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
27
April
2008
I’m sure some of you who couldn’t make it for this dive have been wondering how much you’ve missed. The consolation is that you didn’t miss the coral spawning, but you still missed on some truly incredible night diving! (Above: Anemone with ascidians)
Marine biologist Jeffery Low was the unofficial scientific officer for this dive, which was also advised by Karrene Tun, another biologist who recommended the day for our dive. Karrene had been monitoring the development of egg sacs within the coral in specific sites in Singapore, and will be conducting certain experiments to better understand the reproduction of corals and the environmental factors that threaten or support them. (Above: Sleeping fish)
We set up 4 transects along the fringing reef and assigned a pair of buddies to work along each 20m transect. The point of the transect was simply to avoid double counting any corals that had spawned. So each buddy hung out and of course they didn’t just twiddle their thumbs as they indefinitely waited for the corals to spawn! With some of the most advanced spotters the Blog has ever encountered, camera flashes were ablaze across the reef as some of the most minute to some of the truly largest creatures on the reef were being photographed and observed! (Above: Octopus)
The night began with our encounter with Betsy the large hawksbill turtle as I posted yesterday. She truly is a large one and this time we weren’t just guessing! Because she was lying right next to the transect tape we were literally able to measure her up! From head to base of carapace, she measured about a meter! Her shell was covered with algae and freckled with barnacles. I’m blown away just thinking about how old she might be and the changes she must’ve witnessed and experienced as a turtle living in Singapore. Did she get a chance to mate? Did she ever return to shore to lay her eggs? I wonder, I wonder… (Above: [top row] Coral crab, shrimp, swimmer crab, eight-banded butterflyfish, flatworms [bottom row] box crab, swimmer crab, decorator crab, ‘closed’ crinoid, ‘open’ crinoid)
Some things you don’t have to wonder about though, is the myriad of macro (and mega) fauna that dotted every bit of reef, which certainly bursts into a spectacle of life at night. I’ll let the following images of shrimps, crabs, tiny fish, and some amaturish videos, do the talking. The only other largish animal I encountered on the reef was the blue spotted fan tail ray, which I was too absorbed watching that I at first forgot but later decided not to document (sorry!). To understand what it’s like, perhaps you’ll have to let yourself experience it first hand… (Above: Acopora goby)
A rare find: Divers are more used to finding this Imperial shrimp riding on the backs of the Spanish dancer nudibranch. Here is finds safety in an Acopora coral.
A young Yellow-finned angelfish tries to remain safe from predators by hiding deep within this coral, but safety doesn’t come easy on the reef. Several predators look for food by creeping within the corals as well.
Posted: Blogs, Blog Dives, Videos
27
April
2008
Wow! So much has happened this week! From the dive on Thursday in an attempt to catch this years coral spawning, to the talk on Saturday at the Botanical Gardens, now I’m getting ready for tomorrow’s dive! Phew! But one thing at a time! Here’s a taste of what our Earth Day night dive at Hantu on Thursday was like. Stay tuned for more pix and a more indepth post! Meet Betsy - the ginormous resident hawksbill turtle at Hantu. Inevitably she was disturbed in her sleep when we took this video, so please enjoy it as bast as you can! Move videos to be uploaded soon!
Posted: Blogs, Blog Dives, Videos
25
March
2008
In case you haven’t already heard, the Hantu Blog’s 4th Anniversary celebrations on the island and it’s reef was uber fantastic! Everyone was nervous about the outcome, what more with the relentless rain we’ve been having for the past week! Dark clouds made the morning appear ominous but as we entered the early afternoon, things started to look a bit brighter. As we entered the water, things also turned out a lot CLEARER than we’d expected!
Yes, Hantu waters (or local waters for that matter) are infamous for their visibility (or lack of). But there’s also a saying that runs “the most difficult paths lead to the most beautiful views”. I’m sorry, but this particular post is for me to brag (not often do I get to do that!) about the great escape 8 divers, 3 volunteers and myself made to our southern island ocean this past weekend. It was like a dream - the water, weather, company and conditions were perfect. We couldn’t have asked for more. Even for some of Hantu’s most seasoned divers, this the 4th anniversary marked one of the best times we’ve had discovering, documenting, and PLAYING in our waters.
