Black-tipped Reef Shark @ Pulau Hantu.....

But unfortunately it was a dead one on a hook. :o(


We were out with The Hantu Bloggers at Pulau Hantu for their monthly dive this morning. We have just finished our first dive at the North jetty and were about to leave when someone shouted "Hey that man got a shark!"

Upon a closer look, the father of the family who was fishing earlier at the jetty has caught a Black-tipped Reef Shark in the lagoon.

Looks like a juvenile. Sadly, the shark was already dead when we saw it. Or else, we would try to persuade him to have it release back into the water.

It was rather sad to see such a beautiful animal died. On the other hand, also telling us that our reefs seen capable of supporting a top predator. Hopefully there are more Black-tipped out there and hope to see them alive in the water.

Apart from this sad encounter, we still get to see some stuffs during our two dives despite the poor vis of 1m.


A big Crinoid/Featherstar was seen on the shallow end.


You can't missed out an Icon Sea star even with a 1m vis as they were littered on the seabed in numbers


Ever since I was "Stingrayed", I seen to come across these guys very frequently nowadays. Here's a Blue-spotted Fantail Stingray.


A piece of moving sponge! Haha.....actually, there's a crab underneath the sponge. It's a Sponge Crab!



Saw two Cuttlefish! One giant and another much much smaller.


A Sap-sucking Sea Slug. Looks like Thuridilla gracilis

Haha.....and of course, Nudibranch!


The very common Blue Dragon Nudibranch (Pteraeolidia ianthina).

and


the Phyllidiella nudibranch (Phyllidiella sp.)


Big fat juicy looking Slender Ceratosoma nudibranch (Ceratosoma gracillimum)


and a Hypselodoris nudibranch (Hypselodoris sp.)


An Onyx cowry. Seen them more often during intertidal trips rather than underwater.


An Allied cowry on an Orange Sea Fan.


Whereas, one can find the Saw-toothed Shrimp on Sea Whips.


Here's a closer look at it!


There's another kind of Shrimp on the Sea Whips


A closer look at it too!

Also observed that some corals are bleaching.

Hopefully it will recover.

Great Day @ Cyrene Reef.....

Was back at Cyrene Reef yesterday. It was a great day out on this beautiful submerged reef that is only exposed during low tide. With great blue sky and stuffs to see!

I was happy to be back at Cyrene but heehee.....this Thunder Crab doesn't seen to be happy to see me when I pointed the camera at it :op


On Cyrene, ones will get to see great number of Knobbly Seastars. These Seastars are currently monitor by The Star Trackers. Here are some that come in various number of arms!




There were also couple of them with arms that are being regenerated.


Besides the Knobbly, the other common Seastars are the Common Seastars.


Another "Star" that was sighted is this Cushion Star.


Jeff and Collin were tagging the Alligator Pipefishes that they have netted.


Some of them are Papa with eggs stuck to their belly!


The Cowfish is also commonly sighted at Cyrene. I get to shoot this guy quite close cos it was not camera-shy!



Was on a lookout for Anemones and these are some that I have came across;







Andy found a Grey Bonnet Snail on the sandy area. Beautiful snail! However, it is listed as Endangered in the Red List of threatened animals of Singapore due to threats like habitat loss and over-collection.


Whereas, I came across this snail that I have no idea of its idenity.



Upon a closer examination, the snail seen to have Leopard-spotted foot. Alas, I forgot to wait for the snail to come out of its shell! :op


Only came across the common nudibranch like



the Black-margined Nudibranch (Glossodoris atromarginata)[Top] and the ever-so-CUTE Polka-dot Nudibranch (Jorunna funebris).

And the highlight find for me would be this Sea Slug.


At first I thought it looks like a Bubble Shell. But after checking, it turns out to be a Sarcoglossan/Sap Sucking Slug whose relatives include Ornate Leaf Slug (Elysia ornata).

It could be a Volvatella slug (Volvatella vigourouxi). According to The Sea Slug Forum, this slug can be found near their food, the Caulerpa seaweeds. And indeed, it and another two were found on a bed of Broad Feathery Green Seaweed (Caulerpa sertularioides?).


And when I picked and put it in a pool of water, it started to secrete a flow of whitish substance from the narrow tip of its shell. Opps!


It's always nice to have new sighting of Sea slug for me! :o)

On another notes, have noticed that some plants and animals seen to be suffering from the effects of recent hot weathers.


Some corals are bleaching

and some Seagrass look to be having sunburnt.


Also noticed that a few patch of Tape Seagrass with blackish stuffs at their base.


Hmmmm.....

In One "Nudited" Voice We Say.....

HAPPY WORLD OCEANS DAY !!!!!

Today is World Oceans Day!

The Oceans covered 70% of this planet Earth that you, the Homo sapiens, we, the Nudibranch and the rest called HOME.

But you, the Homo sapiens, over the last few decades, have been doing activities that threaten to destroy our part of home, the Oceans.

Hey! Don't you forget that you are connected to the Ocean! Its feed you and provide most of the oxygen that you breathe! So you have a role to play to protect it and not destroy it!

It's not too late! Do your parts from now onward! Give both our future generations a chance to meet each other!