So we will consider your offer to buy our land.
If we decide to accept, I will make one condition: The white man must treat the beasts of this earth as his brothers.
I am a savage and do not understand any other way.
I have seen a thousand rotting buffaloes on the prairie, left by the white man who shot them from a passing train.
I am a savage and I do not understand how the smoking iron horse can be more important than the buffalo that we kill only to stay alive.
What is man without the beasts?
If all the beasts were gone, man would die from a great loneliness of spirit.
For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man.
All things are connected.

You must teach your children that the ground beneath their feet is the ashes of your grandfathers.
So that they will respect the land, tell your children that the earth is rich with the lives of our kin.
Teach your children what we have taught our children, that the earth is our mother.
Whatever befalls the earth, befalls the sons of the earth.
If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves.

This we know: The earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth. This we know.

All things are connected like the blood which unites family.
All things are connected.
Whatever befalls the earth, befalls the sons of the earth.
Man did not weave the web of life: he is merely a strand in it.
Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.
Even the white man, whose God walks and talks with him as friend to friend, can not be exempt from the common destiny.
We may be brothers after all.
We shall see.

One thing we know, which the white man may one day discover - our God is the same God.
You may think now that you own Him as you wish to own our land; but you can not.
He is the God of man, and His compassion is equal for the red man and the white.
This earth is precious to Him, and to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its Creator.

The whites too shall pass; perhaps sooner than all other tribes.
Contaminate your bed, and you will one night suffocate in your own waste.
But in your perishing you will shine brightly, fired by the strength of the God who brought you to this land and for some special purpose gave you dominion over this land and over the red man.

That destiny is a mystery to us, for we do not understand when buffalo are all slaughtered, the wild horses are tamed, the secret corners of the forests heavy with the scent of many men, and the view of the ripe hills blotted by the talking wires.
Where is the thicket? Gone.
Where is the eagle? Gone.
The end of living and the beginning of survival.

Coral Workshop Field Trip Part II - Coral ID

2007-12-27T12:56:00.000+08:00

Identification of corals ain't that easy... Like I've mentioned before, I generally just walk past a coral and think, "Hmm... that's a hard coral.", "That's a soft coral." or "That's a boulder/brain coral." That is how limited my knowledge is.

After attending the coral workshop some time back, I was a little better equipped, but still not prepared for the field. I could only identify some of the more distinctive and common ones.

So here goes my personal mini guide to coral ID. Listed are those that can be found in Sinapore as indicated by Jani. Please correct me if any of the ID is wrong and I'll make the amendments asap.

Scientific Classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Anthozoa
Order: Scleractinia (Hard/Stony Corals)

World: 18 families, ~110 genera
Singapore: ~55 genera, ~200 species

Family: Acroporidae
Genus: Acropora
Key Characteristics: Axial corallites
Growth Form(s): Branching, Tabular

Acropora digitifera

Family: Acroporidae
Genus: Montipora
Key Characteristics: Empty corallites (deep), very small corallites, granulated/spiny coenosteum
Growth Form(s): Encrusting, Foliose, Branching

Montipora hispida

Family: Acroporidae
Genus: Astreopora
Key Characteristics: Conical corallite
Growth Form(s): Massive

Astreopora gracilis

Family: Agariciidae
Genus: Pavona
Key Characteristics: small, shallow corallites, poorly defined walls, inter-connected by septo-costae.
Growth Form(s): Foliose, Encrusting, Branching

Family: Agariciidae
Genus: Pachyseris
Key Characteristics: Series of concentric ridges parallel with the margin
Growth Form(s): Foliose, Encrusting

Family: Dendrophylliidae
Genus: Turbinaria
Key Characteristics: Most corallites at perimeter, remaining are widely spaced
Growth Form(s): Foliose

Turbinaria bifrons

Family: Euphyllidae
Genus: Euphyllia
Key Characteristics: Anchor-shaped/finger-like bubbled tentacles
Growth Form(s): Branching, Phaceloid/Flabellate

Euphyllia ancora

Family: Euphyllidae
Genus: Plerogyra
Key Characteristics: Bubbled tentacles
Growth Form(s): Branching, Phaceloid/Flabellate

Family: Faviidae (Largest family)
Key Characteristics: Large corallites, brain coral look.
Growth Form(s): Massive

Favites sp.

Montastrea sp.

Oulastrea sp.

Oulophyllia sp.

Oulophyllia crispa

Platygyra sp.

Family: Fungiidae
Genus: Fungia
Key Characteristics: Circular corallite, single mouth
Growth Form(s): Free-living

Fungia (Ctenactis) simplex

Family: Fungiidae
Genus: Heliofungia
Key Characteristics: Long tentacles with pale tips when extended, serrated septa
Growth Form(s): Free-living

Heliofungia actiniformis

Family: Fungiidae
Genus: Herpolitha
Key Characteristics: Elongate axial furrows with several mouths
Growth Form(s): Free-living

Herpolitha limax

Family: Fungiidae
Genus: Podabacia
Key Characteristics: Laminar and unifacial, corallites tend to face perimeter
Growth Form(s): Foliose, Encrusting

Family: Merulinidae
Genus: Merulina
Key Characteristics: Laminar, septa looks like railway tracks
Growth Form(s): Foliose, Encrusting

Family: Mussidae
Genus: Lobophyllia
Key Characteristics: Large corallites, one or several mouths are joined, long septal teeth.
Growth Form(s): Massive, Submassive

Family: Mussidae
Genus: Symphyllia
Key Characteristics: Large corallites, one or several mouths are joined, groove on top of wall
Growth Form(s): Massive, Submassive

Symphyllia valenciennesii

Family: Oculinidae
Genus: Galaxea
Key Characteristics: Cylindrical corallites, septa very exert
Growth Form(s): Submassive

Galaxea astreata

Family: Pectiniidae
Genus: Pectinia
Key Characteristics: Laminar, septo-costae forms thin, high irregular walls in short valleys
Growth Form(s): Foliose

Pectinia sp.

Family: Poritidae
Genus: Porites
Key Characteristics: Small & immersed corallites filled with septa
Growth Form(s): Massive, Branching

Porites sp.

Family: Poritidae
Genus: Goniopora
Key Characteristics: Long polyps, polyp has 24 tentacles
Growth Form(s): Massive, Submassive

Goniopora sp.

Family: Poritidae
Genus: Alveopora
Key Characteristics: Long polyps, polyp has 12 tentacles
Growth Form(s): Massive, Submassive

Family: Pocilloporidae
Genus: Pocillopora
Key Characteristics: Immersed corallites, presence of wart-like verrucae, fuzzy look
Growth Form(s): Branching

Pocillopora sp.