Here’s a prelude to the photo blog that will be coming up soon. Enjoy these videos!
Not every crinoid is this expressive. I know we recently posted a video of a larger one swimming quite bombastically though the water, but this was seemed to have a mission - to boldly go where no crinoid has gone before! We got a little worried as it seemed to ascend way above the reef and towards the surface! We hoped it eventually found its way back to the safety of the reef!
Batfish meets Jellyfish: I was playing around with this jellyfish at first, taking some pictures and sorts, when I just started to shoot a video of it, I was startled by a largish figure that entered into my frame (as can be told by the sudden jolt during the shoot). It turned out to be a young Longfinned batfish. These are absolutely gorgeous fish. Some of them can be quite curious and follow divers along the reef. It was nice to bump into one. Or have one bump into me rather!
Map puffer fish: It’s been awhile since I ran into one of these great massive puffer fish. They like to take it easy during the day, hanging out on the seabed, watching the world go by. Like veterans on the reef, they probably sit there pondering why the rabbitfish bother to swim about so much. “What’s all the rush about?”
Posted: Blog Dives, Videos
18
March
2008
On Tuesday, the PFT crew and me went back to Hantu island to wrap up the shoot for the final episode of Once Upon a Tree II: Tides and Coastlines. The episode featuring the Hantu Blog carries the theme, “Hope”, and is intended to set the ending note for the state of our coastal and marine habitats, and the action that we have to take in order to safeguard our unique natural heritage.
The last time we took an intertidal look at Hantu’s reef, but this time, we went underwater with co-host Sye-Lynn. The water’s were more turbid than we would have preferred but we tried out best to work with the elements! The conditions surrounding Hantu island certainly don’t make it easy for us to do underwater documentation. Fingers crossed that the crew managed to get all the footage they need to give a spectacular representation of Hantu’s reef!
I managed to get some pretty exceptional shots and videos myself whilst taking it easy underwater as the camera crew fussed over their shots! It began with this awesome video of a swimming feather star!
There was also this exceptionally confident file fish which was only about the size of both my palms!
Then there was this school of tiny fish that hung in the shallow waters near the surface.
And of course, there were seahorses. Plural. There were 2.
These weren’t the only things we saw! There was also a sprinkling of other weird marine creatures and an aerial phenomenon was well - there was a MASSIVE flock of birds gathered over Hantu island. See what you missed! Swing by our gallery for a browse.
The series Once Upon a Tree will be aired on Tuesday, March 25 at 9.30pm (2130hrs). Need an email reminder?
Posted: Notices, Blogs, Videos
1
February
2008
What an exciting dive it was last weekend! Now we’re really motivated to do more diving this year! Sure you saw of our photos from the last post, but there’s nothing quite like watching the animals and our divers in the ACTION of exploring and discovering new things in Hantu’s reefs!
Here’s an tinsy tiny flatworm that Pei Wen spotted whilst we were shielding from the monstrous current out in deeper water. Boy! Was she eagle eyed! Imagine how treacherous it must be for a tiny fella like that to be surviving in the rough habitat of the reef. With all the hungry fish darting about, does it have some sort of secret weapon?
And here we go creeping into the eerie and claustrophobic thicket of the sargassum “forest”. Even though we call it “seaweed” sargassum is really a kind oflarge brown algae. I wouldn’t have ventured in if not for the enthusiasm of my divers! It’s amazing how even though the area of the reef is relatively small compared to some greater reefs out there, there still so many different ways to dive it, so many things to explore, and a ton of things to discover!
Here we have the famous Tomato Clown anemonefish, one of 3 species of anemonefish that can be found in Hantu waters. As you can see, these fish are very shy, always trying to dodge the camera, into the safety of their anemone. Other types of anemonefish found around Hantu include the Flase Clown and the other being the Saddleback. The latter is a truly rare encounter!
