sgbeachbum

Sunday, July 27, 2008

blowing brown cucumber 2 @ cyrene reef

blowing brown cucumber from BeachBum on Vimeo.
[Click on the Vimeo link for better quality]
This clip shows the blowing ability of the mysterious brown cucumber. It can really put out a real force of water. But why the need for such a forceful spurt? The cucumber's skin is seen close up!...It's covered in hairs! or hair-like structures.

The clip does not show off the mouth sections well but you can get an idea as to how it goes about looking for food and sucking it up. Much like a vacuum cleaner. The exhaust is thrown out the back.

In all of my 10 minutes with this cucumber, it hardly moved at all. I've seen snails move faster!

links :
on Cyrene http://www.wildsingapore.com/places/cyrene.htm

Friday, July 25, 2008

blowing brown cucumber + black cloud + petrochemical plant flare @ Cyrene reef

blowing brown cucumber + black cloud + flare @ Cyrene reef from BeachBum on Vimeo.

Found this sole brown cucumber at Cyrene. Not seen another one of it's kind anywhere else. There are other species of sea cucumber on Cyrene but this was the only one of it's kind on Cyrene I spotted that day.

It is noticeably different from the other cukes in that it has a rather large hole at the rear end...an anus! At least it was on the other end of the animal from it's mouth!. Some other cukes seem to have only one main aperture...i.e the mouth is also its anus.

This cuke was about 12 inches long and sitting in a shallow lagoon at low tide. It was actually blowing water out from the big hole. You can make out the turbulence at the water surface just above the hole. Why is it doing this? Maybe it is just expelling water which it takes in from the from end?

In the background is Singapore's Jurong Island. A rather loud alarm was sounded slightly before one of the chimneys was lighted up. A huge black cloud resulted upon first ignition....looks like that cloud would disappear towards the eastern. Flares are emergency measures put in place at such industrial locations to burn off excess waste gases.
"One of the prominent features of every oil refinery and petrochemical plant is a tall stack with a small flame burning at the top. This stack, called a flare, is an essential part of the plant safety system. In the event of equipment failure or plant shutdown, it is necessary to purge the volatile hydrocarbons from operating equipment so that it can be serviced." ~ www.britannica.com

If the flare results in a clear burn (apart from the initial black cloud), then the system is running as designed. However, if the flare continues to produce a black cloud, then the system is not performing as designed. So if the black cloud heads your way.......Run! or hold your breath before it reaches you.!

Thursday, July 24, 2008

sand star regeneration @ cyrene

sand star regeneration @ cyrene from BeachBum on Vimeo.

[Click on the VIMEO link for better quality video]
Seastars have a remarkable ability to re-generate their limbs.
This one had lost two of its arms but it was growing two new ones.
You can see the tiny arms jutting out.

Link : http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-213X/7/115
This Article explains all about regeneration in sea cucumbers.

moving star @ cyrene

moving star @ cyrene from BeachBum on Vimeo.
[Click on the VIMEO link for better quality video]
Ever wondered how sand stars move?
They use their tube feet. Each arm has numerous tube feet.
The clip shows how a sand star moves over undulating terrain....much like a hovercraft...except you have to pay attention to see the tube feet at work.

More on sand stars !...
http://www.wildsingapore.com/chekjawa/text/p610.htm
http://www.wildsingapore.com/chekjawa/text/s603.htm
http://mangrove.nus.edu.sg/pub/seashore/text/221.htm

sand star w central hole @ cyrene

sand star @ wonderful cyrene from BeachBum on Vimeo.

[Click on the VIMEO link for better quality video]

Came across this sand star (amongst the thousands at Cyrene) which had a peculiar vent at its top. It was opening and closing the hole as if on some periodic cycle. It looked like it was passing water through. This vent was not the madreporite as you can see the madreporite a little to the left. (someone correct me if I am wrong here). Apparently, some star species have an anal aperture at the top side. This is likely what the hole is.

The aperture is lined by a membrane which opens up just below the exterior minute fingers surrounding the hole.

Notice the tiny conical snail shell slightly off centre.
More on sand stars !...
http://www.wildsingapore.com/chekjawa/text/p610.htm
http://www.wildsingapore.com/chekjawa/text/s603.htm
http://mangrove.nus.edu.sg/pub/seashore/text/221.htm

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

anemone shrimp @ surprising cyrene

anemone shrimp @ cyrene reef from BeachBum on Vimeo.
[click on the vimeo link for better video quality]

It's always a joy to wake up really early (5am) and head out of the house in search of adventure. Today (Tuesday - 22 July 2008) was no exception.

Cyrene Reef (Terumbu Pandan in Malay) was full of surprises as usual. There is always something new to discover.

The clip shows an (actually two) anemone shrimp in a carpet anemone.
The shrimp benefits from practising commensalism where it lives in a symbiotic relationship with the anemone which is not harmed. Usually, there are two shrimps...one male (smaller) and a female (bigger). The males are usually less spotted and are more transparent. The females have more noticeable spots.

Have a look here for a more detailed narration of the wonderful trip to Cyrene!
http://wildfilms.blogspot.com/2008/07/another-cyrene-walk.html

More links...on Anemone Shrimps :
http://www.divegallery.com/anemone_shrimp_P_brevicarpalis.htm
http://uforest.blogspot.com/2008/03/anemone-shrimp.html
http://budak.blogs.com/the_annotated_budak/2007/07/anemone-shrimp.html