Chinese New Year Intertidal Escapade

A quick break from typing more on the next group of animals that comes after the Sponges. 

First and foremost, allow me to wish all of you Happy Chinese New Year and so happens that it coincides with the low tides. My actual plans were to cover much of Changi on the 22nd and 23rd but the rain on the 22nd forced me to abort the trip half way. Nonetheless, I returned the following day and I decided to pick up from where I had left off and I did not regret it. The following photos are from the Changi trip on both days. Mind you, this's the first time I went there during the day so I was surprised with the amount of things I managed to find.

 Underside of the Salamacis sp. urchin. The area near the jetty was littered with these cute urchins

Fan shell that got detached from the ground 

This's one reason why you should not collect sea shells. These hermits were fighting one another for the premium house! 

That's one hermit that I've not seen before. A break from the common blue, orange and Diogenis sp. hermits 

Another reason why you should not collect sea shells. Some snails lay their eggs on them! Empty ones though 

Bursatella leachii - a sea hare

Noodles anyone? Well, they're sea hare eggs to be exact 

 Eggs

MORE EGGS! Its a good sign to see eggs on the sea shore. Tells us that the animals are still able to continue to increase or maintain their population. Guess Singaporeans should do their bit as well and have more BABIES!

The following set of photos were taken by my friend. It was raining and I did not want my 500D to go through the rain test again

I almost stepped on this Mangrove Horseshoe. Look at how well camouflaged it is. FYI... the teslon (the tail) isn't use for whipping or anything of that sort. Its used to right itself up if its over turned

Here's another reason for not collecting things off the beach.... EGGS on Salamacis sp. test 

Not exactly sure what's this 

Solen vagina - Razor clam.... Now you guys DON'T get any funny ideas... That IS the name of this clam 

The next few pictures are pictures of one sea slug. Waiting to see what my professor says about it 

That ain's a GIANT AMPHIPOD! It's the GILLS! AHAHAHA! 

For all of the beauty, there's the beast. Unfortunately, in this fairy tail, the beast remains beastly 

 I'm not entirely sure what bivalve is this. One thing for sure is that it was still alive when I returned it back to the sea

Me and my friend covered all the way to Carpark 5! And we didn't even feel tired!

That was it than for the escapade on the 22nd and 23rd. The following day I had a family outing. My dad suggested going to Punggol and my mom asked me to get the directions to Punggol Point. It was only later I realised that she meant to say Punggol Waterway but I told her that "lets just go see what's there at Punggol Point. If there's nothing, we can always turn back"

Lo and behold, the choice to go to Punggol Point paid off. By the time we reached there it was the start of the low tide. Families were out and about scavenging along the shore with their plastic bags, so did my sister and me. Albeit we scavenged with our cameras. The following were what I managed to find during that trip 

Its an onch that has sand particles all over it. I was hoping to see more of them though but didn't 

Had to prop it on the Rhizophora sp.  propogule to get the portrait shot 

 Again I see EGGS!

 AND MORE EGGS!

Surprisingly, one may think that Singapore's waters and beaches are devoid of life. Seeing how developed these areas are or how close they are to factories and ship yards. Its no surprise that some of you thought that way. I have to admit that I was once having the same thoughts as well. But going through NIE's Biology course, Project Semakau, exploration walks and volunteering at Ubin, pretty much helped me to take notice of these animals. 

To me, every intertidal trip, regardless if its for "work" or as an escapade, is like going to a theatre performance. The curtain raises and it's cast perform for us the play that they have been rehearsing. Each time, a different performance is being put up even if it's by the same cast and crew.