Family: Siderastreidae
Genus: Psammocora
Key Characteristics: Small corallites, septo-costae form petaloid shapes
Growth Form(s): Massive, Submassive

Family: Trachyphylliidae
Genus: Trachyphyllia
Key Characteristics: Absence of septa teeth, cabbage-like look (wavy)
Growth Form(s): Foliose

Trachyphyllia geoffroyi

Semakau - Coral Workshop Field Trip (25 Dec 07)

2007-12-27T10:52:00.000+08:00

We all gathered at Marina South Pier, can't wait to get started for another intertidal walk. Unlike normal walk, hard corals are the focus of this trip. But before Luan Keng arrived, speculations of our destination started... Initially it was said to be Kusu, but somehow, someone got the news that it was Semakau... Eventually, Luan Keng arrived and delivered the news - Semakau is the final destination. Many of us were fooled, and ended up not prepare (in nice little shorts and berms instead of the usual longs for Semakau... remember the mosquito infested forest?). Thanks Luan Keng...

No complains and we journeyed on - boat and mini-bus and soon we met our enemy... the 'forest'.

Pass the forest, we came to our second obstacle - the seagrass lagoon.

Only then we reach the flats. And all the way we went to the edge of it where the coral reefs were.

Mentioning that this was a hard coral ID field trip, we spotted plenty of many other critters, up to a point that I decided the critters and corals should each deserve a post of their own. So here goes the critter list!

Swimming crab

Spoon-tip crab. Instead of the usual sharp tip, as its name says, it has a spoon tip which is used to scrap food substrate off rocks. I was lucky to witness the interesting foraging method.

Spider conch

Now one of my favourite critter - NUDIBRANCHS! I always try to find at least one on every trip. I got more than I asked for this time. Although I like them but never knew what the hell are their genus or species cause I'm no expert. I just like them cause they are so cute and laid-back. Correct me if I'm wrong with their names.

Phyllidiella sp.

Jorunna funebris feeding on its favourite food - blue sponge! Who like blue sponge cakes?

Looks like another Phyllidiella sp.

Egg mass of nudis

Another different egg mass

Discodoris boholiensis

And here are some flatworms, which I also don't know their names... Anyone??

Along the way, I just happen to be thinking, "Will I spot a blue-spotted fantail ray?".

Waa Laa!

Synaptic sea cucumber and...

More sea cucumbers that I cannot ID..

Squid

Octopus and including...

A mating pair. If I'm not wrong, males have a modified tentacle that is the 'you know what'. Notice one of the tentacles stretching over to the female - procreation in the process.

As corrected by Ria (Thanks!), this is actually a peacock anemone. I've seen many but a first for a translucent one. Also my lack of observation skills, hence my mistaken identity as a fanworm. Quoted from Ria, "You should see one outer ring of very long tentacles, and one inner ring of very short tentacles (about 1cm long). This animal is very shy and will retract immediately when flashed. It is usually only seen after dark. I have seen this on many of our coral rubble areas in both the northern and southern shores."

Last but not the least - The magnificent sea anemone Heteractis magnifica.

By the time we ended the trip, it was pitch dark and torches were all on. We crept slowly in the dark, pass the seagrass lagoon and mosquito infested forest, on the mini-bus and boat and eventually back on mainland. Hungry as hell, off we went to Lau Pa Sat to fill our empty stomachs before heading home for a good rest.

CJ Transect (23 Dec 07)

2007-12-25T13:44:00.000+08:00

In less than 20 hours, I'm back in CJ again. This time to help Kok Sheng for his CJ project.

Today, we were going to do the transects closer to the northern shore so Kok Sheng showed me a route that I've never taken before. Through the mangroves, across a ditch and eventually down on the flats. After some briefing, we were spilt into our groups and my group consisted of Samantha, Laxton and Yikang.

We had to put a red flag at the start and end point of the transect and use a yellow flag to align the path for the tape to be laid out. Sound easy it may seem but with the 100m long tape and the strong wind, it's definitely not. My group got T5 (260m) and T4 (400m).

Group photo with the transect line and quadrat. Can you see the yellow flag? I bet you can't see the red flag, and that's how far it is...

On the datasheet, the distance of the tape was given and we just need to locate the distance and place the quadrat on it, and...

Snap a photo. Kok Sheng will then do all the hardwork at home to count the alage cover, number of critters including snails etc. Good luck!

Having only two 100m tapes means we had to consistently shift the tapes. At one point, my group's tape decided to dance and twirl itself into a hopeless entangling state that we spent almost 15 to 20 mins 'un-twirling' it.

As much as we spent most of our time doing the survey, we did have time to look around, especially at the start when Kok Sheng was trying to find the start point. Haha...

In my usual style, here goes the list...

Moon snail. My first sighting of the elusive snail (for me, at least). I always see the empty shells and sand collars.

Warty sea cucumber

Lots of baby carpet anemones

Can you see it? It's a well camouflaged flat fish.

Another flat fish and a different species.

Gong gong with someone at home.

Cake sea star found by Kok Sheng.

Sand dollar

Last but not the least - button shells, also known as the 'Jewels of Chek Jawa'.

It was indeed a long and tiring day, but nonetheless it was fun as usual. Despite the heavy downpour just as we reach house no. 1 (Kok Sheng and Gun Kiat was caught in the rain as they were measuring the salinity), we managed to get ourselves out and back on mainland for a nice, rewarding dinner.

*Photos courtesy of Laxton, Kok Sheng and myself.

Griffin Ventures' CJ Walk (22 Dec 07)

2007-12-25T13:08:00.001+08:00

The Ventures (Scouts between age of 15-18) have been wanting to go CJ for a very long time, but just couldn't find a date. And of course, NParks' intertidal walk is always full. This time round, they decided to take the boardwalk, and I was asked by Wilson to guide them.

Earlier in the morning was our campfire debrief and after lunch at Long John, we made our way from the west to the east. Once reaching Changi Village, the rain came... and we decided to wait it out abit. Soon enough, we were on board the bumboat to ubin, and immediately hoped on a van to CJ.

Ride to CJ

Griffin Ventures

This was a chance for me to practice my guiding skills before the next public guiding, so I brought the Ventures through the same path. Here goes the journey.

The start of the journey...

Looking at fish tail palm and...

Sea almond and...

Sea lettuce.

Walking along and looking down. I realised boardwalk is better for mid-level tide, rather than low tide. As at low tide, you miss out alot on the swimming critters that seek shelter below the boardwalk.

The front and rear beacon. Notice that the line of sight for the rear beacon has been cleared. Usage of beacons - when the tips of the triangles are aligned, ships are able to pin-point their position on their navigation map. *Correct me if I'm wrong.

Looks like water spouts forming over the water in the distance.

View of the seagrass lagoon from the boardwalk at low tide.

Half-way through, the rain came again. But the Ventures decided to brave the 'drizzle' and continue with the journey.

