Merry Christmas And A Happy 2011 !!!.....

The Whale Sharks Wish You

A Merry Christmas And A Happy New Year !!!

Last Dive For Year 2010 @ Pulau Hantu.....

Yes, I was back underwater on Sunday after finishing the reef survey for the year at Kusu Island the day before. This time round for leisure dives with The Hantu Bloggers at Pulau Hantu! We did our two dives at the South Jetty and the visibility was a comfortable 3m.

I also tried out a DIY reflector (thanks to a flickr's contact on this trick) with my camera. Verdict is that I can now get closer to the subject in macro mode without having pics that turned out in total darkness due to the shadow cast by the big port of the housing when I use flash! Yeah! :o)

Anyway, here are the creatures that we saw;


The resident Tiger-tailed Seahorse!


CT pointed out this Winged Pipefish on a pillar.



Also managed to see two of the other Pipefish, think they could be Ocellate Pipefish.


Not many Flatworm sighted compared to North Jetty the day before. This is the only one that I came across.



Colourful Crinoids/Featherstars! Big and small!


Allied Cowrie on Sea Fan.


Many of these tiny tiny orange snail around.


The nudibranch have been reproducing! Here's one egg ribbon!

And here's another one in the laying process.....


.....by a nudibranch that I have no idea of and first sighting of it for me!


A closer look at it. My guess is that it could be another Hypselodoris nudibranch (Hypselodoris sp.) from the shape of its gills. Anyone would like to shed some lights?


Found two of these Chromodoris nudibranch (Chromodoris sp.). Second time seeing them in our water for me. The first time was almost three years ago during Hantu's Blogger's 4th Anniversary dive!



A closer look!


And on the same piece of rubble with the two Chromodoris nudibranch is this which looks like a Bolland's Hypselodoris nudibranch (Hypselodoris cf. bollandi). It was about 5mm big!



And another tiny nudibranch is this Savigny's Goniodoridiella nudibranch (Goniodoridella savignyi) which I saw the day before too!



There were quite a number of these Dermatobranchus nudibranch (Dermatobranchus sp.) out on the reef!



And on the Giant Hydroids, couple of Doto nudibranch (Doto sp.) can be seen too!

And that wrapped up another year of great diving in our waters! Looking forward to more of what our reefs can offer us in 2011!

Finishing Reef Survey For 2010 At Kusu Island.....

On Saturday, BWV ReefFriends carried out the last reef survey for 2010 at Kusu Island. We have an experienced team and so the survey was done in one dive! Good for us as the skipper said that the currents will be stronger later in the afternoon and thus not dive-able at Kusu.

The visibility looked good on the surface and not too bad underneath. About 3m.


I was doing the Line-intercept-transact (LIT) and the first creature that I saw at the start of the first transect tape is this;


An Icon Seastar!



Along the way, saw this. A solitary Tubularian Hydroids (Ralpharia sp.)?



Flatworms! And first time seeing the one on top!



Only came across some Phyllid nudibranch at Kusu.


Glad that the big pink Sea Fan is still around! Kusu is one dive site that you get to see many big Sea Fan at a shallow depth of about 7m!

And with so many Sea Fans and Sea Whips, you would find on them;


Basket Star! This one is about the size of a 5-cent coin!


Whip Goby!


Shrimp!


And of course, the many many Crinoids/Featherstar that clung on them!

But sadly, the coral coverage seen to be getting lesser along my transect tapes this year! Came across several corals in such conditions;



Coral heads overturned and some corals broken partially! Hmmmm....wonder what had happened at the site?

And since we were not able to make a second dive at Kusu, we made a de-tour to Pulau Hantu. Get to dive at the North Jetty which we have not visited for a long time!

and here are some of the creatures that we saw;





More Flatworms!


A Batfish that was not shy!

And of course, more nudibranch!!!


A Gymnodoris nudibranch (Gymnodoris sp.)


A Lined Chromodoris nudibranch (Chromodoris lineolata).


It has been sometime since I saw a "Godzilla" or Ceratosoma nudibranch (Ceratosoma gracillimum)!


A Red-lined Flabellina nudibranch (Flabellina rubrolineata).


Not far from the Ceratosoma nudibranch, is this Spotted Hypselodoris nudibranch (Hypselodoris maculosa).



This is the second time that I have seen this nudibranch. The first time was at Big Sisters lsland during an intertidal trip. Dr Bill Rudman of the The Sea Slug Forum had IDed it as a Flabellina nudibranch (Flabellina sp.)


Another second time nudibranch sighting is this nudibranch that I have seen it at Hantu in 2007! Looks like a Savigny's Goniodoridiella nudibranch (Goniodoridella savignyi).