purple&pink 'wiggly star' anemone @ terumbu raya 09Feb2009

pink&purple 'wiggly star' anemone @ t. raya 09Feb2009 from BeachBum on Vimeo.
Here is a short clip on the pink-purple 'wiggly star' anemone from Terumbu Raya. It was in less than 10cm of water in a shallow pool.

The tentacles were purple with pink tips except for the vertical tentacles which were all brown. The diameter of this specimen was about 4 cm across.

Read more about it here :
http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/cnidaria/actiniaria/star.htm

More about the trip here :
http://wildshores.blogspot.com/2009/02/reefs-of-raya.html
http://wildshores.blogspot.com/2009/02/maiden-trip-to-terumbu-raya.html

seagrass lagoon nursery @ semakau 1

seagrass lagoon nursery @ semakau 1 from BeachBum on Vimeo.

The seagrass lagoon at Semakau is a very important place for young marine organisms to take shelter from predators. The young include both shrimp and fish fry. The dense seagrass lagoons make it difficult for larger fish to find the smaller fish or shrimp fry and this allows for more fry to reach adulthood and pro-create the next generation. Seagrass lagoons therefore play an important part in ensuring our fish stocks are managed well. Without seagrass lagoons, our fish stocks will be greatly reduced.

A well managed seagrass lagoon is a crucial asset to ensuring that our local waters are good breeding grounds for young fish and shrimp.

See http://research.myfwc.com/features/view_article.asp?id=20720 on the importance of seagrass lagoons.

The clip shows very young shrimp. The bodies are translucent and each was only about 1cm in length. The seagrass seen in the clip is Enhalus acoroides or Tape seagrass as it is commonly called. (see http://mangrove.nus.edu.sg/pub/seashore/text/108.htm) .
More links :
http://www.wildsingapore.com/chekjawa/text/g106.htm - on Tape Seagrass.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulau_Semakau - on Pulau Semakau.
On Seagrass Watch :
http://www.seagrasswatch.org/Info_centre/education/Seagrass_Educators_Handbook.pdf
http://www.seagrasswatch.org/home.html

Beautiful Cyrene 5 - star tracker in action.

In support of http://startrackers.blogspot.com/.

Here's a short clip showing footsteps of a startracker from one end of Cyrene, finding the first Knobbly (No. 1 yellow tag) followed by a particularly large and sharp pointed knobbly at the far end of Cyrene facing downtown Singapore in the background.


Beautiful Cyrene 5 - star tracker in action from BeachBum on Vimeo.

What are Knobbly seastars?...and why should we track them?
See http://startrackers.blogspot.com/2008/05/what-are-knobbly-seastars.html

Beautiful Cyrene 4 - red snapping shrimp

Beautiful Cyrene 4 - red snapping shrimp from BeachBum on Vimeo.

Useful Link : http://www.wildsingapore.com/chekjawa/text/g341.htm

Another link : Snapping Shrimp Stun Prey with Flashy Bang
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/10/1003_SnappingShrimp.html

Beautiful Cyrene 3 - sandfish sea cucumber

Beautiful Cyrene 3 - sandfish sea cucumber from BeachBum on Vimeo.

This clip shows a sandfish sea cucumber (Holothuria scabra) moving around in a seagrass meadow on Cyrene reef.

About sea cucumbers in general :
wildsingapore.com/chekjawa/text/p630.htm

Beautiful Cyrene 2 - Synaptic Sea Cucumber in action

Beautiful Cyrene 2 - Synaptic Sea Cucumber from BeachBum on Vimeo.

With a horizon of petrochemical industries, Cyrene reef is a wondrous exposition of nature. Very much like a coral atoll, but not quite, Cyrene is mostly submerged and only revealed at the lowest of tides. Constantly in danger of ship groundings and chemical leaks, Cyrene is amazing in it's biodiversity.

The clip shows a synaptic sea cucumber looking for food in a rich Thalassia seagrass meadow. With it's accordian-like body tube which relies on seawater for form, it unfurls it's feeding tentacles grasping material from the seagrass surrounding it and passing it one by one to a central mouth. This one, when fully expanded, was about a metre long. However, it can contract or deflate itself, within seconds, to a fraction of it's full length by expelling all the water in the body tube.

Sea Cucumbers are Echinoderms (Class Holothuroidea)

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Cyrene Reef is a unique submerged reef right in the centre of Singapore's West Coast port surrounded by petrochemical and shipbuilding industries. It is only visible and visitable during very low tides. At other tides, the entire reef is totally submerged. At suitable low tides, access is by amphibious (wet)landing as there is no jetty or pier. Cyrene (also called Terumbu Pandan) has unique mix of various ecosystems : seagrass lagoons, sand bars, rocky shores, coral rubble and coralline areas. It's biodiversity is amazing! A reef-seagrass-sand oasis!

Uniquely Singapore!
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useful links :
about Thalassia hemprichii seagrass : http://www.wildsingapore.com/chekjawa/text/g104.htm
on sea cucumbers : http://www.wildsingapore.com/chekjawa/text/p630.htm
http://www.aquatic.uoguelph.ca/inverts/diver/marine/echinodermata/holot.htm
http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Holothuroidea&contgroup=Echinodermata

Beautiful Cyrene 1 - knobbly star at sunrise

Beautiful Cyrene - Terumbu Pandan 1 from BeachBum on Vimeo.

{if the video does not play or you want to view in HD format, click on the Vimeo link.}

Cyrene Reef is a unique submerged reef right in the centre of Singapore's West Coast port surrounded by petrochemical and shipbuilding industries. It is only visible and visitable during very low tides. At other tides, the entire reef is totally submerged. At suitable low tides, access is by amphibious (wet)landing as there is no jetty or pier. Cyrene (also called Terumbu Pandan) has unique mix of various ecosystems : seagrass lagoons, sand bars, rocky shores, coral rubble and coralline areas. It's biodiversity is amazing! A reef-seagrass-sand oasis!

Uniquely Singapore!