Meeting the attap seeds' 'parents' for the first time for them.

And up we go...

For the beautiful overview of CJ. And as we were coming down the tower, the guard called out to us. Little did we realised that it was already 6pm! Out we rushed and our van uncle was already waiting for us with his doors open. Efficient service!

We went on to have a wonderful dinner at the seafood restaurant that Ria always bring us to. And of course the fried sotong was a snatch as usual. Soon the time came and we bid farewell to the beloved island, but sure to return another day.

And the Ventures did have a lot of memories and much to talk about.

*Photos courtesy of Wilson and myself.

Coral Workshop

2007-12-09T15:03:00.000+08:00

Despite being a Science student all my life, I never had the chance to study pure biology. Almost all biology knowledge I had was either self-read or learnt from others who taught me through field trips. So when the chance of attending a coral workshop came, I would never give it a miss.

The workshop was organized by a colleague of mine, Luan Keng, in Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research. Just in case, anyone who doesn't know yet - I've gotten a job as a Education and Public Relations Officer at Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research in National University of Singapore. Special thanks to Ria Tan who recommended me. Also to the people who have encouraged me not to give up in my area of interest. And last but not the least, Scouting which gave me the experience and expertise, which possibily landed me the job.

Those who attended were volunteers with Semakau and Naked Hermit Crabs, most of which I already knew. We started off with a lecture on the biology and knowledge of corals, by Jani - a coral expert. It ain't a breeze... lots of new terms and knowledge. A little daunting at first but soon it became more relaxing.

After the 'lecture', we were treated by Luan Keng to a feast of pizzas. Not forgetting the egg tarts and puffs we gotten during the tea break. And also the wonderful salad by Oi Yee, another coral expert who ,if I'm not wrong, used to work as a lab officer.

After the lunch we also had some time to mingle around and talk about corals and ways to ID them.

We were then to do our practical of looking at the specimens and testing ourselves. It was crazy... To me all corals look the same. In the field, I simply tell others things like, "This is a hard coral." Full stop. Soon I need to tell people that this is a Montipora, Acropora, Faviidae etc... Try it yourselves with the following and you will know what I mean...

Not easy eh?

We even have to peek in the microscope to see the difference for some of the corals...

We then all sat down for a screening of photos taken by some of us during our field trips. While going through them, we had to ID them. Some were easy, judging from the way we started chanting 'Acropora' and 'Faviidae', often to a halt when faced with something not familiar. Haha...

Now I've to prepare for the field trip on X'mas day to Kusu Island... It will be a coral madness day...

Griffin's Silver Jubilee

2007-12-09T14:26:00.000+08:00

1st December 2007 marks the celebration of Griffin Scout Troop's 25th Anniversary, in conjunction with the centenary celebration of Scouting world wide. 100 years ago, Scouting was born in the hands of Lord Robert Stephenson Baden-Powell. Today, it is the largest global youth movement with 28 million Scouts, youth and adults, boys and girls, in 155 countries. And I'm proud to be a part of it.

Preparation started in June 2007, but the campfire committee had a lot of ups and downs, much of it due to the fact that majority of the members are either in NS or are having exams/'A' levels. When it came to the final stretch, effectively we only had two weeks to prepare the real stuff.

On the day itself, all of us really stretch ourselves to the limit.

Souvenir committee working, and eventually presenting unique souvenirs individualised for each troop, guest, and award.

Campfire chairman, Yuankai (right) with his band of brothers, who were all set to give a wonderful performance that night.

The 'gateway' seen in the background consists of two towers and a wide gateway with a converging visual effect. Kudos to the gateway com for working through the whole night and that day itself.

It is later decorated with banners, individualised for each troop that came. Great pieces of masterworks by Serene and her committed team of artist who stayed in school for a couple of nights to work on them.

The firepit committee with their own piece of work showing the numbers '2' and '5'. It was to be seen as '25' from either side of the pit. Thanks to Tat Lin, Badruddin and their team for all the hard work.

Soon, troops started arriving.

And the campfire ground started to fill up.

And not long after, our Guest of Honour, Margaret Anderson, District Commissioner of Clementi arrived and declared the campfire open!

What a blaze!

It was then showtime for our two dearest Emcees, Jason and Changci to get the show started!

With Cheers!

And of course, songs and games. Even special performances by CTSS guides and Serangoon Eagles!

It was believed to be the longest campfire any troop has organized, but perhaps also one of the most fun and enriching. All guests were treated to a feast of assorted pizzas for refreshment at the end of the campfire. Not bad eh? Sorry ar, no pictures since everyone was busy eating. Haha...Refreshments were arranged solely by our dear Janson. Kudos!

It was also a time for the 'oldies' to catch up on the past and current. And here's the 'old' boys and girls of Griffin.

And of course, a final shot of the Griffin Family! With many more to come. Special thanks to the two teachers, Betty and Kamal, who have been shuffling here and there for the whole day!

Team Seagrass at Pulau Semakau

2007-11-25T22:35:00.000+08:00

I was so excited yesterday. I'd joined TSG ever since it started and been to all the CJ's sessions and several others. However, whenever it comes to P. Semakau, it always clashes with my other commitments. Not this time! And to many others who already knew me well, it came as a surprise to them that it's my virgin trip to the island too!

Andy kindly gave me a lift from my secondary school where I was having my usual Scout meeting. Then we went to Nparks BioD centre to pick up the equipments, and of course Siti, Wei Ling and Nor Aishah too. Andy had volunteered to arrange for this trip and that included buying the food so we stopped by International Plaza to grab some 'Polar' pastries.

Upon reaching Marina South Pier, most of us were there. As we were boarding, there was still one person missing - our dear Dickson... Well, eventually he made in time, but not without any consequences. He was later assigned to the furthest site and had to blog on the trip for the TSG's blog.

The boat ride was pretty long - longer than expected. Once I set foot on the island, it felt very different from others. It was very peaceful and the scenery was amazing from the pier.

In two groups, we took turns on the van to entrance of the forest. We then had to trek through the infamous 'mosquito forest'. Indeed worthy of its name...

But once out of the forest at the coastal region, the sight is surreal, considering the island is a landfill for our rubbish.

We were then to arranged into the groups for the survey. My partner was suppose to be Marcus and we were allocated Site 1, the nearest. When I thought I would have a easy time, I was wrong... Ria 'kicked' Marcus and I out. Then when Siti was arranging the rest, Marcus told me to lie low and perhaps we might escape from being allocated then we can happily explore. "Marcus!" Siti shouted and there goes Marcus into Site 2 and soon after I followed in his trails... My new partners were then Gaytri and coincidentally, Jerald, who was with me for CJ previously.

