Catching the weather window.

Hello everyone,

Well, we have had the best of the weather and tides today. A 0.1 tide with perfect weather, not too sunny nor cloudy, and best of all, at 5p.m. :) As such, this unplanned trip eventually turned out to be an exciting and amazing visit. Granted, only a few shells were collected but still, it it was wonderful as we managed (or at least I managed) to catch the best of Punggol Point... :D

 Well, the first sight after stepping out of the car... lovely weather and a cooling breeze... :)

 Well, I did not photograph some of the creatures prior to this PEACOCK ANEMONE because my camera decided to fail me due to the lack of battery. However, it finally "revived", how it did it, I have no idea... In any case, it was great news! :D This was the only PEACOCK ANEMONE I spotted.

And there were numerous CARPET ANEMONIES!!! A mental calculation would bring the total number of CARPET ANEMONIES spotted to close to a dozen! They were lovely and a rare sight, considering the fact that the only other place I've seen them would be at Check Jawa.

All these animals were hidden beneath the huge patch of ULVA GRASS.

Surprisingly, I actually managed to spot this! A SPONGE CRAB! Yep, it was seen moving  and is only the size of a marble! Haha! Cute guy!

The internal view...

And we managed to see hundreds of these CARINATE ROCK SHELLS. Apparently, they were amongst the ULVA WEEDS... Not so "Rocky" as comapred to its cousins... :)

Another CARPET ANEMONE! I just can't get over these things!

And a cute BALL SEA CUCUMBER! This is the second one.

CARINATE ROCK SHELL in its original habitat.

So... as I continued my journey down the coast, I met a remarkable man! (Not so sure about his name...) But HE MANAGED TO CAPTURE THIS OCTOPUS!!! (ba chat) Lovely! And best still, it was caught and later released! :D Nice way to practice catch and release eh?

Now, make a guess... what's this brownish lump?

A DOG CONCH! Better still, A LIVE DOG CONCH!

MY "collection" of weird and unique creatures! Just to calm you readers down, the overturned fish is actually, firstly, ALIVE. Secondly, I actually managed to capture 7 of these SINGAPORE TOADFISHES (Allenbatrachus reticulatus). Thirdly, the BLUE FLOWER CRAB isn't living, but instead, a moulted shell. No worries, I released them back once I was done with the photo-taking. :D

Sponges... As always, our local coast are strewn with rubbish. I APPEAL TO ALL READERS, while shelling, beach combing, fishing or simply strolling along the beach, please please keep our beaches clean. Everyone has a part to play alright? :)

And a WEIRD LOOKING ANEMONE. :)

And look!

A MELONGENA SNAIL! From the top, it actually looked extremely inconspicuous, not for the untrained eye.

And a LONG BLACK SEA CUCUMBER (Holothuria leucospilota) and look at the beautiful RED SPONGES at the side!

The BLACK SEA URCHINS (Temnopleurus toreumaticus)
 were showing up in thousands!

And tragically, this is the carcass of a SMOOTH OTTER. Occasionally, we do see families of them visit this shore. They are listed as critically endagered in Singapore. This wasn't what I would like to see but it's a clear reminder that we do not own the straits, but instead, share it with other innocent animals as well...

My catch before releasing them, BYE!

How low the tide went...

I returned to clean up my shells at the toilet and while leaving, spotted a SILVER AROWANA in the freshwater pond. :)

The offshore rocks, reachable only at negative tides..

The sun sets in the west, in the direction of Jurong. :P Throughout the trip, I did managed to spot other interesting creatures such as an OVUM COWRIE, SNAPPING SHRIMPS, THUNDER CRABS the size of two fist put together (!) and thousands of FIRE WORMS.

Till then, remember, the beach is part of mother nature. Protect it. (BTW, IF YOU ARE INTERESTED, THE TIDES TODAY ARE SIMILARLY LOW!!! HURRY DOWN NOW IF YOU WANNA EXPERIENCE WHAT I DID! :D :D :D )

Punggol Point Trip

Hello again! :)

Went to Punggol Point in Sunday, 19th Feb 2012 somewhere around 6p.m. there were loads of people there but only spotted and spoke to one couple who collects seashells. She explains that there is nothing much to collect there but guess what? 老天不负有心人, did manage to find two more uncommon shells but i had to sacrifice my back...walked along the whole beach to the "ulu-ulu" (less populated) part ofteh beach to find them though.

There was a pond with tilapias and guppies in it. rought a piece of bread to feed them but they did not want to eat it due to the sugar caked in it...

 Punggol park, high tide. one thing that i have learnt is that regardless of teh tides, you will stull be able to collect something at the beach... haha yeah. So many people at the beach, i was worried that it would all have been collected before i arrived! The stone that you see there are normally also seen during the usual high tides. Many coral fragments found there as well... is there a coral reef somewhere near? Opposite you can see johor, it think thats the port...

 Haha, the first shell i spotted. See haam or Blood cockle (Anadara granosa)...really common there either due to the presence of a mud-flat like seabed and weak waves or from the mangroves over at malaysia.

A Perna viridis and possibly a Meretrix over there. Did not pick up the Meretrix because it was cracked.. so sad, it had a nice purple hue :)

 HAHA!!! Found a Sea Urchin stranded along the shore. It was still alive and its spines were moving. One of the only few sealife found at the visit. Took a quick picture and immdiately placed it back into the sea.

 Surprisingly, the waters are relatively clean (for local standards) and due to the weak waves, you could actually see the sand beneath and there were many shells there :)

 Something started to move and lo and behold... a Pugilina cochlidium!!! Live! Usually you can find them along Changi and our Northern coast. Behind is also a blue sponge :)

 Sunset at Punggol... Somewhat reminds me of Bintan and really wished i could spend 3 days collecting shells, relaxing and playing!!!

 This is the eastern wing of the beach... not many seashells were found here but found one uncommon one along the shoreline. Also, this stretch is shorter than the West end and is characterised by more sandy coast so  shells usually do not het stranded here.

 What i collected!!! Not a bad haul with green Mussels, Venus clams, A sea urchin's test, keyhole limpets, barnacles, jingle shells, corals, "tua tow", Limpets, Barbatias and MOST IMPORTANTLY, A SUNDIAL AND THORNY OYSTER!!! haha, Sundial was found along the western end while the latter on the eastern end...

 Also found 3 Flower crab moults and now drying them. :)

 Another pic... :)

The 2 uncommon shells :) YAY