25
May
2008
Despite the days of rain and even the morning shower, we had uber fantastic weather and an appropriately comfortable day of average visibility diving. Storm clouds rolled in during the later part of the day but swept across Pulau Senang and left us rain free though it did bring the vis down deep a little lower. But of course, we still had an incredible day diving.
Though common on the reef, flabellinas continue to thrill divers with their electrifying colours. The reefs around Pulau Hantu are well known for their nudibranch diversity. Today, a new species was photographed by one of our diver guides Marcel den Herder. Once I get my fins on it, I’ll be sure to post it right here so you gawk at it. Star tuned.
Not usually easy to photograph are these tinsy tiny gobies. The sand coloured fish are extremely skittish and sometimes can be found sharing a burrow with a blind shrimp. Oddly enough, this one seemed stoned and unfazed by my presence so I had to reward it by posting it’s picture online for all to see. There are several species of gobies found in and around Hantu island. Not all have been documented. They can be found living in coral, the reef and the sand or rock crevices. Gobies are possibly the most species diverse fish in the ocean, only the diversity of wrasses comes close.
Seagrass filefish or Leatherjackets are generally calm and easy to photograph especially when they are busy feeding. They are capable of manipulating their pigment cells and can almost disappear into the water. You’d have to see it to believe it. When they are calm like this individual is, their patterns, either in the form of spots, stripes or even “hairy” appendage, can be seen. They are also known to be curious and can follow divers for several minutes!
In recent months, these tiny acoel flatworms have been seen to be encroaching upon all species of coral including the free living mushroom coral. These worms don’t parasite on the coral but can cause it damage by blocking out the sunlight the coral needs to produce foods. I’m keen to learn if anyone might know about what allows these worms to flourish and what are the effects if any of their presence on the reef. Please email me if you have any comments about this. Apart from these flatworms, over the past 2 months we’ve observed a significant increase in the presence of jellyfish. At least 3 species of jellyfish seem to be a part of this seemingly sudden population explosion. Jellyfish move with the currents and they also seem to favour warmer waters. What could be the reason for their abrupt influx? A sudden number of jellyfish has also been reported in Malaysian waters on the South China Sea.
Today was also a last dive for some of the Blog’s fave volounteers Ming Sheng and Marco. After helping Singapore raise the awareness of local marine fauna through the Blog as well as through their own efforts with various volunteer organisations such as Reef Check, Reef Friends, Reef Xplore and Blue Water Volunteers, the 2 are off to various parts of the world to continue their work in an effort to give Mother Nature a break. The Blog applauds the commitment of its volunteers and recognises their invaluable efforts in awareness building, education, leadership and citizenry. By the way, neither Ming Sheng nor Marcel are Singaporean. What gifts they are to the global volunteer network!
Posted: Blogs, Blog Dives
16
May
2008
Paul Hawken is an environmentalist, entrepreneur, journalist, and author. Starting at age 20, he dedicated his life to sustainability and changing the relationship between business and the environment. His practice has included starting and running ecological businesses, writing and teaching about the impact of commerce on living systems, and consulting with governments and corporations on economic development, industrial ecology, and environmental policy.
In this speech at the Bioneers Conference, Hawken delivers an inspiring presentation about the worlds largest movement - the hundreds of thousands of grassroots organizations that address social and environmental justice. The movement that you and I are a part of.
Posted: Talks, Notices, News, Videos
6
May
2008
Tuesday, 6th May 2008
Seagrasses: Not just for Dugongs!
Siti Maryam Yaakub
11am, Function Hall, Botany Centre, Singapore Botanic Gardens
Mention ‘Seagrass’ and most people think: Food for dugongs! Seagrasses have long lived in the shadow of other more charismatic marine habitats like coral reefs and mangroves. But did you know that Singapore is home to extensive seagrass meadows and more than half the species of seagrasses found in the Indo-Pacific? Learn more about the role seagrasses play beyond that of ‘dugong food’. Join Siti for an insight into what seagrasses are really about and the wacky people who have embraced these green wonders of the ocean.