Site 2 was termed the lagoon, which I soon knew why... I had the honour to lay the transect, so off I went running the tape. Step by step, I soon start to sink deeper into the ground. Right in the middle, I was submerged up to my thighs... It reminded me of the mud sinking days where I did snake hunting with Chee Kong in Sungei Buloh, it was all mud and you can see where or what ya stepping on. But you can't see anything here at all except the overcrowded seagrass and macro algae... So have to watch where you step.

Well, I was not the only who consistently get stuck or sunk into the mud. Gaytri and Jerald did a fair job at that too. And of course, our dear Siti was not spared from the soft mud.

Site 2 also have many species of seagrasses, which made it even harder. A single quadrat could easily consists of four different species. Eventually, we managed to get used to the ID and finished almost an hour later. And off we went for the most awaited portion of the trip, shore exploration.

Enhalus acoroides (tape seagrass) was in bloom. Plenty of male flowers could be seen floating around. They were release from their bracts. Unfortunately, I was unable to find the female flowers or I'm just blind perhaps...

In the area where sponges and corals were, a few critters were found.

Like this upside down jellyfish. Due to the presence of the symbiotic algae in its tentacles, being upside down would be optimal for sun exposure required for photosynthesis.

Not one but two Discodoris boholensis were spotted. I've previously seen this at Sentosa.

I spotted this bi-valve (alive) but have no idea what it is. Doesn't look anything like what I have seen before. Anyone?

Dawn then spotted this. It's a type of sea slug but yet to be ID-ed. Anyone?

Ron then pointed this out to me. It's a sunflower mushroom coral. I've seen mushroom corals, but this has extended tentacles.

Last but not the least, Chay Hoon spotted this just before Siti yelled at us to gather back. It's a Denison's nudibranch. Rare one it seems, as Ron have never seen it on Semakau before.

As the tide rose, we returned back to the main road. This time round, no van for us so we had to walk back. Boy, it was long, but the walk allowed us to take in the beauty of the place and a chance to talk to the other seagrassers.

Although this is the last trip for the year, but I'm already looking forward to another wonderful year ahead!

More on the trip at Ron's and TSG's blog.

News Flash - Northern Exposure, 30-ha site in Mandai to be nature retreat

2007-11-21T10:31:00.000+08:00

TODAY (Pg. 2), Wednesday, 21 November 2007.
http://www.todayonline.com/articles/223211.asp

Nature retreat. Nice idea, but on the already space-limited island? Mandai? Is it going to be near the Central Catchment Reserve? If so, will another case like in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve (BTNR) happen again?

I did another research project along side my final year project and it was pertaining to BTNR's history and present condition. As Singapore was plagued by social trend of having developments near green spots, invasions have been taking place around the reserve.

As of the latest statistics, a total of 14 condominiums, all within 2 kilometers of BTNR, are developed or in the process of completion and they have a total projected residency of about 15,000 people (Chatterjea et al., 2007). Imagine the kind of impact this has on the reserve. There is always a limit to the carrying capacity of a reserve. Due to Singapore's location near the Equatorial Convergence Zone, BTNR used to have the richest biodiversity in the world. Partial credits to such urban and industrial development, gone along with some of the forests was the rich diversity of fauna and flora (Ooi, 1998).

Perhaps, before we are going to be more 'developed', we should consider the plight of our very own Nature. You can't 'develop' Nature as you wish.

References:
Chatterjea, K. et al, 2007. Development and environment: The constant battle. In Ooi, G.L., Chatterjea, K., Chang, C.H. and Lim, K.Y.T., Geographies of a changing world: Global issues in the early 21st century. (pp 145-178). Singapore: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Ooi, G.L., 1998. Environment and the city. Sharing Singapore’s experience and future challenges. Singapore: Federal Publications (S) Pte Ltd, pp. 1-12, 185-199.

News Flash - Sentosa, Schools To Jointly Restore Primary Forest

2007-11-20T12:15:00.001+08:00

Decided to put up another label called News Flash, describing any relevant issues. And here's the first.

TODAY (Pg. 8), Tuesday, 20 November 2007.

"The Sentosa Leisure Group is embarking on a project to restore a primary forest on the resort island for the first time. It will invest an initial $200,000 to kick off its efforts and has roped in 150 pupils to help write this green chapter in the history books.

With guidance from Sentosa and nature experts, nine schools have adopted plots across 12 to 15 hectares to grow native plant species from around the region.

Sentosa's nature reserve now comprise essentially secondary coastal forests, some of which are rather sparse and low in quality, resulting from historical clearing of the forest in the early 19th Century."

Hmmm... restoring primary forest? Is it possible to restore a primary forest other than just letting nature take its course? Once you touch it, doesn't it just become another secondary patch...? Just wondering...

Description of primary forest from Greenfacts:
Primary forests are forests of native tree species, where there are no clearly visible indications of human activities and the ecological processes are not significantly disturbed.

Food for Thought - Little Froggies

2007-11-18T22:29:00.000+08:00

Typical but still inspiring at times.

Once upon a time there was a bunch of tiny frogs.... who arranged a running competition. The goal was to reach the top of a very high tower. A big crowd had gathered around the tower to see the race and cheer on the contestants. ...

The race began....

Honestly: No one in crowd really believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower. You heard statements such as: 'Oh, WAY too difficult!!', 'They will NEVER make it to the top.' or 'Not a chance that they will succeed. The tower is too high!'

The tiny frogs began collapsing. One by one.... Except for those, who in a fresh tempo, were climbing higher and higher....

The crowd continued to yell, 'It is too difficult!!! No one will make it!'

More tiny frogs got tired and gave up.... But ONE continued higher and higher and higher.... This one wouldn't give up!

At the end everyone else had given up climbing the tower. Except for the one tiny frog who, after a big effort, was the only one who reached the top!

THEN all of the other tiny frogs naturally wanted to know how this one frog managed to do it?

A contestant asked the tiny frog how he had found the strength to succeed and reach the goal?

It turned out.... That the winner was DEAF!!!!

The wisdom of this story is:

Never listen to other people's tendencies to be negative or pessimistic... because they take your most wonderful dreams and wishes away from you -- the ones you have in your heart!

Always think of the power words have. Because everything you hear and read will affect your actions!

Therefore: ALWAYS be...POSITIVE!

And above all: Be DEAF when people tell YOU that you cannot fulfill your dreams!

Always think: God and I can do this!

Team Seagrass at Clean and Green Jamboree

2007-11-04T21:03:00.000+08:00

Clean and Green Jamboree was held over 3rd and 4th November at Bishan Park. Team Seagrass set up a booth at the event on 3rd Nov to showcase and publicize our work. Once again... I forgot to bring my camera... But Kok Sheng blogged about it. You can find out more here.

As I was there for the last shift from 6 to 9pm with Andy, Gaytri and Nor Aishah, we had the opportunity to meet our PM, who was there to grace and launch the event.

