Terumbu Semakau with the Southern Expedition team

The first official intertidal survey of the Southern Expedition as part of Comprehensive Marine Biodiversity Survey took place this morning at Terumbu Semakau.

Being the first trip of the low tide series, this simply means that we have to set off at 3am and the trip ended with first light from the sunrise. Though it was totally "zombifying" to survey the reefs at such an unearthly hour, we all would agree that it was all worthwhile as we found quite a number of fantastic finds.

Lovely morning at Tanah Merah

This is an outdated post of the morning low tide trip to Tanah Merah back in end March. Decided to visit the reclaimed shores of Tanah Merah with Ron to see how it is doing since the oil spill in 2010.

We were greeted with a warm sunset over the horizon as we explored the sandy and rocky parts of the shore. It was a long low tide that allowed us to properly look at this long shore.

Coral galore at Hantu

On 11 May 2013, a team of us visited Pulau Hantu and we saw lots of beautiful and thick growths of hard corals. The reefscape was spectacular! Special finds include the Cauliflower nudibranch (Dendrodoris tuberculosa), a Cushion star which we seldom see on the intertidal shore of Hantu and a slug / bivalve that was found on seaweed.

Exploring the reefs and sandy shore of Sentosa

On 1 May 2013, Ron, Agnes and I visited the natural shores of Tanjong Rimau and we saw several interesting critters such as flatworms, crabs, a chiton, pygmy squid and also hard and soft corals. We also crossed over to the reclaimed shores off Siloso Beach and came across marine life encrusted by the side of the pontoon as well as common sea stars on the sandy shore.

Tomato Clownfish of Terumbu Semakau

On 28 April 2013, we did a predawn survey of Terumbu Semakau, a submerged reef off Semakau Landfill. One of the pretty sights of this reef would be the Tomato Clownfish living in the sea anemone. The reef edge is lovely to look at when there is no bloom of sargassum seaweed. Lots of uncommon critters to be found on this reef. We ended the trip when it started to pour.

Rich reefs of Terumbu Pempang Tengah

On 27 April 2013, we did a predawn trip to Terumbu Pempang Tengah, one of the submerged reefs near Hantu. There are certain stretches of the reef edge that are very rich in corals. Managed to take several above water and underwater shots of the splendor.

First morning trip at Pasir Ris shore

It's back to the other half of the year where we resume low spring tide trips in the morning!

This time, I visited Pasir Ris shore with a friend, Marcus who has not seen our intertidal marine life before. My last trip here was more than 2 years ago on November 2010. How is the shore doing now?

Somehow I prefer to visit the mainland shores in the predawn or morning hours as there is lesser human traffic.