More Chek Jawa Recces

2nd Recce at May 20th 2007

After a wonderful trip to Sentosa on Sat, I was back to Chek Jawa for more recce on Sun. I could be there all alone, but Siyang volunteered to accompany me along there. Thanks buddy!

We also saw Ron and his gang of ubin volunteers there, they were there since 5.30am! And we reached only like close to 8am. Gosh, this is so because we were waiting for close to an hour for enough people to leave Changi point by bumboat.


Without delay, Ron promptly shares their find, a noble volute (Cymbiola nobilis). The colourful part or its foot can wrap bivalves to wait for the latter to finally open to breathe, which is also the moment the noble volute feed..haha.


WOW find from Ron. Several of these copperbanded butterflyfishes (Chelmon rostratus) were trapped in a bubu or a fish trap. They released these poor fishes and 2 are found here. My first time encountering them, so super excited lah.

They have a 'false eye" near the tail, and its real eye is much subtlely hidden by their orange band. If a predator really attack them, they can even swim backward!


An allied cowrie or ovulid snail (id courtesy of Chay Hoon) in a red sea fan (Manella sp.). Sea fans are not plants but colony of tiny animals just like corals. Of course, the cowrie is so small, only sharp-eyed Chay Hoon can spot it! (updated: Actually it was Ron who spotted it, but thks to CH again for pointing to us that day)


This time, we were at the west side of the CJ beacon, where abundant life were found, much to my pleasant surprise. In the background is SY also.


It is between the beacon and the jetty outside House no. 1 that LOTS and PLENTY of carpet anemones are actually found. They are like mines on the ground, and we had to thread cautiously to avoid stepping on these animals. Wow, they are really not all wiped out. Great! Thank God.


Across, we can see Pulau Sekudu, frog island. I will go there soon, hopefully!


Ok, here is it. These carpet anemones are really thriving well here instead of the sandbar areas of CJ. Take note, the ruler is 50cm long. Can you imagine their sizes?


If you think carpet anemones are not enough, here is a stunning array of peacock anemones. Pls ignore the compass, they are just there for scale.


Fiddler crab about to disappear when we approached it.


Ball sea cucumbers (Phyllophorus sp.) are found by quite a few in a specific area. They are not all dead! When siyang handled it, water was squirked out. Haha. If you encounter one, please dont touch it, because if you mistreat it, it will have repulsive vomiting such that their innards will be expelled out...


Great find! The biscuit sea star (Goniodiscaster scaber) were not just one that was found, but two. They were wrapped out without water, so we quickly put them into a pool so they can relax, for a great shot. They are pretty models arent they?


Siyang loves to play with these thunder crabs (Myomenippe hardwickii) by his chopsticks. Please dont try to touch them, their pincers are VERY strong. Hahaaaha. I can't imagine if your finger goes near them.


Tide was coming in, and the poor visibility does not allow me to identify this fish, perhaps a toadfish? (updated: Yea! its a toadfish, thks Chay Hoon for confirming)


Could this bivalve be a venus shell with siphon sticking out? Usually they will dig down.


That is what happens when a hermit crab does not have a shell! Naked hermit crab! It's dead. Found by Siyang interestingly. So pls do not collect shells okie?


A heron which the species i dont know. Perhaps a bird expert can help me with this? These birds love to come to the intertidal to feed and rest.

(updated: Ivan kindly shared that its a Great-billed Heron (Ardea sumatrana), cool! thks )


Another interesting find, a brittlestar!


Ok! This final sea cucumber is really cute, the shape and segments are interesting, first time saw this.

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3rd Recce at May 21st 2007

Monday is my 3rd recce and also the second time Siyang kindly accompanied me for 2nd time. Where to find such a great friend and a wonderful nature lover who dont mind to wake up so early consecutively for some many days. Though we had difficulty trying to get CJ on time due to jetty delays and tiresome cycles, it was still an experience because at least there was company. Or else I would have dragged myself and rot there myself. Thanks once again man!



We were back to the beacon area to catch the low tide, before it gets covered up first




Just around the beacon, there are quite a number of carpet anemones, but not as many as those found nearer to house no. 1 and before the house's jetty.


Beautiful and graceful carpet anemone looking healthy.


We also have 3-5cm sized carpet anemones waiting to recover from the mass death. Greaty.


I started zooming elsewhere. Gosh, now Pulau Sajahat is also reclaimed, bet most of the shore wildthings are gone. sigh.


Here's the "Tekong Chalet". I always remember when I had my BMT, there seems to be stuffs down there during low tide. Of course we dont have the luxury to explore. We could only vividly remember the stinky mangrove while running 2.4km. The stinky smell is due to anoxic condition.


More reclamation to the north, facing Malaysia. It's so much reclamation that I think its not a strange thing they are complaining about it perhaps. Just a guess...


Siyang managed to cajole this hermit crab out. It seems to be enjoying and pretty relaxed.


Nice stuff found. A hole in the shell of a dead bivalve. It can be due to drills or moon snails.


I love this in chilli..opps! These mussels are living ok, quite localised in CJ, except below the boardwalk where there are plenty.


Siyang is game enough to pick up the fiddler crab. I asked him how he managed to do it, he says, its too fat to get into the hole to escape... funny right.


Lesser fun this time round cos was doing more prep work for the actual transect on 22/5 tues. Will blog on it tmr, I have to churn out a report now... haha.

Naked Hermit Crab preview @ Sentosa

As the sun continue to rise, we proceeded on with recce for the upcoming naked hermit crab. For more details of what are the naked hermit crab trips, pls refer to bottom of this post. This is sort of also a preview of the trips, I wont comment too much, you must can and see the different side of Sentosa yourself!