Stationed at the booth and interacting with the public on what is Team Seagrass and related Nature stuff.

Our booth graced by PM with Gaytri and Andy playing host to him. (Both photos courtesy of Nor Aishah.)

Naked Hermit Crab at Wildlife Stampede

2007-11-02T23:37:00.000+08:00

A stampede was going on today, but not the Africa one. It's a Wildlife Stampede with world renowned Dr Jane Goodall. It was her who has been my inspiration to maybe one day work with primates, particular with my favourite Orang Utan.

Naked Hermit Crabs were at Botanic's Children Garden to witness the event. As we soon came to realised... we're a little over-aged... seeing all the kids around... Well, who cares! We were there to have fun! And here's a shot of the crabbies

From left to right - November, July, Me, Chay Hoon, May and Marcus.

And here's our naked butts! (Both pictures courtesy of July)

We all then gathered around the starting point to await our special guest and soon enough, she arrived.

Have been reading about Dr Goodall for a long time, but seeing her in person is just a different and great feeling.

After a short message by the emcee and Dr Goodall, we started the wildlife stampede - a parade around the garden, which ended at the stage with a series of performances.

Here's a look at the 'wildlife' of the parade.

All dressed up in vibrant colours.

Sharkie

A cute little turtle and ...

Here's the little guy in that costume.

Mr Crocky

Spidey and Duckie

Cats and Zebras in harmony

Giant Doves

Starfish

Fishes

Octy

Stingrays

Seahorses

Camel and a penguin following behind

Bees and a little butterfly. Of course there were alot more. Doubt I can fit everything in and I was too happy fooling around that taking pictures was not my top agenda. Haha...

Look at the huge crowd!

Eventually, the event ended around 7pm with a presentation to ten of the best dressed groups/individuals, which definitely did a great job. A long day and walk but all the crabbies had a great day out!!

Team Seagrass at Chek Jawa

2007-10-28T23:55:00.000+08:00

Today was a fine day when I step out of my house in Boon Lay. But 2 hours later, when I step out of the bus arriving at Changi Village, the heavy rain started... And we were to do our seagrass monitoring today!

By the time I reach the jetty, almost everyone was there and in no time, almost 20 people gathered and away to Pulau Ubin on the bumboat we went! By the time we got to the island's jetty, the rain got so heavy that we had to wait it out.

Eventually we still made it to Chek Jawa and wasted no time in getting down to business. Instead of the usual two groups, we spilt into three with one doing a new test site. As usual, I stuck to Site 1 for the sake of consistency of scientific data collection (so I claim =P).

Upon arriving at my Transect 1, I found something new and pretty-looking. Nice shade of purple for a stake eh?

A closer look... Notice the drills? And yea, those lovely purple stuff are actually drills' eggs, matured. The yellow ones are immature eggs. Thanks to Ron for identifying and pointing it out. These belong to Thais malayensis, identification courtesy of Dr. Tan Koh Siang, a molluscs expert.

Just as we thought the rain had died down, it started pouring on us again... and it made the monitoring tough. All the water were murked up.

This is the kind of shot of the quadrat you get before...

And after the downpour.

Despite the rain, I hopped along with a new Seagrasser, Jerial (Pardon me if your name is spelt wrongly. Please correct me.), to explore the area after we were done. And since we were free and Kok Sheng needed help for his project (http://cjproject.blogspot.com) which monitors Chek Jawa's mortality and recruitment after the mass death earlier this January. While helping him, I got the excuse to explore even more and once again, here goes the critter list.

Sandfish Sea Cucumbers

Another sea cucumber. Maybe a Cucumarid sp.? Id courtesy of Ron.

Brittle Star

Sand Star

Probably a Gymnanthenea sp.? Uncertain thou. (Scientific name courtesy of Ron, again.)

Sand Dollar

Carpet Anemone

Bristleworm/ Fireworm

And this one is another species of bristleworm. Guess it's a shorter and fatter version.

As the dusk drew near, I took this shot of Chek Jawa from its northern edge. Huge isn't it?

And this panoramic view of CJ from the tower (Thanks to Yuan Kai for putting it all together). Hope the future generations will get the chance to continue seeing this beautiful and amazing piece of Nature's wonder.

Naked Hermit Crab (NHC)'s Sentosa Guided Walk

2007-10-28T01:49:00.000+08:00

The start of an eventful weekend began today with the a public guided nature walk with my nature group, the Naked Hermit Crabs (http://nakedhermitcrabs.blogspot.com) at Sentosa. There were about 20 odd participants, both adults and kids, who signed up for the Family Trail and Adventure Trail. Marcus and Helen led the Family Trail group while Ron, Ivan and me led the Adventure Trail group. July had to do the tough work of a seeker (someone who has to find stuff to look at). Despite the tide not receding low enough, we decided to begin the walk with some terrestrial stuff.

I'm sure everyone knows about the Underwater World in Sentosa, but are you aware of the real underwater world behind? This is where it all begins. On the way to the starting point, Ron introduced some of the plants and trees like the Sea Almond tree and Seashore Pandan that grew along the path. Then it was time for the coastal walk.

This group is led by Ivan and seems like they are all looking at something. You bet for there are a lot to see and here goes the list!

Sargassum, a type of brown seaweed.

Branching corals, usually in mass.

Mushroom coral, free-living species that are not attached to the reef, unlike most other corals.

Omelette leathery coral

Carpet anemone

Sponge (Before you start wondering, it's an animal that feeds by filtering the water)

Another sponge, but bright blue in colour, possibly used to ward off possible predators.

Drill, a type of snail which secretes some sort of acid that can soften the shells of clams. They will then slowly drill through and feed on the insides.

Turban snail, showing the hemi-spherical operculum, which looks like a 'cat's eye'.

Volcano barnacle. Barnacles are usually hermaphrodites aka both male and female. But instead of self-fertilise, they will mate with neighbouring barnacles. Since they can't move, they have the longest male organ to body size ratio of the animal kingdom so that they can reach far away.

Onchidium, a cute slug which breathes through an opening alongside its anus and always leaves a trail of waste when it moves.

Squid

Kite butterfly fish

Black sea cucumber, hiding in a crevice.

Leaf slug which sucks sap of algae and keeps the choroplast in order to photosynthesize to provide itself with extra nutrients. Wonder of Nature eh? If only humans can do that, but then again... we will all be green...

A Nudibranch, meaning 'naked gills' and is derived from the extensions on their body which is used for breathing. Once again, another hermaphrodite.

File fish

Flatworm, hm... a worm that is flat? Not an expert here... Ha...

Hairy crab

Half-time. Now we go landwards a little, exploring the natural caves and admire the pink shade of the cliff which is caused by iron oxide. Here you can see the Raffles Pitcher plant, a 'carnivorous' plant which digest the insects that falls in with the digestive fluid in its 'pitcher'.

