Discovery @ Cyrene Reef on 8 July 2008

Sixty Ninth Discovery Posting:

Along our major shipping lanes, ringed by Jurong Island and Pulau Bukom (where you can find many petrol chemical plants), there lies a haven hidden by the waters, appearing only when the tides are low enough. Can you see it (picture below)?
As this haven is not connected to any land, the only way to get there is to make an amphibious landing, this calls for a small boat and physically getting wet (part of the fun going for shore trips =P ) (picture below)
Why do I call Cyrene Reef a haven?
Because studies from Star Trackers show that Cyrene is probably the only reef in Singapore where juvenile Knobblies are commonly seen. And probably also the home to "the only sustainable population of Knobbly sea stars".

Side Note:
a) Star Trackers does monitoring body growth, survivorship, habitat utilization and movement patterns of knobbly seastar (Protoreaster nodosus) individuals at marine habitats in Singapore.
b) And the 'star troopers' running this project is primarily CK and SJ
c) Their blog address is http://startrackers.blogspot.com/

As I explored the reef, I 'discovered' 27 individuals of the Knobbly sea star, below are pictures for some of them. Enjoy~ =)

This was my favourite star of the day (picture below)You might wonder how big are the juveniles of the knobbly sea star, here's a scale of two with my hand (picture below). Do remember they can grow to as big as your face!Seeing so many knobbly sea stars really left me star studded. Besides that, knowing a place such as Cyrene Reef exists reminded me once again that our waters although murky, it is rich in marine life! And it will continue to be if we all take care of them one way or another.

Ways can include:
a) putting your rubbish where they belong (in the rubbish bins or recycle bins), not littering/dumping into our waters,
b) leaving marine life at their homes (don't collect marine life nor shells, cause the empty sea shells may be potential homes for hermit crabs).
c) You can also learn more about them to understand their value in our environment, and probably share this knowledge with your family/friends or possibly even volunteer/blog for our shores!
d) And speak for our shores if possible, because marine life don't speak our language. =)

Very soon, we had to leave Cyrene the way we came (picture below). And looking at our busy shipping ports nearby, (with expansion going on nearby Cyrene Reef) (picture below), I marvel at how Cyrene can be so starry. Probably all the strict rules for ships is one factor?Finally, would like to thank Ria for arranging this trip and all who came. =)

Extra:
a) Read the entry on wildfilms about this trip to Cyrene.
b) Read more about Cyrene Reef here.

Semakau Inter-Tidal walk on 6 July 2008

Sixty Eighth Discovery Posting:

This posting is a second part of the weekend trip to Semakau for inter-tidal walks.

On Sunday (6 July), I guided a group of mudskippers, couldn't ask them to skip for the group shot at the seagrass lagoon as I didn't want to create too much damage to the habitat =P (picture below).
Now, our first 'discovery' is a gigantic carpet anemone, which isn't really gigantic, gigantic is just its part of its species name if I'm not wrong (picture below).
Discovery Note:
1. For self defence and preying purposes, they have stinging cells in their tentacles which will release or 'shoot' small 'needles' when upon contact. So I won't really advise you to touch them although our skin might be 'thicker' than most marine creatures. This is to prevent you from getting stung.
2. They lack an anus, so they split out any indigestible food through its mouth.

Although there weren't as much nudibranches as we saw compared to Sat (5 July), we did see a couple of flatworms, here's one of them (picture below). Discovery Note:
1. Flatworms are hermaphrodites, which means a flatworm has both the male and female sex organs.
2. And some species of flatworms engage in penis fencing, in which two individuals fight, trying to pierce the skin of the other with their penises; the first to succeed inseminates the other, which must then carry and nourish the eggs.

Our hunter seekers also found a sea horse (picture below). Third 'discovery'! Discovery Note:
1. They are hard to find as they are well-camouflaged.
2. Do you know that a seahorse is actually a fish? Yes, it is, but instead of having scales, they have an inflexible armour of overlapping bony plates.
3. A seahorse cannot swim faster because it doesn't have tail fin and pelvic fins like other fishes, thus it is well-camouflaged. But they can make a short burst of speed if in danger.
4. They may look harmless, but they are actually quite voracious predators. It sits in wait and ambushes on any tiny animals that drifts or wander by.
5. They have a very simple digestive system (no stomach) thus they need to eat almost constantly. Baby sea horses are known to eat thousands of tiny shrimps in a day!
6. And of course, the most well-known fact of the sea horse is that the male can get 'pregnant', this is because the female seahorses lay eggs in the pouch of a male seahorse and it is in their where the eggs will be fertilized and then the male seahorse will carry them till the eggs hatch.
7. Want to read more about the sea horse, click here to read it from the online Chek Jawa guidebook.

