Sea fan garden at Changi

Beyond the murky waters of Changi, one would be able to catch a glimpse of the colourful sea fan garden during super low spring tide! On 30 April 2017, I visited a stretch of Changi that I've not surveyed for years.

Other than having the joy of finding high abundance of sea fans, we also enjoyed a lovely sunrise, finds of commensals on the sea fans and other interesting critters such as the Sea Apple sea cucumber and the Armored sea cucumber.

Back at Changi's echinoderm haven

One of the first few shores that shore lovers would visit definitely includes Changi Beach.

After one year, I'm back to take a look at how it is doing and we agreed it has changed. Nevertheless, it is still an echinoderm haven.

Back at sea fan garden of Changi

I'm back at the sea fan garden of Changi after more than 2 years! How are the sea fans and the other marine critters doing on this shore?

I'm glad to revisit these colourful creatures that are only exposed at a super low spring tide. Some of them look really stunning amidst the murky waters of Changi.

Delightful echinoderms at Changi

It's always a delight to find lots of echinoderms ranging from sea stars, sea cucumbers, sea urchins, brittle stars etc on the shores of Changi.

The seagrass meadows of Changi shore are excellent nursery ground for marine life to thrive!

Predawn at Changi shore

It's my first predawn trip at Changi shore this year! We were back in May to check out an old friend of ours, a shore that I have been visiting since 2007. Was sharing with Jianlin that though life has moved on over the years, the shore still basically remains as it is, a constant that doesn't really change.

As it was an early trip, we ended the shore exploration during sunrise! It was a spectacular one with rays of hope overwhelming the dark navy sky during dawn.

Any sponge at Changi rocky shore?

On the last of our six-day consecutive field trip series, Ria and I visited a natural rocky shore of Changi to check if the recent sponge-less situation at Chek Jawa and Pulau Sekudu has also affected the mainland shores. 

We were glad to have escaped the Sumatra squall that passed Singapore earlier in the morning and thus was able to continue with our survey on the rocky shore.

First morning trip of 2014 at Changi

It's been a while I have checked out our shores since Chinese New Year earlier in February. The morning low tides are back and on this Good Saturday (after Good Friday), Ron and I decided to drop by Changi on a not-so-low spring tide.

The feeling of starting the trip when it is pitch dark, seeing the magnificent sunrise and ending on a bright early morning definitely beats that of an evening tide where the sequence is the opposite. Of course, less the waking up part!

Seahorse fiesta at Changi

Ron and I had a great trip at Changi shore with lots of seahorse sightings during early November this year! 

Here's a pair of seahorse that was spotted on this trip. Yes, seahorses can be found on our Singapore shores during low tide on seagrass beds and reefy areas.

Sharing the beauty of Changi shore

I'm back from the long hiatus posting the trips from October to December 2013! In fact, I have more backlogs from earlier this year. Shall endeavor to finish all of them before the end of the year. :)

During early October, I was out with Hui Fang and her daughter, Ying Xuan to share with them the beauty of our marine intertidal habitat on a mainland shore.

It was their first time exploring Singapore's shore on a low spring tide and we are excited to see what lies out there beyond the murky waters of Changi. It was a lovely evening with a glowing setting sun!

Lots of masked burrowing crabs at Changi

We were back at another part of Changi shore this morning to see what's out there during a super low spring tide.

I was pleasantly surprised to find this elusive Masked burrowing crab (Gomeza sp.) that we hardly find on our trips. This is only my third time seeing it.

Changi Rocky shore is alive!

The shores of Changi are alive! The haze situation has caused us to abandon boat trips for mainland shores and it is great to check out some of our regular shores at super low tides.

At the minimum low tide, an underwater garden is exposed with crowded marine life on the shore ranging from sponges, ascidians, fan worms, corals and crabs.

Long stretch of Changi shore with lots of life

This morning on a 4am trip, I was out with Ron to have a look at Changi shore on a good low tide.

We wanted to cover a wide stretch of the shore and we ended up walking even more than expected! It ended on a Superb note with Special finds, coupled with a spectacular SUNrise on a SUNday. :)

Sea fan garden and evidence of dugong at Changi

There are lots of sea fans exposed on the rocky shores of Changi even on a supposedly not-so-low tide!

Usually most of the sea fans only will be exposed when the tide is very low and that often happens during the morning tides.

Breathtaking trip to the Lost Coast

It's almost a miracle to enjoy both a rain-free weather and a breathtaking landscape view of the shore and the blue skies during our annual visit to Changi East, a shore which we call it as the Loast Coast. Many thanks to Travis for first introducing us to this place!

In this remote shore tucked at one corner of the huge piece of reclaimed land, we get to enjoy a rare landscape scenery where we can see the horizon without much obstruction. So what lies there on this seemingly boring and lifeless reclaimed shore?

Changi rocky shore in the rain

It's the December rainy season where exploring the shores during low tide becomes more tricky as I need to balance holding both the umbrella and the DSLR camera without getting myself wet.

Nevertheless, the wet weather did not deter Ron and myself from having a look at this stretch of rocky shore at Changi.

Highlights of trips with Northern Expedition 2012

This is a blog post on some of the highlights of trips made in October that is long overdue. I joined some of the trips with the Northern Expedition at the Mega Marine Survey and we surveyed shores along the Straits of Johor.

My dream of visiting the Western shores of Pulau Ubin was fulfilled as I tagged along the team surveying Tanjong Tajam on the first day. The last time I visited this part of Ubin was as a student as part of the OBS experience. The rock formation at Tajam remains as majestic as ever.

Last predawn trip to Changi shore

The season for good tides over morning low spring tide is among over for 2012 and for my last trip to Changi, I explored a new stretch of shore which proves to be a fantastic site for rich marine life!

One of the special finds for the trip will be this cute Kite butterflyfish which seems to be associated with the carpet anemone. 

Rainy yet spectacular at Changi

Totally unexpected (and beyond the predictions of weather forecast), the heavens poured throughout the night and it affected our trip this morning. Despite trying to handle the DSLR camera, umbrella and torch together in the rain so as to explore another stretch of Changi shore, we still found many exciting creatures.

We can call today an apple day because quite a number of these psychedelic sea apple sea cucumbers were sighted.

Predawn surprises at Changi shore

I'm back at Changi with Ron to check out the shore this morning!

I was supposed to visit this stretch of Changi last month but had to abandon it at the very last minute due to my injury. Am so glad that I am in better condition now to have a look at the marine life on this particular shore after more than a year's absence.

There were quite a number of surprises on this predawn trip! One of which will be this tiny weeny greenish seahorse!

Changi rocky shore with friends

It's great to be back on our shores again! Woohoo! :)

What a joy to explore the rocky shores of Changi that is full of rustic charm after many days of absence from the low tide trips this week. I have also not visited this shore for close to two years already.