This is a scallop (Family Pectinidae) which I told our leader, Ron that he always sees it in Semakau. Haha


Large and abundant growth of the Montipora coral just outside Underwater world. What a distinction! The UWW animals are all in the tank, while the REAL underwater world that is outside at the shores are wild and growing on its own. Furthermore, they are FREE to visit, our natural heritage to enjoy. Why pay when we have ownership?


An uncommon coral found (Pavona sp.). Hope I am not wrong with the coral ids.

(update from Ria: The pavona is actually a sponge I think. If you take a closer look see if there are corallites. No corallites means sponge. Pavona has very obvious corallites- thks Ria!)


A stick insect!


More wild things ranging from hairy crabs, onch, periwinkles, anemones waiting for you to discover.


The Tanjong Rimau beacon is about to break apart! Oh my.


(updated) Thanks JC for identifying it as Golden Jack (Gnathanodon speciosus), I do agree more with Ivan its a Bengal Sergeant (Abudefduf bengalensis) for he explains since the Golden Jack has a stripe over the eyes, however the fish in the photo lacks it. Also the size of these fishes are quite small, which matches to the Bengal Sergeant that grows up to 14cm long only.

Nevertheless, thanks to all!


Sentosa is one of the best place for a living geography lesson! Their geology is really magnificient, you can learn about caves, stacks, corrosion, attrition, hydraulic action etc type of coastal processes all in one place! They are also landslides etc evident.

These caves are blocked by blocks of rock to prevent collapse.


These are colonial anenomes or zoathids. They are beautiful in a pool.


Raffles pitcher plants (Nepenthes rafflesiana) in 3 forms, the specialised leaves or the pitcher itself, the fruits that look like miniature bananas and its flower. What a great way to learn them.


The lower pitcher here has an insect drowning after looking into it. It's really a beauty. PLEASE do not bring them home to grow. They thrive only in the wild and there is a heavy penalty if you do that! Please leave them in their natural form for all to see :)


The ever famous Broken soul cliff can perhaps be expressed with a hanging branch if you look closely at the photo...


or by the stack that is created here broken from the sea cliff. What great ways to learn geography here to see them with your own eyes.


Tongkat Ali.. something you might be interested to take a look at how it actually looks like.

MORE can be seen, just that will take forever to blog. You can join us thru naked hermit crab trips.

Quick details of the walk

Dates: 5 Jun 07, Tue (Family Trail) and 6 Jun 07, Wed (Adventure Trail)
Time: Starts 7.30am for both dates
Duration of walk: Family Trail=1.5 hours, Adventure Trail=2.5 hours.
Cost: $5 per person (does not include Sentosa entrance fees and charges)
Exact details on meeting point will be provided to those who register for the walks

How to sign up?

Just email nakedhermitcrabs@gmail.com with "Sentosa Walk" in the subject line and these details
(a) Name and contact of lead person
(b) Number of adults
(c) Number and age of children
(d) Date of walk you wish to join
Please sign up by 25 May 07 (Fri) so that we can finalise details.

More details over here: http://nakedhermitcrabs.blogspot.com/

See you there!

Sentosa shore- Found but soon gone

As Ria always nicely puts it "No need to swim no need to dive!", this part of the shore that was recently discovered will soon be gone for the IR in Sentosa. Furthermore, the natural elements here are so near to us, in such an accessible place like Sentosa. We do not need to take a boat out to the further southern islands or even dive at Hantu to see huge growth of corals and marine life, they are at our doorstep. What a pity isn't it. I do not want to be part of the future generation that laments that oh, I should have visited and taken a look before it's gone. Let's hope that as you are reading this, you can realize how fragile our nature areas are to developments.


Woke up at 3am to catch the tide with the wildfilms and beachfleas to explore this great portion of Sentosa, just opposite Vivocity can you imagine.


First greetings from the coin seaweed (Halimeda sp.) These seaweed are hard because they contain calcium carbonate. Called as coin seaweed as they look like coins joint together in closer look. What a nice landscape they have created.


The wandering cowrie (Cypraea errones) is wandering in this IR shore, hoping to escape death in the future. There is a nice brown spot on the top of its shell. The shell is so shiny because it envelops it shell with its mantle.


Many Favid corals were found.


Another coral which I dont know the id.


An overturned horseshoe crab was found. Try not to hold it by its tail or else it might break. This is a negative demostration..hehe


Now the sun is rising, daylight for the creatures!


These plate or disc coral (Turbinaria sp.) are common in the shore.


A closer look reveals the beautiful polyps and tentacles. Corals are not stones! They are a colony of animals with photosynthetic algae that gives them the colour. Please dont step or kick them, or they will go "ouch!"


The sponges there are stunning. This one that is bright yellow.


My feet was used as a scale to reveal the gigantic sizes of these corals. They are even much bigger ones than these in the photos!


What's this? can someone help me id? :P

(update from Ria, it could possible be hard coral (Porites), but i did not touch to see if it was hard :P)


There are also clumps of tape seagrass (Enhalus acoroides) along the shore. They do great things for the ecosystem like trapping sediments, providing Dugong with food, home for the nursery of fishes and shrimps etc etc etc. They are the only flowering plants in the sea!


First time seeing a flounder, too bad its dead due to irresponsible drift nets lying around.


Updated: This is not a staghorn coral. It's Pocillopora sp. which in a different family altogether. (Thks Ria for informing)


Before proceeding to the recce for Naked hermit crab, I cant help but rush to take a photo of the large colony of corals here (Euphyllia sp). They are quite rare but are doing very well here!

Food for thought: If the IR has to really touch this shore, what can be done to minimise the impact?