OJT1 at Changi Beach Park 090209

Had my first on job training (Mindy's second) on Monday, 9th Feb. The guides who went down that day were Luan Keng, Ron, Siyang, Robert and Kok Sheng. As we were early, we had some time to ourselves before the girls from MGS arrived. As it turned out, we had our first 'sighting' soon after sitting down...

...a very cute and tiny orangey-brown ladybug! It is known as Harmonia sedecimnotata (thanks Anonymous!).

Soon after, Robert headed to us carrying two tests (internal skeletons) of sea urchins. Above is the underside of a test of a White Sea Urchin (Salmacis sp.). There's a pic of a live White Sea Urchin below.

Different species of sea urchins have tests of different size and colour. On the right is the test of a Black Sea Urchin (Temnopleurus toreumaticus).

Always remember to put back the organisms - dead or alive - where you found them!

Soon, the girls from MGS arrived and each guide went to meet their group. I was attached to KS's group while Mindy went to join Robert's. At the supralittoral zone, the girls had their first 'discovery', which was none other than the small balls of sand that dotted the beach in clusters...

...made by what else, but the Sand Bubbler Crab (Scopimera sp.). The best way to see this crab is to keep still and not make any sudden movements. It will come out of its burrow soon enough.

In this photo: Robert's group. Mindy is hidden behind.

Many of the girls were fascinated by the colourful 'kites' flying in the distance, which belonged to the people who were out kitesurfing. Seems real cool!

This Razor Clam (Family Solenidae) aka Bamboo Clam caused quite a lot of excitement. We got to see it 'live' in action and quite a show it was too! The clam shocked everyone by 'torpedo-ing' itself forward, using water sucked in and out of its siphon (look at the part of the clam at the far left of the pic, the other end is its foot) to do so. It moved so fast that I had no time to get a video of it in action. It even squirted a stream of water at one girl, causing her to squeal.

There was a sea cucumber (classification unknown) nearby too, and the razor clam torpedoed itself over. Lol.

It soon settled down at one spot and used it muscular foot to burrow quickly into the wet sand, leaving its siphon sticking out so that it could breathe and feed.

Another shot of the unknown sea cucumber.

Growing on some debris (I think) was this sponge (the protruding branching knob-like structures).

Camouflaged against the substrate was this Plain Sand Star (Astropecten sp.).

Remember the test of the White Sea Urchin earlier? Well, this is how that species of sea urchin looks like when it is alive.

What I mistook for a Thorny Sea Cucumber (Colochirus quadrangularis) was actually a Warty Sea Cucumber (Cercodemas anceps). It's easy to get confused between the two as both are colourful, and largely pink, at that.

Have been wanting to see a Noble Volute (Cymbiola nobilis) for quite some time and I finally got my chance to that day! These amazing creatures have a magnificent shell that has markings which resemble mountain ranges. If I'm not wrong, each shell has their own unique markings, so two shells are never the same.

Their muscular body is spotted with orange dots of varying sizes, making them even more outstanding. Sadly, these creatures are fast dwindling in numbers in Singapore due to over-collection for their beautiful shell and over-hunting (even though they're edible, it doesn't mean that one has to eat them).

There were a lot of Cake Sand Dollars (Arachnoides placenta) on the beach that day. This is the underside of one. To the undiscerning visitor, they are difficult to spot as they look like raised circular lumps of sand (they usually burrow into the sand).

As the original pic isn't very clear, I took the liberty of enhancing it.

The topside of the another Cake Sand Dollar.

The underside of it. Wonder why it differs so much from that of the first sand dollar? Might that have been a juvenile?

Enhanced image.

First noticed this in the sand when one of the girls asked me what it was.

Well, it turned out to be a Ball Sea Cucumber (Phyllophorus spiculata) that was largely buried in the sand. Their body fluids have medicinal properties.

Just a short distance behind KS, I spotted this very unusual and pretty snail moving across the sand. I couldn't help but go over to take a better look. It reminds me of a strawberry somehow. Haha. It's actually a helmet shell (scientific name: Semicassis bisulcatum). KS gave me a questioning look when he realised I had slipped away from the group to get a better look at this snail. Oops.

Wandering about with its long siphon out.

I had many 'firsts' during this trip, including my first encounter with a sea hare! This is a Hairy Sea Hare (Bursatella leachii). When in season, these creatures can come in the thousands.

A dead Horseshoe Crab.

Yup, another 'first' for me! During the guided walk, we encountered a couple of Spotted Moon Crabs (Ashtoret lunaris). All of their legs are paddle-shaped as they are burrowers.

Humans rarely appear in this blog, but I thought it'd have a change for this entry. That's Mindy on the left, and me on the right. Thanks to SY who took this photo :)

Acknowledgements:

For this entry, I referred frequently to Wild Fact Sheets of marine life on Singapore shores (http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/), as well as KS (http://wondercreation.blogspot.com/2009/02/changi-beach-with-mgs-girls.html) and Ron's (http://tidechaser.blogspot.com/2009/02/changi-over-2-days.html) related blog entries.