Here you see my adventure trail group, the swimming crabs! This was taken in front of a rock formation which clearly had an eroded path. Sandstone being a soft rock was slowly eroded by the water waves, leaving the distinction from the hard granite.

Wondering what's the hustle about? You bet it's something good.

Now you know why? An octopus! More often you see it on your dinner table, but this is a live, wild one. Sure beats seeing a dead one.

Now final round of the nature critters, courtesy of July, Marcus and Helen, all gathered at a spot. Although they were stored in plastic containers, they are only meant for the participants to get a closer look. It's only temporary and all were released shortly after so as to minimise the stress on them. So here goes...

Copper-banded butterfly fish. It sometimes feeds on coral polyps. At the end of its dorsal fin, a large eye-epot may help to confuse would-be predators that the fish is actually some other larger animal or make them aim for the tail instead of the real head.

Another nudibranch, commonly termed as Discodoris after its scientific name Discodoris boholensis

Mosaic crab, the most poisonous crab in Singapore.

Those were the highlights and of course there were more, like another leaf slug, a moulted shell of a brown egg crab, dove lightning snails, blue swimming crab etc. And of course there were so much more that was seen like seagrass, nerite snails etc. When it is best experienced if you visit the place yourself. Visit NHC's website for information of future walks.

It was a fantastic day and as dusk drew near, sadly we had to call it a day. Nevertheless, all the participants had a feast of what Singapore's shores had to offer and hope that this will continue to promote the awareness of Singapore's very own Nature!

Food for Thought - How the poor people live

2007-10-21T16:58:00.000+08:00

Being someone who takes time to reflect occasionally, I know the power of such thoughts. This is also the reason why I took on a liking for community and outreach projects. Hence I decided to add a small section to the blog called, 'Food for thought', hoping it will play an effect upon someone, someday...

The following will be the very first entry - one that was sent to me by a Rover of mine. Enjoy!

__________________________________________________________

One day, the father of a very wealthy family--living in the city--took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how the poor people live.

The father wanted the experience to really "sink in" so they spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"

"It was great, Dad."

"Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked.

"Oh yeah," said the son.

"So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.

The son answered:

"I saw that we have one dog and they had four.

We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a beautiful winding creek that has no end.

We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.

Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.

We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.

We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.

We buy our food, but they grow theirs.

We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them."

The boy's father was speechless.

Then his son added, "Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are."

Isn't perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don't have.

Appreciate every single thing you have, especially your friends!
"Life is too short and friends are too few."

Scout Youth Forum - Back in Singapore (Leave contacts here)

2007-10-18T17:27:00.000+08:00

After the small feast, we began on our journey back to NYC. It was horrible as some of us were already damn sleepy. As most people would already know, thanks to Edward for that, we usually have small meeting sessions at night, usually lasting till 1 or 2 am. So the accumulation of sleep deprivation hit us this time as some of us actually were 'sleep-walking' our way back to NYC. Muhd even nearly clashed with the gates at the side of the pathway. Haha... And boy, it was freezing....

For Jean, Alan and Muhd, it was okay for them as they got the chance to continue their trip. But for Sarah, Steph, Aru and I, we had to return back to Singapore. It was so sad as we couldn't bear to leave... Although this was not my first APR event, but it was so much more memorable than others. As we bid farewell to Japan, we left with a heavy heart...

Upon reaching Narita Airport (which we slept throughout the bus ride), we looked for a place to settle down and had our breakfast. After breakfast, we went for some last minute shopping spree. Sarah, Steph and Aru ended carrying like 3 to 4 hand carry bags up the plane... They really know how to shop man...

Okay... this is the most embarrassing and worse part of our trip... It was about 11.30am (Japan time) when we got on the plane and got ourselves settle down but the flight was delayed by 10 minutes as clearance was not given yet. Then...I can't remember what happened! You know why? Cause the four of us concussed before the plane even flew! The air hostess even had to put Steph's seat belt on for her cause she forgot to put it on before she concussed!

The next thing I remember was that I woke up at 1pm plus, with the air hostess serving some snacks and drinks. I attempt to wake Aru and Sarah up by shaking them but in vain... they were really deep in their dreamlands... I decided to watch a movie, which I can't remember watching the whole thing too since I was dozing off now and then... It was about 2pm plus that lunch was served. Only then the three of them woke up. But not for long as, all four of us fell asleep again after lunch all the way till the plane arrived in Singapore... Now you know how tired we were... But wait there's more...

After going through the customs, we went to collect our baggages. So we arrive at the conveyor belt waiting for our baggage. After about 5 minutes, Sarah said she saw her baggage so we waited for it to come round. After about another 5 minutes, we find something amiss... we didn't see our baggage. Then I took a look at the sign and great... for almost 10 minutes, we were like idiots standing at the conveyor belt waiting for something that will not appear.... cause we were at the WRONG conveyor belt! Ours were like two belts away.... Sarah then labeled us as 'Losers'. Period...

That's all for the adventures in Japan. Couldn't include everything thou. I really regret not extending my stay to the conference as I did not know that I wouldn't have started work yet. I really miss such a great chance. Sorry to all my new friends that I couldn't stay to enjoy your company even more. Perhaps we will be able to see each soon! Maybe at the end of the year in Australia for the rover moot or in Korea next year for the World Scout Youth Forum and Conference! I hope I'll be able to go! See ya all.

Do spread this blog around. Perhaps we can use this last blog entry's comment column as a form of communication especially for leaving your contacts as I believe not everyone has name cards during the forum. Enjoy!! Thanks for making my possibly last Rover event so memorable!

Leave your contacts as a comment to this blog entry.

Scout Youth Forum, Tokyo - 15th Oct 07

2007-10-18T17:19:00.000+08:00

Today is the day. The last day of the forum and also the day of the election of the new YAMG. Everything important is here today. We started off the morning with the recommendation that was compiled by our hardworking steering committee, whom I have to acknowledge as they spent their time the night before doing it. Many did not realised but they did not go out for the Tokyo tour along with the rest. Kudos to you guys and gals!

After the recommendation came the important part of the forum. The 9 candidates were introduced once again and the voting procedures were explained. Then it was time for the first round of election whereby only the top three will get elected. The voting is a secret vote and was tallied by the Valeria from Macau and Kevin from French Polynesia, accompanied by Syd Castillo.

While the votes were being tallied, an award presentation was held. It was for Aru and me for completing the Scouts of the World Award. Australia was the first in APR to award it, and now followed by Singapore. Muhd went up to introduce SWA and what was done by the base in Singapore. Then it was time for the award ceremony. It was such an honour to have the award presented by Mari Nakano. Couldn't get better than this.

