Marina East shore is alive!

Just off the city centre and Marina Barrage is an area that has been reclaimed twice. Once was due to land reclamation of Marina East and the other was due to the construction of Marina Coastal Expressway.

So what exactly is left after all these construction? Can marine life be found when the tide goes out?

What is surprising is the large growth of different species of seagrasses on this impacted shore. Though it looks like a great location to explore, the sediments here are extremely soft. It's no joke and I looked back wondering why I did this trip alone while risking getting stuck somewhere.

Carefully threading along different stretches to find a somewhat steady footing, there were many critters to find among the seagrasses suchas this purple Haddon's carpet anemone (Stichodactyla haddoni).

I also saw one Thorny sea cucumbers (Colochirus quadrangularis) on the seagrass bed. 

This cryptic-looking Fringe-eyed flathead (Cymbacephalus nematophthalmus) is huge! The coolest part of this flathead would be what seems to be their golden eyelashes. Those "eyelashes" are actually 6-9 skin tentacles over their eyes.

Just like my previous trip here, I found the Crown sea star (Asterina coronata) under a rock.

There was this stretch with seaweed and many of the Garlic bread sea cucumbers (Holothuria scabra).

If you are patient to just sit and wait, one would be able to spot many marine critters such as the Snapping shrimps (Family Alpheidae) appearing before your eyes.

The top find of the day would be several of these Spotted green pufferfish (Tetraodon nigroviridis). My first time seeing them! These pufferfish are usually found at brackish and estaurine conditions, so I'm not too sure if the shore's location next to Marina Barrage allowed them to be found here.

The pufferfish are especially cute to observe and one of my favourite shots would be this particular one where the fish seems to be looking upwards and smiling at me! Haha! This photo also captured a smaller pufferfish at the bottom.

As the water was clear, I managed to take an underwater shot of this cute little fellow.

Other fishies found include this Kite butterflyfish (Parachaetodon ocellatus).

And also this green Filefish (Family Monacanthidae).

The Dubious nerites (Clithon oualaniensis) are also around! Almost every dubious nerite looks different! There are many delicate lines on each of these shells and the collage of the different snails is like a collection of art pieces!

Another surprise on this trip would be the Batik tailed-slug (Philinopsis cf. pilsbryi). It was like a prayer answered as I was hoping to find a slug!