For Mindy's account, do check out her entry at: http://sunflecksurfer.wordpress.com/2009/02/11/9th-february-changi-beach-walk-mgs/

Thoughts:

Upon joining KS's group, I suddenly felt a bit apprehensive but that soon passed as the guided walk progressed. KS even gave me a chance to do some impromptu guiding. Haha. It was great to see the girls getting excited over their discoveries during the course of the walk. Overall, it was a good experience! And if anything, the more I know, the less I seem to. The only way to combat that, I feel, is to know as much as I can by exploring, observing and reading. Will work on improving my photography skills too!

A Coastal Adventure at Changi Beach Park 120109

First day of the new semester, and also a new adventure! Headed down to Changi Beach in the early evening after school where an adventure was waiting to unfold...

The wind was unusually strong that evening, blustery even. The gusts buffeted the sea, causing the waves to roll rapidly inward.

As it was low tide, there were quite a number of people out combing the intertidal area for shellfish and other marine organisms. It was disheartening to see such an activity going on as both marine flora and fauna suffer in the end. Perhaps such beach-combing activities are important in ways (which I'm not aware of/I can't understand) to the people who engage in them.

A venus clam (Family Veneridae)! It is a bivalve (bi: two, valve: referring to one half of the shell) and are common on the rocky shore.

On a brighter note, it seems that the marine life at Changi is still thriving. Let's hope it remains that way. One of the first organisms we sighted was a peacock anemone (Cerianthus sp.) with a slightly fluorescent yellow tinge to it.

These anemones are aptly named as they come in a variety of colours! They are pretty safe to touch (but if not sure, never touch an organism if you don't know whether it's poisonous or not!) and their waving tentacles (resembles hair, don't you think?) impart a curiously sticky and mildly stinging feel.

These are egg cases deposited by some marine organism (I have no idea what). Edit: They're actually eggs laid by a Spiral Melongena (Pugilina cochlidium) - a kind of large snail - as pointed out by Zelin and Ria. Thanks!

Hermit crabs are common along the shores of Singapore, and Changi beach is no exception. The species of hermit crabs vary, but one thing doesn't change: these crustaceans use an empty shell as their 'house'. It may appear tough with its sharp-looking pincers, but its abdomen is long and soft, necessitating the need for an adopted protective cover. Edit: This may be a striped hermit crab (Clibanarius sp.) as suggested by Zelin. [Refer to Ron's comment]

Marine snails are common sight along the shore. They are closely related to their terrestial counterparts but have a much greater diversity.

Everytime I see a sea urchin, I can't help but be reminded of sea urchin sushi. Finally tried it a couple of weeks ago. Let's just say that I won't be eating any again soon. Anyway, that's a Black Sea Urchin (Temnopleurus toreumaticus) in the photo.

Just a stone's throw away from the sea urchin was a sea cucumber. The sea cucumber didn't look healthy at all. In fact, it kind of looked like pitted styrofoam. Sigh... I wonder if it'll recover.

Other sea cucumbers seemed to be doing well though. Saw a lot of this Thorny Sea Cucumber (Colochirus quadrangularis) hiding under seaweed, on rocks, etc. Their pinkish-red and green colouration brings to mind the ice cream that my sister likes..some pear and strawberry flavour, I think. Edit: It suddenly came to mind while I was doing my microbiology lab report..the ice cream is 'Twister' by Walls! And I think I've got the flavours wrong..unless they did have limited edition flavours at one point in time. Lol.

And, yes, another sea cucumber! This one is an Orange Sea Cucumber (Family Cucumariidae).

This is likely a Purple Sea Cucumber, also of the Cucumariidae family. If you think it looks unhealthy, well, it probably is. Healthy individuals are of a brighter hue.

At this part of the Changi Beach, we had quite a few sea star surprises. After walking a couple of paces, we came across this Biscuit Sea Star (Goniodiscaster scaber).


The underside of the Biscuit Sea Star (Goniodiscaster scaber).

Another Thorny Sea Cucumber (Colochirus quadrangularis), visible among the marine flora.

Here's the stressed out Biscuit Sea Star (Goniodiscaster scaber) from an earlier post.

This curious-looking ball-shaped organism possibly is a sea cucumber, as suggested by Kok Sheng during the trip. Edit: (refer to comment) KS says that this might be a sponge instead!

This small pool of water had something very strange going on in it! Beneath the surface of the sand, down from some unknown depth, something caused a very bizarre 'bubbling' effect. It's sort of how water is bubbling vigorously when at boiling point..except that it's sand.

Maybe this video will give you a better idea! Do ignore the running commentary though. There was no crab!




Really happy to have been able to see so many different kinds of sea stars that day! From left to right: unidentified sea star (possibly a Cake Sea Star - Anthenea aspera - as suggested by KS in his blog), Biscuit Sea Star (Goniodiscaster scaber) and Spiny Sea Star (Gymnanthenea laevis).

You may have been puzzling over the different appearances of the Biscuit Sea Stars (Goniodiscaster scaber). The reason is simple: the above is a juvenile!

Yet another Thorny Sea Cucumber (Colochirus quadrangularis)! They really were everywhere, adding a bright tinge of colour to the seashore.

Always look on the bright side of life :) Btw, I'm not condoning littering!

As the Sun dipped lower and lower in the horizon, we knew that our adventures for the day were coming to a close...

...no matter, for being treated to the sight of a beautiful sunset was the perfect way to end the day :)

Many thanks to Kok Sheng for details on the marine creatures and also to wildsingapore by Ria Tan for the great database!