About the speaker: Siti Maryam is a Senior Biodiversity Officer with the Biodiversity Centre of NParks. She is a marine biologist by training and was one of the co-founders of TeamSeagrass, a volunteer group that monitors the health and status of Singapore’s seagrasses. When she is not counting seagrass, Siti enjoys reading, tennis, experimental cooking and swimming with fish.
Saturday, 10th May 2008
The status and biology the Singapore Freshwater Crab, Johora singaporensis
Sivasothi N
2pm, Function Hall, Botany Centre, Singapore Botanic Gardens
True freshwater crabs have evolved to be completely independent of the marine environment and possess unique characteristics as a result. Many large freshwater streams are home to endemic species and Singapore Island is no exception. The freshwater crab diversity here has been well reported as a result of Peter Ng’s studies in the 1980’s. One crab in particular, was especially celebrated – the endemic Singapore Freshwater Crab, Johora singaporensis. Since that taxonomic examination, little else has been revealed about the crab, partly due to concerns about impacting the small but endangered population. In a recent study, aspects of the population biology, distribution and status of J. singaporensis were studied. This talk discusses the historical discovery, reports highlights of the recent study and discusses conservation implications for the future.
N. Sivasothi is an instructor at the Department of Biological Science more interested in otters and mangroves but inadvertently spent a lot of time in freshwater and peat swamp habitats in the early 90’s on zoological expeditions with Peter Ng. This recent examination of the freshwater crabs in Singapore by both was due to the supervision demands of honours student Daniel Ng.
Tuesday, 13th May 2008
Life - To Give or Not To Give
Karen Teo
11am, Function Hall, Botany Centre, Singapore Botanic Gardens
Acts of compassion turns sour. Come May every year, domesticated animals are illegally released into the nature reserves and reservoirs in the hope of giving them life. But little do many realised that 90% of these domesticated animals end up tragically dead. In an urbanised society like Singapore, the existence of our native flora and fauna hang on a very thin thread. What can we do, as inhabitants of this planet, to save the extensive biodiversity that Mother Earth has so lovingly nurtured over millions of years?
Karen Teo works as a Senior Outreach Officer in Central Nature Reserve, National Parks Board. As an ex-teacher, she is passionate in nature conservation and marrying her teaching skills to share with all the importance of protecting what little natural heritage we have left, through talks, exhibitions, workshops etc.
Saturday, 17th May 2008
Mad About Moths for Kids
Cicada Tree Eco-Place
2pm, Tanglin Core Information Counter, Singapore Botanic Gardens
*This interactive session is limited to 30 children. Please RSVP to lim_wei_ling@nparks.gov.sg by 9th May 2008.
Cicada Tree Eco-Place will conduct Mad About Moths for Kids to share its fascination with our less-known friends, moths. We will offer two concurrent 1.5 hour sessions on moths called Mad about Moths—one for adults and one for kids.
Mad about Moths for Kids will teach kids aged between 5 and 9 how to recognize moths, the differences between moths and butterflies, the life cycle of a moth, why moths are important members of our living planet, and what we can do to make a difference to moths! Children will also get a chance to take quick walk in the Gardens to see some butterflies so as to learn the major differences between moths and butterflies. This session will be fun and engage a young learner.
Cicada Tree Eco-place is a new non-profit, non-governmental organization that promotes nature, culture and eco-living through environmental education. Founded in Singapore in 2007, and managed by volunteer educators and environmentalists, it is named after a native freshwater swamp plant whose habitat is locally endangered, Ploiarium alternifolium (Cicada Tree or Riang Riang).
