http://www.pulauhantu.org A celebration of marine life Sun, 14 Mar 2010 19:11:28 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en After a morning of diving, I stayed on Hantu Island as the divers departed and waited for Ria Tan to arrive at dusk and low tide with Dr. Dan Rittschof, his students from Duke University, and Chris Klock from the Netherlands. Walking down the shore into the now drained out lagoon, ... http://www.pulauhantu.org/exploring-intertidal-hantu-with-dr-dan-and-students-from-duke/ We had a really packed day at Hantu this weekend. With a full boat of divers, great fair weather, and heaps of critters sprinkled about the reefs. The visibility was very favourable at about 4meters at 15meters. That made finding stuff really easy, and it also saved me from getting ... http://www.pulauhantu.org/blog-log-28-february-2010/ A pair of Swimmer crabs (Thalamita sp.) are observed during an inter-tidal walk at Singapore's Pulau Hantu. The male is the one holding onto the female, and walking about. The male is attempting to access the female's apron. When that is successful, the two would have graduated from this frontal ... http://www.pulauhantu.org/swimmer-crabs-mating-preamble/ A small cuttlefish on the reef of Singapore's Pulau Hantu, finds safety by sticking close to the coral and prefers to rely on camouflage instead of fleeing when divers approach closely. Reef cuttlefish are in the same class as the squid and octopus. "Cephalopod" means "head-foot." They have two basic ... http://www.pulauhantu.org/tiny-reef-cuttlefish/ A pair of Blue spotted fang blennies are found frolicking about on the reef of Singapore's Pulau Hantu. These fish are more commonly observed hiding in crevices, recesses, and discarded bottles on the reefs. It is also referred to as Gammistes Blenny, Striped Fang Blenny, or Striped Poison-Fang Blenny. It ... http://www.pulauhantu.org/blue-spotted-fang-blenny/ An intense month of diving at Hantu culminated last Sunday with some brilliant finds! The tiny cuttlefish above appears red in the photograph because of the white light of the flash that's been cast upon it. With the naked eye however, this intelligent mollusc blends perfectly with the silty substrate ... http://www.pulauhantu.org/blog-log-31-january-2010/ The Hantu Blog has one of the most extensive collections of underwater videos from Singapore waters on YouTube. Recently, I plowed through the list of over 90 videos to see which were getting the most views. Interestingly, crinoids or feather stars seem to be a hot favourite: Walking crinoid 1,405 views Dancing ... http://www.pulauhantu.org/the-hantu-blogs-most-viewed-videos/ Blog divers made some amazing finds in the Hantu Blog's second private charter trip in the New Year, like this nudibranch which I think might be from the genus trinchesia although I'm not entirely sure. Another small critter on the reef was this Glazed thuridilla (Thuridilla gracilis). Though these little blugs ... http://www.pulauhantu.org/blog-log-24-january-2010/ Just three weeks into the New Year and volunteers are already on a roll! Volunteer dive guide and underwater photographer Cindy Tan did four dives at Hantu this month and will be plunging into local waters for the fifth time this weekend! Cindy's got a knack for spotting flatworms, as ... http://www.pulauhantu.org/blog-log-17-january-2010/ They're called flatworms, but the name does little to describe them apart from the fact that they were, well, flat! Finding a flatworm on the reef can be as exciting as spotting a brilliant nudibranch. As these pictures as testament, flatworms come in an array of colours that may include ... http://www.pulauhantu.org/marine-flatworms-simply-brilliant/ What kind of stuff is crawling about on whips and stingy things? Pretty amazing stuff apparently! Here's a collection of images shot by Hantu Blog volunteers, of the beautiful and tiny creatures that find shelter in the whip corals and stinging "leaves" of hydroids. (Above: Commensal shrimp on whip coral) Above: Two ... http://www.pulauhantu.org/on-whips-and-stingers/ The one of the cool things about Pulau Hantu is that its reefs can be enjoyed throughout the year, even during the monsoon. The end of the year is a busy time for Hantu's waters because a lot of local divers, deprived of diving in other location in the South ... http://www.pulauhantu.org/december-madness/ [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="540" caption="Image: Tamara Shopsin and Jason Fulford"][/caption] December 26, 2009 The New York Times For the many disappointments of the recent climate talks in Copenhagen, there was at least one clear positive outcome, and that was the progress made on a program called Reducing Emissions From Deforestation and Forest Degradation. ... http://www.pulauhantu.org/to-save-the-planet-save-the-seas/ Once again, Blog volunteer Jimmy Goh returns from a trip at Hantu Island with some fascinating macro insights into local seas. What a lovely perspective of these usually skittish animals! (Above: Ornate goby) Though slugs are easier to photograph because they are slower than gobies, you rarely get to see them ... http://www.pulauhantu.org/upclose-and-intricate-on-hantus-reef/ [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The effects of ocean acidification on corals are particularly concerning since one quarter of all marine species depend on coral reefs for homes, nurseries, feeding grounds and spawning sites"][/caption] Ocean acidification is the process caused by increasing man-made carbon dioxide emissions, by which the oceans are becoming ... http://www.pulauhantu.org/ocean-acidification-the-facts/ [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Rising carbon emissions could hit fish stocks around the world"][/caption] Previous studies have focused on the impact of acidification on coral reefs but not other marine organisms Commercial fishing in the northern hemisphere will be devastated by rising carbon emissions, according to the first major study into the ... http://www.pulauhantu.org/ocean-acidification-to-devastate-commercial-fisheries/ This weekend, Hantu Blog volunteer Cindy Tan took her new underwater camera out for a familiarisation dive at Pulau Hantu. Testing new equipment couldn't be more fun! There's nothing like being able to share the stuff you've seen underwater with someone else who wasn't there. And having a reliable piece ... http://www.pulauhantu.org/camera-test/ Last Sunday, a full boat of veteran and brand new divers to local waters, took to the sea with the Hantu Blog dive guides. Despite the onset of the monsoons, the weathered stayed fair and sunny all through the day. Reportedly, the underwater visibility was also very accommodating, which made ... http://www.pulauhantu.org/blog-log-nov-29-2009/ You won't believe what Hantu Blog divers saw in and around Pulau Hantu recently! Blog volunteer dive instructor Jimmy Goh plunged into the very clear local waters twice this month. A surprise for this time of the year! Jimmy visited the islands of Hantu and Jong, which is ... http://www.pulauhantu.org/blog-log-27-nov-2009/ Designing innovative coastal protection using ecosystem-based approaches By Peter Todd Increasing urbanisation in Singapore has resulted in extensive replacement of natural habitats with man-made habitats. A good example is the artificial seawall, that has becomes a ubiquitous feature of the coastline. Being vertically very steep, and structurally quite simple, this compressed intertidal ... http://www.pulauhantu.org/hantu-island-an-experimental-site-for-costal-protection-design/