Finally here’s taking a peek at what it’s like to cruise along the reef flats of Hantu with confidence! Sibling Wen Loong (who gave the “v” sign) and Pei Wen were amongst the most enthusiastic divers I’ve ever led!If you’re inspired to join us next month, drop us an email with your details!
Posted: Blogs, Blog Dives, Videos
29
January
2008
It’s our first dive of the new year, and what a way to kick start 2008! We had all sorts of wacky currents running at various depths in the water and we had an over cast sky that threatened rain the whole morning! Good thing though, it didn’t pour till after our 2nd dive, which was good because we got to wash our gear (and ourselves!) before getting back to the mainland! (Topside photos courtesy of Pauline Leow)
We had an interesting bunch of divers for this trip, 4 teachers at secondary and Junior College levels, and 2 researchers - one terrestrial (our volunteer Ming Sheng) and another who’s doing a study of the rabbit fish in local reefs! It was a great envirounment for learning new things and also to take different perspectives and talk about various research methods and the biology, ecology and behaviour of corals and other reef organisms!
Although the visibility was not at it’s best, Hantu always has surprises to offer. Because fishes were less present (possibly because of the strong current and turbid waters) divers had the opportunity to learn more about corals and the organisms that inhabit them! I also paid closer attention to the HUGE variety of sponges on our reef because there are just so many kinds and they’re so beautiful in all their bright colours and of course, their very captivating bahaviour (did you know that a colony of sponge can reassemble themselves if held in a contained body of water after being disassembled?).
While the divers and the fish might not have been enjoying the strong current, animals that depended on it such as corals and tube worms were out in full force! Check out the beautiful tentacles of some of our corals and the attractive feeding arms of the reef’s feather duster tube worms!
Trying to dodge the currents, we kept close to the reef. VERY CLOSE! And at some points, we were even navigating the eerie reef flat that was densely covered with sargassum seaweed! What an adventure! It was really exciting to see the little sea creatures that lurk in the safety of the foliage, darting out and away from us when we got near. We saw critters like flatworms, gobies, filefish, damselfish, and butterflyfish hiding in the “field” of seaweed!
Despite the turbid water conditions, our enthusiastic divers were totally excited about reaching the depths of Hantu and navigating its dark and tricky seabed for the chance to see a tigertail seahorse! It’s always a favourite amongst divers and certainly makes every trip worthwhile!
Razorfish! I absolutely love these fish and always look forward to running into them near the Goniopora corals!
Our corals are so special and important to the survival of our reef. Yet most times, divers explore reefs without giving much attention to coral, preferring to focus on more conspicuous “animals”. Well, corals are animals too! And they are certainly the most conspicuous living things on our reefs! One of the Hantu Blog’s objectives to teach divers as much about coral as the life that can be found living alongside it. Did you know that Singapore reefs have nearly 30% the coral diversity of the Great Barrier Reef in less than o.o5% of the size?! Remember, without the corals, there won’t be a reef, and certainly no pretty creatures for us to discover!
Finally, the most captivating find for this trip, was what I believe to be an Acopora goby’s brood of eggs! If you take a closer look at the shiny bead-like object affixed to the wall of this acopora coral, you can actually see the tiny fish eyes of the developing embryos within the eggs! It’s not yet confirmed, but it’s likely that the eggs belong to a dark green coloured Acopora goby that was sticking very close to the eggs, but fleeted away into hiding the moment I drew my camera near. The eggs take a few weeks to hatch but we don’t know how long they’re already been developing! It’d be exciting to return during our next dive to see if and how they’ve developed!
Stay tuned to the Hantu Blog to catch our exciting videos that will be uploaded soon enough! It’s always a different experience to observe the motion of the ocean in underwater Hantu! To see all the photos from this dive, visit the Hantu Blog Gallery
Posted: Blogs, Blog Dives, Videos