Soon after, the results came in and it was announced. First in was Nikketah McGrath from Australia, second was Manabu Hiratsuka from Japan and third was... Sarah Ho Wing Kei from Singapore!!! Hip hip hurray for Sarah!! She got in! But wait... for those in NRC, I guess you know what that means. Hehe... Then it was time for the second round. After knowing who got in, the delegates can now vote to balance committee, allowing both sub-regions and gender equality. Once again the votes were then to be tallied.

Another presentation was held again while waiting. This time is to a great guy I got to know through the discussion topic. It was Andrew Bartle from New Zealand. He was presented by Mari Nakano his Queen's Scout Award, the highest award in New Zealand. Congratulations Andy!! Soon after his presentation, the final list of the successful candidates were announced. Fourth in was Karma Coden from Bhutan, followed by Rio Ashadi from Indonesia and last but not the least, a young man – Muller Bato from Philippines. Congratulations to all!

It was a long morning! At last it was done with and lunch proceeded. After lunch, came the closing ceremony. After some closing speeches, all the participants were then presented with certificates for the forum. The delegates were then called upon to receive plaques from SAJ. Most countries also presented back to the host plaques and gifts as a token of appreciation. After the ceremony ended, more photos were being snapped as it was going to be the last chance for some of us... Damn it... why do I have to leave tomorrow...

As for our last dinner, it was also our cultural exchange night too. We all got dressed in our national wear and got together for a major celebration with performances put up by every country's participants. The food was definitely great and so were the performances! There was so much to talk about I just simply can't put everything here... Well, one thing for sure, the night was not over for Singapore as we went out for a long, long walk and had a small feast of our own. We only returned at 4.15am... which the story will continue after this entry...

Scout Youth Forum, Tokyo - 14th Oct 07

2007-10-18T17:16:00.000+08:00

Today is the second day of the discussions and also the second last day of the forum. Time seems to fly by and I can't get enough of it. As usual, many were still drowsy in the morning so Edward called upon our dear Huggy Panda, Muhd to brighten the day. He led the rest to do 'Chek Chek Goleh', an action song that a lot of Singapore Scouts always do. And sure enough it did the job.

The third topic for me was partnership. Interesting topic as we started off by sharing our NSOs' partnership with other organizations. From there, we analyzed four aspects of it – 'What is Partnership?', 'What is it for?', 'With whom?' and 'How to sustain it?'. It was one of the most productive sessions so far.

After the session was lunch and of course the cultural games and activities as usual. Before we started our discussion topics. Our host played a a little Japanese trivial game with us. They would ask a question and the participants would have to choose sides, either true or false. I survived till the last question and I got knocked out... Damn...

Then came the last discussion session of the whole forum. Once again, I had chosen a topic that I knew a lot – Scouts of the World Award. It was something that Muhd and I had spent so much of our time building up the programme in Singapore, from nothing to a base with awardees in less than two years. The discussion was very fruitful as all the participants were keen to find out about the award. I really appreciate the two gentleman from Mongolia who took the effort to look for me during the break time to understand more about the programme. I guess APR should make use of this fresh opportunity to fully push forward the award to the region. I'm all out for it!

Tonight was to be a fun night. After dinner, we gathered once again. This time not for games or activities but fun. We were having our outing whereby our hosts will bring us out to places in Tokyo depending on the choices we made. We could choose between Tokyo tower, Tokyo government building, 100 yen shop, Ronpongi, Shibuya and a couple others. I chose Shibuya and was allocated together with 3 other Thai Scouts (Fah, Ploy and John), led by Mica, our tour guide.

We went on the subway, which is a crazy maze of trains, either private or government owned. Then after some navigation by our guide, at last we reach Shibuya. Guess what?! I saw the statue of the loyal dog, Hachiko, and it striked the back of my head that I've seen it on TV before. It was a programme introducing Japan and it mentioned about the dog. It was named the loyal dog because the story goes that many years ago Hachiko waited at the subway station faithfully for his master who never returned.

We continue to visit the strips of shopping areas but sadly the timing wasn't right and most of the shops were already closing. At least we did snap a lot of photos and experience KFC in Japan. One main thing I realised is that Japanese girls are able to withstand the cold much better than guys, in the name of fashion at least as you can see them wearing outfits and dresses that will turn heads around, and perhaps cause traffic accidents in Singapore. Too bad no photos of them cause I wouldn't want to get labeled as a stalker in Japan...

Scout Youth Forum, Tokyo - 13th Oct 07

2007-10-18T17:09:00.000+08:00

Today is considered the official start of the forum. Ahead of us were the discussion of two topics. I had chosen 'What is Scouting?' and 'Environment'. Just realised that those two topics happened to match the name of my blog – 'NatureScouter'. Haha...

Before the topics started (which all of us had to sign up beforehand), the YAMG and APR committee members shared with us their experience own in Scouting. Although it was brief but provided us an insight of how Scouting is like for different people all over. Then came a surprise for some of the participants as Edward (YAMG Chairman) announced that there were three participants who will be celebrating their birthdays during the period of the forum. Happy Birthday to them!! We then celebrated their birthday later in the day with a cake, which ended up being smeared on many faces... But who cares!

Our first topic was with our pre-allocated group. We took about an hour to almost two to discuss 'What is Scouting?'. It was a compiled view of everyone. In the midst of doing, our time was overlooked and we were late for our presentation. Ended up being the last second group to present thou we were Group number 4. Ha... It was fun watching every group coming up with something unique, either skits, dance, small re-enactments etc.

It was then lunch time. Me having short-termed memory, couldn't remember whether we took the photo before or after lunch but anyway, we took a photo with the Staff members (Red Tees) in the center of all us (Participants – White Tees) – A replica of the Japanese flag, Land of the Rising Sun. Damn cool! Once again after lunch, we immersed ourselves into the cultural games and activities of Japan.

When the clock strikes two, four special guests gave us talks on their specialty (which I can't remember all... sorry that my heart lies in Environment and Nature). I could only remember the Japanese lady who talked on Environment who ended up as one of the facilitator for my group. My group had a wonderful discussion about the environmental problems and issues that our own country faces. We then further narrowed down the field by discussing what can be done as individual Scouts and NSOs. We then made posters and instead of typing them out on ppt, we took photos of them and used it as our presentation. Once again, all the presentation done by the groups were great!

Soon the bell rang for dinner but we were told to leave some space in our stomach for the festive celebration after. After the dinner, we went to another hall in the building whereby we were treated to goodies brought along by the Muslim countries. They were celebrating 'Hari Raya Adilfitri', which marks the end of their fasting months. Our taste buds were truly satisfied by the wonderful cookies, snacks and tidbits that was spread on the table tops. We also took the opportunity to mingle around and snap photos.

