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, Aftermath of the Monsoon

Hello Everyone,

Upon seeing the short non-rainy window on sunday, and after convincing my father that the weather was great, and after consulting the weather and tide guru, which showed an approximate 1.0m low tide, we managed to reach Punggol Point...

 So here, it's obvious that the the skies are really really cloudy... a foreshadow of a rain maybe? :P

 The usual scene: the black boulders and sand. The tide was receeding at this time... Was on the verge of rejoicing when I noticed a number of people, bending over and picking up "something"... Wanted to approach them but they didn't seem friendly so I scrapped the idea...

 The monsoons seemed to have washed up tons of mangrove seeds! The beach was littered with them! Took a rooted seed home to try my luck at growing a mangrove at home. :P

 Now, this is an interesting one. Remember fighting over that white, oval-shaped thing in your Ice Kachang? Yup, its the ATTAP CHEE or NIPAH PALM. The ATTAP CHEE (CHEE = Seed on Hokkien) actually comes from this fruit that you are looking at. The white thingy is actually embedded within this woody seed pod. So, if you ever see any of these do try to grow them! :D

 There were also lots of BEAD ANEMONIES. The squirt water when you touch them!

 A badly eroded cowrie that was possibly a OVUM COWRIE. Would have been a beauty if it wasn't eroded...

 These few men were actually collecting VENUS CLAMS and GREEN TUA TOWS... They actually collected a huge plastic bag of them... tragically, they were not the only ones searching for the animals...

 Look! some of the common residents did not fail to disappoint!The GUAM FALSE LIMPET was the most common of the 3 (or 4) shells in the photograph.

 A BURNT MUREX! What a rare visitor! We usually do not see these shells along this coast... The last time i saw one was in BINTAN (do refer to my previous few post on Bintan... :) ) Tragically, he's really eroded... (Sorry, addressed it as a "he" for fun's sake! )

Another unusual visitor, the SURF CLAM. They are usually found in high densities along East Coast Park or Changi Bay...

 And our local representative shell!!! The SINGAPORE KEYHOLE LIMPET (Diodora singaporensis... :) )

 Oyster-farmers harvesting oysters along the rocks... This is good if you actually look at the density of oysters along this coast... totally freaky

 The sun sets... Dark arrives...

 And a DOG CONCH! Another injured (I mean, eroded) citizen of our shores... Btw, they are edible. :)

 Johore Industrial Region... There"s also Serangoon Island in the background...

 Punggol Point jetty... Usually the setting off and returning point for those going to OBS (Outward Bounds Singapore) ... I've been there! ;P

 

Well, although it did not seem like a really good trip, at least I managed to obtain some specimens... :) Hope that the next trip will be fruitful!

Reasons Why I Hate The Monsoon...

Hey people,

Firstly, I have to apologise for the long absence from this blog. Really needed the time to catch up on my studies and I did not visit the beach within that one month! So sorry.

Secondly, We have been having really crappy weather for the past one week or so. The monsoon has arrived so every day if it's not drizzling its pouring so yea... really bad weather for shelling. The tides have also risen due to the high amounts of rain deposited on our island... :( Although I did manage to visit the beach today, with relatively good weather, I would have to leave that to my next post. Why, because this post has been dedicated to informing everyone why they should check the tides and weather before visiting the beach..

 So here am I, on a Thursday afternoon. Just finished some activities in school and managed to convince my papa and mama to drive me to the beach. As you can see, the ripples in the pond are not caused by tiny fishes but instead, rain droplets...

 In any case, I decided to continue with the visit, making my way to the shore...

 And lo and behold, the SEA HAS SUCCESSFULLY MANAGED TO COVER THE WHOLE SAND BAR!!! So much so for not listening to the tidal predictions... (Btw, 3.2m)

 Even a section of grass along the upper shore was submerged! And worse still, NO SHELLS OR ANYTHING INTERESTING...

 Since I had no choice, I decided to check out the coastal vegetation at Punggol Point. Did manage to spot some COASTAL MORNING GLORIES in full bloom.

And of course, the high tides again.

Tragically, The rain got havier and I was soaked to the skin... (Ok, maybe not that wet) but still, it was a wasted trip to the Punggol Point... Moral of the story, Check the weather and tides before visiting the beach...

Top 7 Beaches In Singapore

Hello everyone,

Yup, the exams are just 1 week away so no more beach visits for the time being... :( In any case, this post does not require me to visit the beach now or anything, relying on experience is what is needed here. :) Despite undergoing large scale land reclamation and stuff, some beaches actually do harbour a great deal of biodiversity, and specifically, SEASHELLS! So here are my personal top 7 beaches you should visit for shelling. :)

                                                                    IN 7TH PLACE...

                                                                       Changi Beach

       Changi Coast, this side faces north, opposite Pulau Ubin's Chek Jawa and Pulau Tekong

                  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Changi_Beach_Park_6,_Jul_06.JPG

 

Sungei Changi, or Changi River. The riverbanks are lined with mangroves that are practically untouched.

 

                        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sungei_Changi_21,_Jul_06.JPG

Environment: Reclaimed Sandy Shore, Artificial Granite/Rock Armour. Facing Pulau Ubin and Changi Ferry Terminal. Water Clarity is usually poor and sedimentation is quite serious. :(

BUT...
YOU WILL STILL FIND THESE!!! :D

 Blood cockle, Common Scallop, Rock Oyster, Textile Clam, Mussel, Venus Clam blah blah blah...

 There may also be Sea Urchin test lying around...

 And the Dog Conch, the representative conch of Singapore.

 And some false limpets, namely Guam, Javan and Flat. There are also Star Limpets there as well!

 And lots of live Nerites too!

 From Left: Belongkeng Mangrove Snail, Bituberculate Rock Shell and the Melongena Shell! :)

Moon Snails are pressty common too! Although they may be harder to find....

And the crowning jewel! The Balier Shell!

 

Well, there aren't many perfect shells here during the high tide but once the tide receeds, the shores are filled with all sorts of marine snails and stuff! The creatures there are also very diverse! Used to frequent this beach in the past but not so in recent times. In any case, some of the more common species that can be spotted there include the Venus Clam, Blood Cockle, Moon Snails, Lineated Nerite, Textile Clam blah. Occasionally you would see some unusual visitors like the Bailer Shell and Belongkeng Mangrove Snail (they mostly come from Sungei Changi, there are mangroves there. ) The Dog Conch can be found there but it's usually badly eroded. Oh, The Spiny Murex can also be found occasionally, but that's if you're really lucky considering the fact that the beach is usually filled with lots of people! So for identification purposes, here are some pictures of the shells found there. :)

Power of Polish!

Hey everyone!

Alright, I was really bored on Thursday so I decided to try out the effectiveness of polishing seashells with olive oil. Well, it was the only substitute that I had but the results are amazing. Better still, I do not need to trouble my Mum to buy nail polish for me! XP Saves the trouble! :)

Lovely! the one on the left is polished. I cannot seem to capture the glow of the shell with this camera... :(

SO try it yourself!!! :D