Halophila beccarii @ SungeiMandaiBesar 18Dec2010

Came across a patch of the critically endangered Halophila beccarii seagrass at the Sungei Mandai Besar mudflats. It is sometimes seen at certain parts of Chek Jawa and can also be found at Sungei Buloh. Preferring a more mangrove environment, it now suffers a 'critically endangered' status on the Red List of Threatened Plants of Singapore primarily because Singapore's mangrove habitats have shrunk considerably since the mid-1900s.

the leaves have a mottled pattern with dark and light patches. Close examination of some of the leaves showed a bit of red colouration as well!

note the narrow leaves arranged rosette-like

some patches were really thick with more noticeable larger leaves.

many tiny crabs had made their homes amongst the seagrass 'forest' each occupying tiny holes tunnelled between the thick seagrass mats. Can you spot the two crabs?

 a carpet-like field of H. beccarii... almost as far as the eye could see. 100% coverage!

a patch with Johore Bahru on the left and Woodlands on the right...

the exposed mudflat was almost totally covered with H.beccarii

We did hear the sound of the late afternoon train to Malaysia coming from behind the mangrove trees. This must have been very close to the railway line.
Again, the exposed mudflat was almost totally covered with H.beccarii.

some underwater pics of H.beccarii in a blue tub recycled from the mangrove

It looks like the Sungei Mandai Besar estuary mudflats are one of the last major strongholds of Halophila beccarii in Singapore.

Where is Sungei Mandai Besar? Click here for more info.

Want to find out more about this rare seagrass? Find out at WildSingapore's Wildfacts pages!
Visit also Singapore's own TeamSeagrass blogsite! and find out about seagrass and why it is important to our marine ecosystem!
You may also 'Like' the TeamSeagrass Facebook page!

Yellow Lipped Sea Krait @ Pulau Hantu 12Apr2009

Yellow Lipped Sea Krait @ Pulau Hantu 12Apr2009 from BeachBum on Vimeo.

Came across this yellow-lipped sea krait on Hantu's wonderful reef. It was busy looking for food in nooks and crannies and did not at all mind the human watching it. It came up for air after diving for about 2 minutes.

This snake has got a highly toxic venom but it is also non-aggressive by nature.
Note that it has a flat tail. This helps propel the snake through water much like a boat paddle.
The specimen in the video was between 40 to 50 cm long and was about 1 cm thick. Adult specimens would be about double the size.

crossing paths with the dog-faced water snake@semakau

dog-faced water snake@semakau from BeachBum on Vimeo.

6am....the hunters are out hunting....the Semakau intertidal zone is a rather unusual place to find a dog-faced water snake. We've encountered them in the Pasir Ris mangroves....hordes of them all looking for food...fish...they are expert hunters of small fish.

We came across this specimen (about 60cm long) [the biggest one seen so far was about 1.2m] whilst en route to the Semakau seagrass transect 1 just past the storm canal.

Although mildly venomous (if you are a small fish)...it is mostly harmless to humans...although getting sprayed with snake faeces is not a nice thing if you decide to pick one up and it does a 'helicopter' on you.

links :
http://www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/verts/water_snake.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerberus_rynchops
http://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/snakes/dog-faced_water-snake.htm