WildVlog to come
***This is an example of a vlog and a virgin foray into vlogdom. I’m planning to set up a affiliated video blog with dedicated servers (Thanks Ria for the dough!). Hopefully the shitty resolution will be solved, and ill have it up and running by May. Then we can tinker around with the vids and see how the networld reacts. This way we can do trial and error as well as teaser build-up to the WildFilms documentary to come, when it finally gets done. Sorry but as ive said i can't upload the pics, the damn blog hates me. I'll pass the photos to Ria so she can upload it. Do comment if my facts are wrong!!***
I had an eventful outing to sisters today. And possibly because i havent been in trips for so long my stupoks resistance is shit. 1st thing i find out is:
*err. where are my booties?*
*probly entertaining the basecamp cats while we speak*
Sigh. So we get there, and im all aquiver, praying to the stone fish gods and stingray deities for protection.
1st shot was of a hermie trying to take over a bigger shell, what with it probing and poking, but the resident isnt giving up withoug a fight! or at least a long wait. The hermie in the white shell was just snuckered in and resisting the seige.
Well it wasnt too bad afterwards. After a few random shots, i perched myself on a rock for over half an hour to get this:
The ocky was oblivious of my presence and began actively hunting a school of fishies.
And then it swam right towards my perch. Note its colour change as it passes different media – crypsis. These guys have chromatophores wired directly to their big brain so all this is done consciously. Note also how they move – quick swim to a rock and mimic the rock, then push off again to another rock. This way it’s harder for predators to notice or track it.
And the ocky finally catches something! Upon sighting prey, ockies usually jets up to its prey and envelops it in its web. This confuses the prey and prevents its escape. The ocky’s hard chitinous beak then bites into the prey and injects a mild venom to paralyse it. It then gets consumed, and the ocky moves on!
[CRAB PIC]
Snack for ockies.
Then, on to flatworms!
Here’s a really tiny tootsie one – 1cm! Only Chayhoon with her wondereyes could have spotted it!
[FLATWORM PIC]
A marine flatworm, after being irritated by me, tries to swim away, then goes back to crawling. Note how thin it is – you can practically see the gravel through it! Not too sure what species it is, could anyone help?
Off the shallows to the other lagoon; here were some corals, soft and hard:
[CORAL PICS]
(This sucks but my coralology isn’t that good. Ill be able to give a better commentatory once I go through some basic coral books =P)
[FEATHERDUSTER PIC]
And I found this beautiful featherduster worm swaying in the current. These guys are polychaete worms, which means ‘many-bristled’. There are many kinds opf polychaetes, from errant predators to sessile feeders like this one. What you see are appendages they use to filter the water and drag tiny stuff to eat. Once disturbed, they quickly withdraw their ‘featherdusters’ from harm.
Then on to the beach, where I passed by ghost-crab central:
[CRABTRACKS PIC]
Note all the crabprints around, made by ghost crabs. These guys live further inland, and are quite big. Not too sure about their habits, but it should be scavenger-predator.
[MONKEYPRINT PIC]
I also saw evidence for an abduction. See the scuffle and monkeyprints? There are macaques on the island, and these guys are known to eat crabs. This hapless crab was almost home when a monkey must have plucked it up for a quick snack.
And that was all the time we had. After a quick breakfast we hopped back on the ferry for the big island.
And coming back home, stupoks hits again while in the car:
Ria in driver’s seat: *brings hand behind to reach for seatbelt and asks for assistance*
Yc in backseat: *shakes Ria’s hand*
Idiocy to the core. I need more sleep.
- Yc out
I had an eventful outing to sisters today. And possibly because i havent been in trips for so long my stupoks resistance is shit. 1st thing i find out is:
*err. where are my booties?*
*probly entertaining the basecamp cats while we speak*
Sigh. So we get there, and im all aquiver, praying to the stone fish gods and stingray deities for protection.
1st shot was of a hermie trying to take over a bigger shell, what with it probing and poking, but the resident isnt giving up withoug a fight! or at least a long wait. The hermie in the white shell was just snuckered in and resisting the seige.
Well it wasnt too bad afterwards. After a few random shots, i perched myself on a rock for over half an hour to get this:
The ocky was oblivious of my presence and began actively hunting a school of fishies.
And then it swam right towards my perch. Note its colour change as it passes different media – crypsis. These guys have chromatophores wired directly to their big brain so all this is done consciously. Note also how they move – quick swim to a rock and mimic the rock, then push off again to another rock. This way it’s harder for predators to notice or track it.
And the ocky finally catches something! Upon sighting prey, ockies usually jets up to its prey and envelops it in its web. This confuses the prey and prevents its escape. The ocky’s hard chitinous beak then bites into the prey and injects a mild venom to paralyse it. It then gets consumed, and the ocky moves on!
Snack for ockies.
Then, on to flatworms!
Here’s a really tiny tootsie one – 1cm! Only Chayhoon with her wondereyes could have spotted it!
A marine flatworm, after being irritated by me, tries to swim away, then goes back to crawling. Note how thin it is – you can practically see the gravel through it! Not too sure what species it is, could anyone help?
Off the shallows to the other lagoon; here were some corals, soft and hard:
(This sucks but my coralology isn’t that good. Ill be able to give a better commentatory once I go through some basic coral books =P)
And I found this beautiful featherduster worm swaying in the current. These guys are polychaete worms, which means ‘many-bristled’. There are many kinds opf polychaetes, from errant predators to sessile feeders like this one. What you see are appendages they use to filter the water and drag tiny stuff to eat. Once disturbed, they quickly withdraw their ‘featherdusters’ from harm.
Then on to the beach, where I passed by ghost-crab central:
Note all the crabprints around, made by ghost crabs. These guys live further inland, and are quite big. Not too sure about their habits, but it should be scavenger-predator.
I also saw evidence for an abduction. See the scuffle and monkeyprints? There are macaques on the island, and these guys are known to eat crabs. This hapless crab was almost home when a monkey must have plucked it up for a quick snack.
And that was all the time we had. After a quick breakfast we hopped back on the ferry for the big island.
And coming back home, stupoks hits again while in the car:
Ria in driver’s seat: *brings hand behind to reach for seatbelt and asks for assistance*
Yc in backseat: *shakes Ria’s hand*
Idiocy to the core. I need more sleep.
- Yc out
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