Our hunter seekers (RY and SY) also found the 'star' of the walk, thus here's a group photo with it. No skipping as we didn't want to leave any more damage to the shore (picture below). =P
Fourth 'discovery' has got to be a find, as this is my first time seeing this crab, possibly a smooth spooner (picture below).Discovery Note:
1. This crab which we saw was a huge one, as it was about 25cm (across).
2. The tip of the pincers of this crab is spoon shaped, thus it's name is as such.
3. The structure of it allows this crab to scape algae off the rocks to eat.

So that's it for the weekend trip over at Semakau. Thanks to all mudskippers for coming and everyone else who came! =)

Extra:
a) Read tidechaser's entry on this weekend's trip to Semakau.
b) Check out Urban Forest too for an account on the same trips.

Semakau Inter-Tidal walk on 5 July 2008

Sixty Seventh Discovery Posting:

Over the mornings of the past weekend, I was over at Semakau land-fill island for another weekend of inter-tidal walks. And on Sat (5 July), I was guiding the group, Noble Volutes.

And the first 'discovery' of the morning was a group of common sea stars (picture below).
Discovery Note:
1. Their tube feet are interesting as they are used for walking, handle food as well as breathing, and probably to catch prey as well, talk about multi purpose!
2. Sea stars get stressed when out of water, this is because while we have blood circulating our bodies, they have sea water circulating their bodies.
3. They are not as common as their name suggests. This is due to past over-collection and habitat lost past and present. So don't take them away from their homes when you see them. =)
4. Some sea stars are predators that prey on worms, crustaceans and bivalves while some are known to eat decayed plant matters.
5. Many sea stars eat with their stomach outside their body. When doing this, their tube feet will pull the two shells of a bivalve apart. And while still attached to their prey’s body, they extend their stomach out through their mouths into the bivalve shell.

As the sunrise was really nice, I decided to take a Volute group photo with the sunrise as the background (picture below).

And very soon, Volutes got to meet one of their own kind, and it was laying eggs! Second 'discovery' (picture below)!

Discovery Note:
1. Volutes are carnivorous.
2. They prey on bivalves, enveloping the victim completely with their foot forcing the bivalve to finally open from exhaustion and lack of oxygen.
3. They can grow to more than 20cm and used to be common but now threaten due to 'harvesting' from humans and habitat lost.

Not far away, the third 'discovery', Volutes got to see another kind of sea snail laying eggs, a spiral melongena (picture below).
Discovery Note:
1. They seem to like to lay eggs on hard surfaces.
2. Each "petal" is one egg capsule.

It was also kinda of like a sea slug day, as we saw a few types of nudibranches, here's one kind which is not so commonly seen at Semakau, a platydoris nudibranch (Platydoris scabra), fourth 'discovery' (picture below).
Discovery Note:
1. 'Nudibranch' means 'naked gills'. The name comes from the flower-like gills found on the back of many nudibranchs. These nudibranchs use the gills to breathe.
2. Nudibranchs are related to snails. Little baby nudibranchs are born with shells, but they lose them when they become adults.
3. Most nudibranchs are carnivores, they eat immobile or small, slow-moving prey. Examples are sponges, ascidians, hard corals, soft corals, sea anemones etc. This particular nudibranch feeds on sponges if my memory serves me correct.

Fifth 'discovery' were two different kinds of mushroom corals (pictures below). Discovery Note:
1. Most mushroom corals do not form colonies like most other corals and some mushroom coral is usually made up of a single polyp (The ones shown above probably are).
2. Unlike most corals, most mushroom corals are attached to the reef/rocks only when they are small.
3. As larger individuals, they will detach themselves from the reef/rocks (if they had attached themselves to the reef) and live loose on the seafloor.

And just almost next to the mushroom corals, we spotted a sandfish sea cucumber or also known as garlic bread sea cucumber, sixth 'discovery' (picture below).

Discovery Note:
1. The popular Chinese name for sea cucumber is haishen, which means, roughly, ginseng of the sea.
2. They have a soft, wormlike body and can range from a few centimeters to even 90 centimeters in length!
3. To repel predators or when stressed, a sea cucumber might expel their innards or ‘vomit’. And if too much of their innards are expelled, they might die off as a result.
4. This particular species of sea cucumber is commonly harvested for food for the Chinese, but this has to properly processed before any consumption, as it is mildly poisonous.

