On Saturday, I went to Pulau Semakau with some colleagues and friends. Pulau Semakau is now a landfill area, and waste from various incineration plants will be transported to Pulau Semakau for land-filling. It is estimated that the landfill project will be completed in year 2040, and the government is now trying to control the amount of waste produced by urging the public to practise the 3 Rs: Reduce Waste, Reuse Things and Recycle Waste.

Ok, before this entry gets boring, lets get down to the more interesting part of this trip. I was there for the purpose of the intertidal walk.  When the tide is low, one can discover an interesting marine life  beneath the shallow water. Together with our guide, we walked about in ankle-deep waters to spot for crabs, nudibranchs and other interesting marine animals that are around.

Click on the pictures below to see a larger-sized image. 

The very first thing we spotted was this. A sea cucumber (yes, you can eat this)! Despite the name, sea cucumbers are actually animals and not plant/vege. They get tensed up and hardened when they sense danger. In fact, I touched it and it felt like a hard protective shield.

I almost didn’t want to take the picture of this hairy crab. Simply because it’s so hairy and doesn’t look like a crab at all. Ugly! haha..:P But yeah, I shot it eventually under the urging of someone.

This is the very venomous sea urchin. Colourful as it may seem, you should never go anywhere near it. Its venom can cause paralysis!

Jellyfish, another marine animal to be wary of! This jellyfish is known as the "upside-down" jellyfish, because it is usually seen floating upside-down (not in this pic though). Symbiotic algae can be found living at the undersides of the jellyfish, which help produce oxygen and thus allows the jellyfish to survive in oxygen-poor water.

Below are a few coral pictures that I’ve taken. I’m not too sure of the names, but I hope I get them right. 

A Favia coral. Each coral is made up of many tiny animals living together. This is called a colony and each animal is called a polyp (the green parts). The polyp has tentacles and it looks like a miniature sea anemone. Hard corals have a skeleton of calcium carbonate.

This should be a Maze coral (also hard). 

These are Sunflower mushroom corals, a type of soft coral. Soft corals are also colony of tiny animals called polyps. Unlike hard corals, they don’t have hard skeletons and the polyps are instead supported by a soft tissue mass. Out of water, soft corals often appear smooth because the tiny polyps are retracted.

Probably one of the ugliest corals! Looks like a piece of gigantic oily chicken/pig skin??! I seriously don’t know the identification of this piece of stuff. But it should be a kind of soft coral (I touched it).

Another Favia coral.

See what we’ve found? The Red Sea Star! It is huge, about the size of a 15 inch monitor screen! There are multiple black pores on its surface.

This is the underside of the Red Sea Star. the five lines are actually tiny tube feet that it uses to move about. One interesting fact about starfish.. they can regenerate lost arms!!

Cute? This is one of the marine creatures that I was hoping to find, nudibranch! (Joey, this is the nudi that I was talking about ) Nudibranch comes from Latin "nudus" meaning "naked", and Greek "brankhia" meaning "gills". These sea slugs are sof-bodied snails. They are carnivorous, feeding on sponges, hydroids, or bryozoans. Some are cannibals, eating other sea slugs or even members of their own species.

Looks like an underwater flower, but it is actually a Peacock anemone. Such anemones have a ring of shorter tentacles surrounded by longer tentacles. They come in a wide variety of colours. They create a tube into which they can retract when threatened. Thus, they are sometimes called Tube anemones. Careful.. these things sting too.

Phew, I guess that’s all that I have!! I hope you enjoyed reading this entry (as much as I writing it). Through this intertidal walk, I sure learnt a lot about these interesting sea creatures. It is good to note that there exists such a rich marine life in our small country. Want to continue having such a natural habitat for these marine animals in Singapore? Do your part then.. no littering and polluting the waters!

Edit: If you’re interested in such intertidal walks (or other types of nature walks), please visit www.wildsingapore.com for more information. There is a lot of information there.