Monday, December 20, 2010

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).

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