The night was not over still. We were asked to proceed back to the forum hall to play a game – a quiz, followed by a treasure hunt. We were to complete a quiz pertaining to Scouting knowledge, which upon submission, we will receive another list for treasure hunt, where everything can be found within NYC. It was a mad rush and fun. After we completed ours, we started to go around to help the other countries in doing theirs. It's all about lending a helping hand!

Scout Youth Forum, Tokyo - 12th Oct 07

2007-10-18T16:48:00.000+08:00

When I woke up at 6am, dawn has already broke... I settle for a quick wash-up and I was gone for breakfast. Together with Aru, we brought along the Philippines Scouts to the cafeteria as they only arrived the night before and were not aware of where it was. It was another great Japanese meal, buffet style this time! And I took a little too much... had to force it down all...

When the forum began, it started with an origami session by Akiko from the host country Japan. After the story last night, we were now taught how to fold the cranes. Once everyone knew how to do it, the origami frenzy began and the 'deposit box' for the crane started to fill.

Today was also the official opening of the forum. We were introduced to our host and the committee from Japan. We were then expose to the basic elements of WOSM. With a wink of an eye, it was noon and time for lunch. I guess at this point of time, I have no need to mention more about the meals. Simply good variety on the menu always and all taste great.

Just when you think that you will be sleepy after a good lunch? Fret not as our host set up a whole range of Japanese cultural stuff for us to be involved in. Calligraphy, origami, traditional games and colouring. I had the honour of a Nihon-jin friend to 'calligraph' my name in Japanese. And oh boy, I'm so gonna frame this.

After all the fun then came the serious matters. For the sake of all, I'll keep it short. We nominated five delegates to assume the forum positions of four vice-chairmans and a rapporteur. They were from China (Taiwan), Japan, Nepal, New Zealand and Australia respectively. Then came the explanation of the roles of the Youth Adult Member Group (YAMG). Along with it, the 9 candidates were announced and of course our dear National Rover Council Chairperson Miss Sarah Ho represented Singapore. Let's all wish her the best of luck!

Serious part over and it's off to a grand welcome dinner! The food was western – japanese mix and needless to say – it's great! While satisfying our pampered stomach, everyone had the opportunity to interact with everyone else. At the end of the dinner, we were even entertained by a duo who played beautiful folk music on a kind of traditional musical instrument. (Pardon me for not knowing the name). Well the night was not over even when the performance ended.

Scouts have a way to spread messages. Nothing escapes from us and soon, something that started as a small outing between Singapore and Hong Kong, became an international outing to Shinjuku. Like farmers flocking geese, the Japanese hosts 'flock' us out of NYC, across train tracks, into trains and through the crazy big city. Some of us went sight-seeing and others went shopping and apparently the former is a better choice. Haha... and this was definitely the best night thus far.

Scout Youth Forum, Tokyo - 11th Oct 07

2007-10-12T12:14:00.001+08:00

Finally after a seven-hours air flight, we finally arrived in Narita International Airport in Tokyo at 7.30am. It was a tiring ride as most of us didn't manage to sleep much, partly due to the seat position and also due to the 'Ohayo Gozaimasu' by the SIA girl for your breakfast at 4.30am in the morning after you try to sleep at 4am.

Much to my expectation, it was another 2 hours bus ride to Shinjuku Station before we hoped on another 10-15 minutes taxi ride to the National Olympics Youth Centre. After registration at the reception, we 'bunk in' with the Scouts from Brunei and Malaysia in a room. We had to wait till 3pm to collect our room keys. Soon after Scouts from Thailand, Bhutan and Indonesia also arrived and then went for our first lunch. It was good food - Japanese style, with a salad bar!

While waiting for the clock to strike 3, we decided to play some games and pulled the other Scouts along. We had such a good laugh and fun. Without knowing, time flew real quick and we collected our keys and off we went to find our rooms. Each of us got ourselves a nice, small and cosy room. After settling down and wash up, we went for our dinner. Another great meal!

It was 'Get to know each other' time then! Scouts from a total of 24 countries gathered in the forum hall and was welcomed by the Chairman of YAMG. We were then given a piece of paper each, with many boxes and a title each. It stated titles like, 'Can recite the 3 of the millennium declaration goals', 'Is a Rover', 'Is a Scout leader' etc. We are to go around and interact with all the other Scouts and find out who fits the bill of the title and write their name in the box. At the end of the session, I was surprised that I was actually one of the three fastest to submit the completed sheet! And I received a WSJ 2007 bag from Mari Nakano. Fun indeed. But it's not over. We then had to arrange ourselves in the order of our birth date. Imagine almost 100 people shuffling around!

At the end of the fun session, we were spilt into our discussion groups and started to get to know each other. My group consisted of the facilitator, Maiya (Nepal), James (Australia), Hiro (Japan), Yuki (Japan), Sahyidah (Brunei), Rulie (Indonesia), Ning (Thailand), Kamal (Malaysia), Ling (Hong Kong) and Noorjahan (Afghanistan). After the story of the thousand cranes and mission of folding it before the forum ends, the day was closed with an update of the following day's programme. A long, tiring but eventful first day!

The day I went CJ without camera...

2007-10-08T00:40:00.000+08:00

Naked Hermit Crabs had another Chek Jawa guided walk yesterday (7 Oct). It's the first time we tried out walk-ins along with pre-booked groups. It's good news that people did find out about the walk from the website and came along! Yay!

Much to my hurry to get out of the house... I forgot all about my camera... The first time that I went for a nature walk trip without my camera! I should shoot and kill myself. The sightings today was numerous... the mass blooming of wild ixoras and some hoya climbers, the jellyfishes and 'martian' squids, loads of fishes - big & small, mud lobster (Damn it..!) etc... Luckily, the others were as usual, equipped with their 'shooters'.

All in all, a great day with good weather and plenty of sightings, and thanks to Ria, Ley Kun, Ron, Chay Hoon and July for providing me with new knowledge again. Arghh... I will always hate myself for this and I'm sure I'll never forget about my camera again after this trip - ever. Period.

Here is a link to the day's event.
Naked Hermit Crabs: http://nakedhermitcrabs.blogspot.com/2007/10/cj-boardwalk-tours-on-7-oct-2007.html
Tider Chaser: http://tidechaser.blogspot.com/2007/10/mud-lobster-crab-spider.html

YEP Article

2007-09-30T20:16:00.000+08:00

This is an article that I wrote for National Youth Council for their first YEP Journal. It's titled, 'YEP Journal Vol. 1: Expeditions: Journeys of Hearts, Hands and Minds'. There is no better time to start blogging with this article than on the day that I turned 25, and beginning a new chapter in my life. So I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it. Thank you to all who have been ever pushing me to start blogging so here it is, just for you all. And thank you Ria for the photos in the article!

*Click on image to for a larger view.

*With permission from National Youth Council. Copyright belongs to National Youth Council.