Seen alot, learnt alot, but all forgotten haha. So I can only say check out these blogs to know more:
Tidechaser
Where Discovery Begins
Wildshores
Singapore Nature
God's Wonderful Creation
Urban Forest
Itchy Fingers
Alright, now for my viewpoint.. boarded the boat from Marina Pier (I forgot to take a photo of the Pier, luckily someone else did.. phew). On the way, saw the developments in Marina Bay, The Sail and others (from what I see, it can be quite ulu to stay there but I'm not very confirmed.)
Pass by this cute little "Bao Island". Ok the real name is
Pulau Jong 炯岛. If interested, you can read more about this island
from God's wonderful creation.
Then we reach Pulau Semakau where we first had a tour round it via bus (and the hunters alighted to find the creatures for display to us later). Then we went to watch a video telling us about the lifestory of our rubbish on how they first came into Pulau Semakau via the Barge and how they have to be incinerated so that they will be reduced to 10% of their current state. Hmm if I have time, I might write my third story based on it.
Actually after incineration, the rubbish does not really seem to emit a smell already. Thankfully I guess as all these cells have to be filled up with these incinerated waste after which a top fertile soil will cover the waste.
Then we march into a forest full of mosquitoes to be greeted to a welcoming sight of the shores.
The mangrove tree, Bakau Pasir (Rhizophora stylosa) used as firewood and also made to charcoal…
Look out for the bright orange flags, it means the hunters have found us something interesting!
Saw 3 garlic breads or Sandfish Cucumber (Holothuria scabra). First sign of we are hungry? Considering these are the edible ones found in Chinese restaurants. These sea cucumber breathes through their anus due to their internal breathing system which has branching tubes along the length of their bodies. Called respiratory trees, most large sea cucumbers have a pair of these, each connected to the opening on the backside. To breathe, the sea cucumber pumps water in through its backside and up through the respiratory trees. The water is then flushed out through the backside again. With this constant flow of water, some tiny creatures find the backside of a seacucumber a cosy and safe place to be! Small or thin-walled sea cucumbers, however, simply breathe through their skins. -Source:
wildsingapore
Oh and these were squirting water when the guide lift them up. Urinating? I have no idea. But they were definitely under stress because under stress, they will squirt water from both ends. And if under extreme stress, some sea cucumbers are capable of expelling their innards. The stomach will eventually be regenerated but the sea cucumbers will not be able to feed until the regrowth. Yucks!
Lastly, sea cucumbers are echinoderms and they feed with their tube feets. Similarly, instead of a hard skeleton, the bodies are mostly made of tissue capable of changing from hard to soft, thus aiding movement etc.
Another sea cucumber, the Ocellated Sea Cucumber (Stichopus ocellatus). We were not allowed to handle this one cos it is said that under too much stress, it may become limp and disintegrate. I concur that it looks wobbly to the extent it might melt like ice cream (oops food for thought?)
The many white “eyespots” on its back were believed to possess some sensory functions to help the animal move around or hold to the substrate. - Source:
Itchyfingers
Noble Volute (Cymbiola nobilis) which is our group name! (I was lazy to close-up but I do have close-up images from my friends haha).
It is a large shell that can grow up to 20cm and is threatened by over-collection as food and for its beautiful shells. These predatory snails hunt and feed underneath the sand. The tube on the right is called the siphon, and the animal uses it to seek out buried bivalves (like
clams). The black fleshy part with bright orange spots underneath the shell
is actually its large foot! After finding the bivalves, it wraps it with its large foot and then waits patiently until its exhausted prey opens its shell to breathe. The Noble Volute then seizes the opportunity to stick its proboscis to feed! - Source:
Itchyfingers
The marine flatworm was lovely because it is so flat. If you cut them into two, they can continue growing. But hmm, don't be so cruel-hearted to try bah.
More about flatworms: Flatworms Penile Fencing
Check out the video
here.
Extracted from the site:
For flatworms, sex is more like war than love. Like all sea slugs, flatworms are hermaphrodites (they have both male and female sexual organs). In this case, the male organ turns out to be two dagger-like penises that they use to hunt as well as mate. During mating, two flatworms fight (i.e. "penis fence") to stab each other, while avoiding getting stabed.
The "loser" who gets stabbed will absorb the sperm through its skin and then scoots off to bear the burden of motherhood!
Sigh I don't really agree motherhood is a burden but then literally speaking, she is carrying a "burden". Alright.
Saw a number of starfishes although a better name should be sea star because they are actually not fish. These two were nicknamed ang ku kueh and ketupat by my friend. More signs that we are hungry. Ok, they are juvenile Cushion Stars (Culcita novaeguineae), part of the sea stars family except they don't have long arms.
These are the common echinoderms where they are symmetrical along five axes, have spiny skin and tube feet. This is the Common Sea Star (Archaster typicus). Other examples of echinoderms are the Sand Dollars and Sea Urchins. Oh and I have a close-up photo of the tube feet, so cute! Note that sea stars use sea water to support its body and move its tube feet thus it should not be left out of the water.
This particular Knobbly Seastar (Protoreaster nodosus) has 6 legs which is quite rare. The common ones have 5 legs.
Cannot forget crab (because it is FOOD again haha). This is the Flower Crab (Portunus pelagicus).
What else did I learn? That sea urchin loves shadow. That if you are quiet, you can hear the snapping shrimp snaps. Both males and females snap. That there are lots of sponges and some sponges are poisonous so don't think they are all as friendly as spongebob.
As the sun set, we head back too... I really like this place alot, though I hate the mosquitoes (but I know they are there for a reason...). I wonder if I want to be back here again or not hmm.
Lastly, RMBR is recruiting. Check out the details
here. How I wish I can join but I cannot make it for their training. SAD!
p/s: And I'm still grieving over my camera sigh...
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