Pasir Ris, 3 Jan 2010

Again I came out of this shore trip feeling I didn't manage to see much, but I realise I'm utterly wrong again, after listing out everything I captured on my digital camera. :) So here goes, Pasir Ris on 3rd Jan 2010, through my eyes.

The beach alternated between sandy/muddy shores and Spoon seagrass (Halophila ovalis) beds. Some fishermen were out in the sea as well.

Top: Pasir Ris beach with a Brahminy kite flying overhead

Middle: Spoon seagrass seemed to flourish

Bottom: Fishermen out in the sea. I wonder what they were catching..

As I trudged on the shore (which was pretty tough sometimes as most of the shore was muddy), I saw the egg cases of the Spiral melongena snail. This is very commonly found on our shores.

There were a couple of Plain sand stars (Astropecten indicus) as well. Perhaps it was because most of them were hiding in the seagrass beds, it was hard to find them even after nightfall when they are most active. I simply love how flexible these cute little creatures are!

With some help from James, I realise I actually spotted a variety of anemones that day at Pasir Ris beach! First up, this small little pretty anemone which was most likely the Banded peacock anemone. As you can see, this was only about twice the length of a Spoon seagrass leaf!

The Peacock anemones weren't very abundant where I explored though. This is a beautiful orange-coloured one!

Later on, I found this Glass anemone. This was the first time I've ever seen one. And I was utterly intrigued by its design! Beautiful.

There were a couple of Haddon's carpet anemone scattered on the sandy bed. I saw a beautiful dark purplish one!

James reckons this is most likely a Haddon's as well. Could it be feeding on the Spoon seagrass?

I saw a variety of crab species as well! First up, there was the Hairy crab which is very common on our shores and reefs. Another nickname for this is the "teddy bear". :D

The Thunder crab was pretty common too, and I saw one hiding in the crevices of a pretty large rock and another inside an empty fan shell (which sadly I didn't manage to get a good photo of)!

There was the common Flower crab as well, swimming about.

This looks like the Hoof-shield Limpet.

As usual, one can always find corals where rocks and boulders (hard substrates) are present. However, tried as I might, I cannot determine for sure the identities of these corals. :(

Lastly, I saw a couple of sea cucumbers which looked like Ball sea cucumbers.

Singapore's shores indeed have much to offer. This was definitely another rewarding trip and I'm definitely looking forward to discovering more of what our shores have to offer!