And the star highlight of the walks would have to be the knobbly sea star, our hunter seekers (HW and LK) found us two today (picture below)! Btw, this is the seventh 'discovery'. Discovery Note:
1. They get their name from the knobs they have.
2. Although most of them are mostly red or orange in colour, beige or brown coloured knobbly sea stars have been spotted before also.
3. I have heard that they feed on lots of different things, I wonder if anyone knows what's their actual diet? A good topic for study probably, haha =P
4. Can you believe that a knobbly seastar might be larger than your face? It’s about 30cm across! (look at the picture below to get an idea)

Of course, a traditional group shot with the stars (a pun here probably?). And the last but not least eighth 'discovery', a sea urchin (picture below)! Discovery Note:
1. Upon first look, you might think that a sea urchin is sessile (incapable of moving), but this is not so, they actually use all the pointed tips to move around.
2. The pointed tips are actually spines connected to their skeletons.
3. Some sea urchins have venomous spines, so just to play safe, it is advised not to come into contact with the spines of any sea urchins.
4. The orange dot which you can see (picture above) is actually is anus, it's mouth (claw-like) is located on its underside.
5. Sea urchins belong to the same phylum of animals as the sea stars and sea cucumber, so they have no brains!
6. Their diet consists of plant and animal matter, including kelp, decaying matter, algae, dead fishes, sponges, mussels, and barnacles.
7. Click here to read more about sea urchins on the Chek Jawa guidebook, which is available online.

Finally, a look at the beautiful corals on Semakau (picture below). Thanks to all Volutes who made this trip another enjoyable trip despite I having to wake up around 330am in the morning =P.

Discovery @ Changi Beach on 4 July 2008

Sixty Sixth Discovery Posting

I believe most of us will be sleeping around the time of 3am in the morning.

But on Thursday, a few of us were at the beaches of Changi helping KS for his Sand Star (a type of sea star) project. So of course, the first 'discovery' would be his study subjects, Astropecten indicus, and if I'm not wrong, he's studying the diet of them (picture below).
Discovery Note:
1. Sand Stars are one of the few species of sea stars which I know of that which ingest their prey whole compared to other sea stars which extrude their stomach out through the mouth to digest their prey extra-orally, which means out of their mouth.

Around the beach area, I also found a number peacock anemones, second 'discovery' (pictures below)

Discovery Note:
1. They are not true anemones to start off with, but they do also have stinging cells like anemones and have an appearance which is similar, probably that's why they are called anemones too.

And third 'discovery' should be an anemone too, but one I have no idea of its ID...hmm... (picture below)As I walked around to help KS for his project, I also came across this octopus which was kinda of stranded in a hole (picture below). Fourth 'discovery'!
Since it can't move about, this was a great chance for an upclose shot of an octopus. It doesn't look too friendly, does it? =P (picture below)Discovery Note:
1. Octopuses are characterized by their eight arms (not tentacles), usually bearing suction cups.
2. They have a relative short life span, and some specials live for as little as six months.
3. They have three hearts! Two pump blood through each of their two gills, while the third pumps blood through the body.
4. They are also highly intelligent, probably more intelligent than any other order of invertebrates (any animal without a spinal column).
5. They are also able to change their body colour to camouflage themselves.

As KS had quite a few helpers on that morning, we managed to find the work quickly which gave us some time to explore other parts of the shore too. And wow, it was a star-studded night.

Okay okay, I'm just lazy to type discovery notes on how to ID the different sea stars, hahaha.
But if you're interested to know, you can purchase the "A Guide to Sea Stars and other Echinoderms of Singapore", a BP sponsored guidebook at around SGD$6+ in our major bookstores. Anyway, enjoy the photos. =)

"Hug ME!" (picture below)"Just relaxing around" (picture below)"Hello!" (picture below)"I lost an arm..." (picture below)A sea star which I don't see often, the Gymnanthenea laevis. (picture below)This was also the first time, I see a rock star, the one that roams the shores...hahaha (picture below)And also a scaly sea star (Nepanthia belcheri) Woo Hoo!And two really huge biscuits sea stars! Look at their size compared to a 30cm ruler placed near them (picture below).An enjoyable trip despite needing to wake up at an unearthly hour. =P Thanks to KS for letting me stay over his place before the trip and all others who came!

Discovery @ Macritchie Reservoir on 29 June 2008

Sixty Fifth Discovery Posting:

Update on 05 July 2008: Corrected ID Typo for sixth 'discovery', it's Branded Imperial NOT Banded Imperial, thanks to Commander for pointing this out to me. Thanks!

A long overdue posting as this is for an outing on last Saturday. Anyway, last Saturday, together with LK, RY, SY and ST, we went over to Macritchie reservoir for a short walk along the Prunus trail.

History of Macritchie Reservoir:
Before the early 19th century, most of the island was covered in primary forest. Between 1820 and 1870, a substantial portion of virgin forest was cleared to develop the island as an important trading post. Prior to this, many Chinese planters had also worked the land for timber and the cultivation of crops like gambier, pepper and rubber. By 1886, only 10% of the original forest cover remained.

