Lobster Anyone???
Mind you, this is not a blog about seafood restaurants in Singapore. And by the way, we are also not going to talk about diving or snorkelling trips to see wild lobsters, nor are we going to talk about visiting lobster farms...
But rather... and you probably have guessed what I'm about to say...
WE HAVE WILD LOBSTERS IN SINGAPORE WATERS!!!!!!!!!!!!
SERIOUS!!! I'm not joking. We do have wild lobsters in Singapore!
And we didn't even have to dive or snorkel to see them!
And they are HUGE!!! Reminds me of that ad the used to run on TV - "Lobster taller than a little girl." Well, if we straigthen the anntennas, one of them should indeed be taller than a little girl!
Just a rough estimation, the width of its head is about 10-11 cm, and the length of the whole lobster excluding the antennas is at least about 35-50 cm. Just compare it with Alvin's foot here.
I asked my mum (she used to be a fishmonger) when I went back home, and she said a lobster this size should be at least 3-4 kg!!!
And by the way, just in case some of you are wondering, no lobsters were harmed (or eaten) during this Wildfilm operation. Though the temptation was strong, especially with the BBQ pits just nearby, we are proud to declare that our love for wild animals won the battle against our love for seafood! Hurray!
The animal lovers should be happy to hear the above. The REAL animal lovers, I mean. There's a BIG difference between saying "I love animals!" and "I love animals. Yum Yum!"
Anyway, everyone's morale was really high that day. Lobster! You don't get to see that on every trip to our southern islands, you know?
And here's Dr Chua's account of this wonderful trip. All photos below were taken by Dr Chua as well.
3 LOBSTER DAY on St John's Island on 27 05 06
The new ferry terminal at Marina South was spanking new and there were parking lots for cars! Thank goodness. Parking at Clifford Pier is always a hassle.
Walking past the grass patch with air heavily scented by the fragrant Tembusu flowers, 3 land hermit crabs crossed our paths (actually we crossed their paths) and were promptly brought to shore for some organized photography but they refused to co-operate with each other- naturally.
Ria excitedly called out for "reinforcements" when she saw a lobster which she claimed to be as big as her arm but alas it was dead. Ron later called out as he saw another lobster hopelessly snared by a discarded drift net.
As he prodded it with the chopsticks it moved! Everyone converged. Ron found yet another lobster 5m away and this is the largest lobster I have ever seen.
Chay Hoon verified that it weighed more than a kilo! After documenting them we cut the nets and freed them including all the crabs (mainly Red egg crabs). And we set both the lobsters free!
Our salivating glands already in overproduction mode had to cease production. It took 4 members of our team to haul the nets away.
The rest of the shoots were just like any other visit (Leaf slug, sea slugs, soft corals, scorpion fish, file fishes and mass of juvenile eel-tail catfish). But this visit we encountered the less common Bobtail squid,
Snail-crushing rock crab and one of the most poisonous crab, the Mosaic crab.
We have not seen live lobsters in our waters before and this trip is a climax of the many, many intertidal trips. Which goes to show that nature is very much alive in Singapore.
But rather... and you probably have guessed what I'm about to say...
WE HAVE WILD LOBSTERS IN SINGAPORE WATERS!!!!!!!!!!!!
SERIOUS!!! I'm not joking. We do have wild lobsters in Singapore!
And we didn't even have to dive or snorkel to see them!
And they are HUGE!!! Reminds me of that ad the used to run on TV - "Lobster taller than a little girl." Well, if we straigthen the anntennas, one of them should indeed be taller than a little girl!
Just a rough estimation, the width of its head is about 10-11 cm, and the length of the whole lobster excluding the antennas is at least about 35-50 cm. Just compare it with Alvin's foot here.
I asked my mum (she used to be a fishmonger) when I went back home, and she said a lobster this size should be at least 3-4 kg!!!
And by the way, just in case some of you are wondering, no lobsters were harmed (or eaten) during this Wildfilm operation. Though the temptation was strong, especially with the BBQ pits just nearby, we are proud to declare that our love for wild animals won the battle against our love for seafood! Hurray!
The animal lovers should be happy to hear the above. The REAL animal lovers, I mean. There's a BIG difference between saying "I love animals!" and "I love animals. Yum Yum!"
Anyway, everyone's morale was really high that day. Lobster! You don't get to see that on every trip to our southern islands, you know?
And here's Dr Chua's account of this wonderful trip. All photos below were taken by Dr Chua as well.
3 LOBSTER DAY on St John's Island on 27 05 06
The new ferry terminal at Marina South was spanking new and there were parking lots for cars! Thank goodness. Parking at Clifford Pier is always a hassle.
Walking past the grass patch with air heavily scented by the fragrant Tembusu flowers, 3 land hermit crabs crossed our paths (actually we crossed their paths) and were promptly brought to shore for some organized photography but they refused to co-operate with each other- naturally.
Ria excitedly called out for "reinforcements" when she saw a lobster which she claimed to be as big as her arm but alas it was dead. Ron later called out as he saw another lobster hopelessly snared by a discarded drift net.
As he prodded it with the chopsticks it moved! Everyone converged. Ron found yet another lobster 5m away and this is the largest lobster I have ever seen.
Chay Hoon verified that it weighed more than a kilo! After documenting them we cut the nets and freed them including all the crabs (mainly Red egg crabs). And we set both the lobsters free!
Our salivating glands already in overproduction mode had to cease production. It took 4 members of our team to haul the nets away.
The rest of the shoots were just like any other visit (Leaf slug, sea slugs, soft corals, scorpion fish, file fishes and mass of juvenile eel-tail catfish). But this visit we encountered the less common Bobtail squid,
Snail-crushing rock crab and one of the most poisonous crab, the Mosaic crab.
We have not seen live lobsters in our waters before and this trip is a climax of the many, many intertidal trips. Which goes to show that nature is very much alive in Singapore.
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