Highlights of the Lows: Apr 26-29
T'was exam season, plus busy work period for many Wild Things. So with a lean crew, we decided to recce some new shores.
Tanah Merah appeared to be a barren sandy shore when we first arrived with the tide still rather high. There were lovely bouquets of seaweed, and hints of buttons snails and sand dollars. "Where are all the sand dollars?" we wondered.
When the tide receeded, we realised the shore was literally solid sand dollars and buttons snails! It is said that no two button snails are exactly alike. Vast tracts of these beautiful snails is truly a sight to behold.
Ploughing just beneath the sand surface, were enormous moon snails. With their broad foot, they were hunting button snail snacks. Button snails frantically leapt out of the way using their long leaf-like foot to flip away from the monster moon. I saw one tiny Clithon. A beautiful little snail with a wide a variety of delicate patterns.
The shore near the Changi Ferry Terminal was a lush seagrass meadow teeming with life. It was crawling with hundreds of crabs, uncountable numbers of button snails and lots of amazing creatures!
The dominant seagrass (Halophila ovalis) appeared to be flowering! The flowers are tiny, with three threadlike bits from the base of the leaf stalk. Among the seagrasses were hundreds of busy hermit crabs. Some were tiny and made their homes out of dead button shells. Others larger, and had sea anemones stuck on their shells.
The sand was teeming with crabs of all sizes. Tiny swimming crabs zipped off frantically at every footstep. Moon crabs, some as big as 10cm across, use their paddle shaped legs to bury rapidly into the sand. Tom found this large box crab with attractive spots on its massive claws, which are adapted to grip and peel open a snail shell like a can-opener!
Sand stars were everywhere, in different sizes and patterns. There appeared to be tiny snails that live on these sand stars!
The pipefishes were in season! Almost every pool would shelter one or more pipefishes. These tiny long fishes are superbly camouflaged among the seaweeds. They come in a wide variety of patterns and colours! Their faces look very much like their cousin, the seahorse. With long tube-like mouths to suck up little titbits, they also have tube-like nostrils!
There were not as many carpet anemones as on Chek Jawa. Most were tiny, about the size of a 10cent coin! Despite their small size, even tinier transparent shrimps live among their tentacles!
The highlights of the trips were molluscs! Jac spotted a rapidly colour-changing cuttlefish. It inked then made a getaway. Luan Keng discovered an octopus hiding in a large shell of a dead volute. Kok Leong's keen eye spotted a delightful nudibranch among the ascidians growing on a discarded oil drum.
Jellyfishes large and small were also seen. Most were in a sorry state, stranded on the sand. But Colin spotted this large one still unharmed in a deep pool of water. Hurrah! Alvin spotted a seahorse! And there were lots of beautifully marked flatfishes that rapidly burrowed into the sand.
For me, the most amazing find was this gianormous Stargazer. It must have been at least 30cm long. It was very much alive! This fish buries itself in the sand with its huge upturned mouth and hideous eyes just above the surface of the sand. It must have gulped down countless crabs and other creatures to have grown to its size. When we got home, Alvin and I searched the fish books to find out its identity. It was only then that we discovered that the fish has venomous spines near its pectoral fins. And there we were happily rearranging the fish as if it was harmless... another near-death experience that we escaped.
There were lots of other creatures that we encountered, but there's just no space to put them all up on the blog. And we have barely scratched the surface of these newly visited shores. Can't wait for the next low tides to start!
Tanah Merah appeared to be a barren sandy shore when we first arrived with the tide still rather high. There were lovely bouquets of seaweed, and hints of buttons snails and sand dollars. "Where are all the sand dollars?" we wondered.
When the tide receeded, we realised the shore was literally solid sand dollars and buttons snails! It is said that no two button snails are exactly alike. Vast tracts of these beautiful snails is truly a sight to behold.
Ploughing just beneath the sand surface, were enormous moon snails. With their broad foot, they were hunting button snail snacks. Button snails frantically leapt out of the way using their long leaf-like foot to flip away from the monster moon. I saw one tiny Clithon. A beautiful little snail with a wide a variety of delicate patterns.
The shore near the Changi Ferry Terminal was a lush seagrass meadow teeming with life. It was crawling with hundreds of crabs, uncountable numbers of button snails and lots of amazing creatures!
The dominant seagrass (Halophila ovalis) appeared to be flowering! The flowers are tiny, with three threadlike bits from the base of the leaf stalk. Among the seagrasses were hundreds of busy hermit crabs. Some were tiny and made their homes out of dead button shells. Others larger, and had sea anemones stuck on their shells.
The sand was teeming with crabs of all sizes. Tiny swimming crabs zipped off frantically at every footstep. Moon crabs, some as big as 10cm across, use their paddle shaped legs to bury rapidly into the sand. Tom found this large box crab with attractive spots on its massive claws, which are adapted to grip and peel open a snail shell like a can-opener!
Sand stars were everywhere, in different sizes and patterns. There appeared to be tiny snails that live on these sand stars!
The pipefishes were in season! Almost every pool would shelter one or more pipefishes. These tiny long fishes are superbly camouflaged among the seaweeds. They come in a wide variety of patterns and colours! Their faces look very much like their cousin, the seahorse. With long tube-like mouths to suck up little titbits, they also have tube-like nostrils!
There were not as many carpet anemones as on Chek Jawa. Most were tiny, about the size of a 10cent coin! Despite their small size, even tinier transparent shrimps live among their tentacles!
The highlights of the trips were molluscs! Jac spotted a rapidly colour-changing cuttlefish. It inked then made a getaway. Luan Keng discovered an octopus hiding in a large shell of a dead volute. Kok Leong's keen eye spotted a delightful nudibranch among the ascidians growing on a discarded oil drum.
Jellyfishes large and small were also seen. Most were in a sorry state, stranded on the sand. But Colin spotted this large one still unharmed in a deep pool of water. Hurrah! Alvin spotted a seahorse! And there were lots of beautifully marked flatfishes that rapidly burrowed into the sand.
For me, the most amazing find was this gianormous Stargazer. It must have been at least 30cm long. It was very much alive! This fish buries itself in the sand with its huge upturned mouth and hideous eyes just above the surface of the sand. It must have gulped down countless crabs and other creatures to have grown to its size. When we got home, Alvin and I searched the fish books to find out its identity. It was only then that we discovered that the fish has venomous spines near its pectoral fins. And there we were happily rearranging the fish as if it was harmless... another near-death experience that we escaped.
There were lots of other creatures that we encountered, but there's just no space to put them all up on the blog. And we have barely scratched the surface of these newly visited shores. Can't wait for the next low tides to start!
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