MacRitchie Reservoir, Singapore's first reservoir, was constructed in 1867, by a donation of S$13,000 by philanthropist Tan Kim Seng, as the first impounding reservoir in Singapore. It resulted from an increase demand for water in the mid-19th century, which grew beyond the capacity of ox-drawn water carts. In 1891, the reservoir was extended and the enlarged Impounding Reservoir was renamed as Thomson Road Reservoir in 1907. Then, in honour of the Municipal Engineer, James MacRitchie, who designed and built the reservoir, it was renamed again as MacRitchie Reservoir.

Side note:
A more detailed history of the place can be found here.

All right, enough of the history, let's look at the present by looking at what can we see there. Here's first 'discovery', a common acacia (pictures below).
A closer look (picture below)
Discovery Note:
1. The things which look like leaves are not leaves but actually more of a modified leaf stalk.
2. This modified leaf stalk has fewer stomata which enables it to prevent less water loss.
3. This plant has this adaptation as its origin country is from Australia where it is dryer compared to Singapore.
4. Another adaptation which this plant has is that it possesses nitrogen fixing bacteria, thus enabling it to grow on less fertile soil.

Another plant which I was introduced to for the first time is the silverback, second 'discovery' (picture below)
A look at the underside of its leave to understand why it's called the silverback (picture below)
Discovery Note:
1. This is a "typical" secondary forest species; these are generally the first to reclaim the abandoned plantations.
2. Hard wood is used for small objects. Whitish, tough and durable, and charcoal is made from it. 3. Leaves and roots are used for a decoction taken after childbirth and for stomach aches.
4. Pounded shoots are used as a poultice for scalds.
5. The fruit is edible and used in a decoction for treating gums.
6. The bark is used as a black dye, as well as for tanning fishing nets.

The next plant which we focused on was a plant which had hairy leaves, look at the picture below to have a look. By the way, this is third 'discovery', the koster curse (Clidemia hirta)
Discovery Note:
1. The fruits are eaten by native and exotic bird species and dispersed through the undergrowth of primary and secondary forests.

Fourth 'discovery' is what Tarzan use to get around the forest, liana! (picture below) Discovery Note:
1. They are the woody climbers of the rain forest.
2. They start out like any other sampling on the forest floor except that their growing tips make wide circles to search for potential support.
3. Unlike parasitic plants, lianas do not harm the trees, but merely rely on them for support in order to hitch a ride up above the canopy.
4. But if one tree which a liana is on for support falls, the liana might also pull the other trees which it has support on.
5. It is usually quite hard to spot the leaves of the liana as they are usually found above the canopy.
6. Besides Tarzan, animals use the liana as a bridge from tree to tree as a liana can 'spread' itself around several trees. This saves energy for them as they do not have to climb down a tree, travel the undergrowth of the forest and climb up another tree.

Fifth 'discovery' is the macaranga (picture below). By the way, the hand which you see is SY's. =P A look at the weird things which is on the stem of the plant (picture below). Read on to find what is it.Discovery Posting:
1. The plant produces food bodies rich in lipids, proteins and fats under their swollen maroon stipules.
2. These food bodies are a food source for ants, and besides that, the plant also has a hollow stem which can act as a shelter for ants. So it is not strange to find ants living on the plant.
3. In return for the provision of food and shelter, the ants guard the plant against any other plants which tries to grow near it by ‘destroying’ them.

And like many other forest trails, there were the presence of butterflies along the way, and sixth 'discovery' is the Branded Imperial butterfly (picture below). This is also my first more decent photo of this butterfly. =)Discovery Note:
1. You might notice that this butterfly has a strange looking extension at its hindwing.
2. This is actually like a mimic adaptation for staying alive.
3. This strange looking extension might look like a snake head to some of its predators, so its predators thinking that this is a snake might not attack this butterfly.

Well, basically this warps up this posting although we saw more things than what I've written.

Curious to find out more what you can see at this place?
Information for discoverers:
a) You can join the guided walk @ Prunus Trail conducted by Nparks volunteers on the 2nd Sunday of every month at 930am.
b) Meet at the entrance of Prunus Trail (50m after the canoe kiosk in the eastern side of the reservoir park) at 9.25am.
c) This trail is not hard to cover, so kids can also go! =)
d) Dates for 2008 from the Nparks website: 13 Jul, 10 Aug, 14 Sep, 12 Oct, 9 Nov, 14 Dec
e) Check the Nparks' website for more information, click here.

Extra:
As I did my research for this blog entry, I came across this article written by Dr. Shawn Lum, president of NSS on Macritchie Reservoir.
In a nutshell, he writes about what values does Macritchie Reservoir has as a field trip destination and the ecology and plants there.
A really interesting article, I must say!
So click here to read the article.