Saturday, 17th May 2008
Mad about Moths: Emperor Moths & Friends from SE Asia & the Amazon
Dr Preston Murphy
2pm, Classroom 3, Botany Centre, Singapore Botanic Gardens
Dr Preston Murphy will talk about “Mad about Moths: Emperor Moths & Friends from SE Asia & the Amazon” to highlight the beauty of moths in Asia as well as in South America. This talk, targeted at adult nature lovers, will focus on the diversity of large moths and dispel the myth that all moths are dull in colour and unattractive.
Dr Preston Murphy is former President of Lectret Precision Pte Ltd., Singapore, and continues to consult with the company on communications products. He and his wife Mireille are avid eco-travellers and have been to places as wild as Papua New Guinea to look for the birds of paradise. He is a passionate nature photographer, specialising in moths and butterflies.
Posted: Talks, Notices
1
May
2008
Sorry this has taken awhile! Our server was out of sorts for a bit and we’ve had to sort it out. Nonetheless, here it is at last - evidence of a superb dive at Hantu with old friends and new! (Above: Bullocki nudibranch)
As much as Hantu’s infamous visibility can hinder a divers comfort, a day of good visibility is a cause for celebration! And we don’t mean pop the bubbly, we mean spot as many critters can you can and take all the wide angles you never thought possible! This Sunday’s clear waters has been a long time coming because experience tells us that the water tends to clear up after the monsoons. But as we’re all aware, patterns in the weather have been going out of wack lately. Apart from the water being a welcome reprieve from the annoying heat we’ve been experiencing lately, it was also a tricky place to be with one of the largest jellyfish blooms we’ve ever known in 5 years! 3 divers including myself brought home a little souvenir from a brainless friend (read: jellyfish), and we’re still carrying the marks of the heated exchange 4 days later! (Above: detail of seafan)
The saying goes “there ain’t so such thing as a free lunch” so I suppose good vis and slack waters was perhaps too good to be true? In all honesty, it’s a bit of a concern the reason behind the jellyfish bloom. An excess of freshwater or higher temperatures lead to jellyfish blooms, but were these the factors that brought about a sea littered with jellyfish this weekend? Was the effluence from surrounding industries a cause? The cooling pipes in Bukom refinery have been known to be clogged with jellyfish in the past and reversing the flow of the pump was necessary to discharge the clogged jellyfish. Did something similar happen this time? Or are we looking at something larger than the immediate environment? Is it something regional? El Nino? A friend out in the northern waters of Singapore also reported a jellyfish bloom. So what’s going on? (Above: A diver photographs a nudibranch)
Because of the current works going on in Bukom with large ferries moving people too and fro the island, diving around the Hantu’s north channel seems to be disallowed. But we didn’t fret - taking advantage of the excuse to check out new diving sites that turned out to be as promising and from a whole different perspective! That said, we love diving the north channel because there’ve been some amazing things we’ve seen there like reticulated puffers, blotched sea cucumbers, the mesmerising giant hydriods with their tiny nudibranch inhabitants. Not to mention the seahorses, seasnakes and schools of rabbitfish and barracuda that see seem to encounter there and no where else. Hopefully we’d get to dive there again soon without any hassle. Every reef surrounding Hantu is precious. (Above: Damsel in carafe)
I was reminded of ReefXplore instructor Jani when I encountered this maroon-coloured crinoid. Jani used to love photographing these guys. Especially if they were red as that was her favourite colour… Check out her fantastic albeit backdated Blog on her research in Singapore waters!
Especially because we g diving in the north channel a miss this month, it’d be really good to revisit it in May or the following months to check out how things are getting on over there. I was particularly stressed that we might not be able to spot any seahorses this weekend because we didn’t dive the usual spots and were not sure where to find them, but… find them we did!
And I suppose it was good to be pushed to check out other sites, find new stuff and identify new spots to find some of our favourite critters! Check out more pix form this weekend’s dive at our Gallery, or swing by the following blogs and weblogs to read more accounts from Sunday’s dive!
Samson’s Manta’s World of Nature’s Goodies
HB’s Memories
Chay Hoon’s Colourful Clouds
Posted: Blogs, Blog Dives
