Chek Jawa II: Spicy Red Ants, Chocolate Truffle Rocks and Spiders of the Same Age.

we left off with me ranting at in-discriminant rubbish throwers. okay i got my head back and i'll now introduce you to some of the inhabitants of Chek Jawa.

things you never thought existed...

Organisms found at the Intertidal area (sand banks)

The Nudibranch - which is commonly known as a sea slug (but note: sea slugs aren't necessarily nudibranches). We were REALLY REALLY lucky to see this Nudibranch, as they usually dont appear much in these shores, the guide claims it mating season.

Front:

Backside (HAHA):Next, the Common Crab: im sorry, as im not a marine biologist, i have no idea what this species is. if any one do, pls let me know! (: its cute anyways HAHA


This is the Fire Worm. This is something you dont want to touch, apparently the fine bristles on it will attach itself into(or shd i say POKE) your skin, and even the doctor wldnt be able to remove it. Thus, you'll have to live with the pain till your body finds a way to push it out!!!!!!

scary!! and here i thought it looked so friendly and yummy.


A Sand Dollar it is related to the Sea Stars and Sea Urchin, a rather common feature in the intertidal area, only it is usually buried beneath the sand.

Front: (This poor sand dollargot a part chipped off!)


Back (note the sea star like formation):


This is the Toadfish or a scorpion fish (Which the guide claims it to be). But upon goggling it looks more like a Toadfish.

anyways, sorry for the lousy photo, but its too dangerous to get it out of the box.


This is a Noble Volute part of the snail family (Info: http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/mollusca/gastropoda/volutidae/nobilis.htm). we can tell that the snail is still alive because its 'foot' is still in place i.e. the area with orange spots


After the snail dies, a Hermit Crab will take over the empty shell. (http://www.wildsingapore.com/chekjawa/text/s324.htm)

Like this:

so next time when you see a nice pretty and empty shell by the sea, do not pick it up! let the Hermit have a home!



And there is also the Moon Snail... which i suspect is something that ive eaten in China, seriously. Anyways, see that "wall" around the shell? ITS REALLY THE EGGS!

The Moon snail is damn smart.. it camouflages using the eggs, as a Stingray in the half buried sand. i.e IT PRETENDS TO BE A STINGRAY.SERIOUSLY. (for more info: http://www.wildsingapore.com/chekjawa/text/s421.htm):

AND THIS IS MY FAVOURITE: THE KNOBBLY SEA STAR (for more info: http://www.wildsingapore.com/chekjawa/text/c631.htm)

it is HUGE. and it looks like a piece of star shaped bread with chocolate chips (:


And there is the Biscuit Sea Star:


Front:
Back:
you can see the little suctions on its limbs, they are actually moving rather rapidly.


Here comes the Sea Cucumbers!

#1 Ball Cucumber (for more info: http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/echinodermata/holothuroidea/phyllophorus.htm)


#2 Thorny Sea Cucumber


#3 ... SEA CUCUMBER. im sad to say i didnt catch the name of this humongous thingie. maybe i was too busy gawking at it.PLEASE HELP HERE!

Front (JUST LOOK AT IT):

Back (its really cute and squishy. it take the shape of one's palm after holding it):


moving away from the cucumbers, here we have the Sea Hare, which is another type of sea slug. more info at: http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/mollusca/slugs/anaspidae/anaspidea.htm

this thing is seriously squishy:


a sea hare in the water, can you spot it?

And there is the Fiddler Crab!i heard the name came about because of the Male's huge left/right arms. For more info: http://www.wildsingapore.com/chekjawa/text/s321.htm

Male:
the males are kinda chauvinistic if you ask me. they literally SHOVE their favored mates into holes in the sand. the poor girls.

Female (really tiny compared to the males):
are you now amazed that all these actually exist in Singapore? never thought about it did you. HAHAHA. some of it can be found on the mainland too, if you know where to look (: i will be looking! keep an eye out for them yeah?

MORE COMING UP!!!!! PLEASE STAY TUNE!
Love, serene!

Pulau Ubin, Chek Jawa - an introduction

Im almost embarrassed to say this.

Despite being a girl guide for 4 years in secondary school and a girl scout for 3 years in JC and post-JC.. I HAVE NEVER BEEN TO PULAU UBIN UNTILL THE 28TH OF MAY 2009.

This isnt a sight you often see in Singapore. Well, here we are, 28th May '09, my first visit to Chek Jawa, Pulau Ubin. and i promise it wouldnt be the last, im in love with this place (:

Okay firstly, some bit of background info on Chek Jawa. Chek Jawa is located at the south-eastern tip of Pulau Ubin, it is one of the rare NATURAL Rocky shore (with sandy shores as well) in SG.

Other rocky shores can be found at Labrador Park (which is the ONLY un-reclaimed, untouched and natural stretch of beach in the southern area of SG) and on the other offshore southern islands.


The area hosts several ecosystems:

#1 Mangroves - plants and organisms adapted to the highly salinzed ('salted' due to backwash from the sea) environment


some methods of adaptation is to have Prop roots - to be able to take in more oxygen

and also breathing roots - which are the things you see sticking out of the mud.


next time if you happen to be around mangrove habitats, also notice the waxy leaves surfaces - this prevents water loss.

#2 Seagrass habitats - they are different from seaWEED, seagrass has roots, they dont just drift around.

(Ignore the 2 crazy people in the foreground, and look at the seagrass at the background)


#3 Intertidal habitats - these areas are exposed during low tide and covered with water during high tide, making it a really dynamic area to live in.

imagine this, you live under water for 6 hours and above water for the next 6 hrs and so on.

i think i'll go mad.


John told me that the Norwegians commit suicide because of the different amount of sunlight they receive in the different seasons, which thus alter their environments and sense of time. and many of them cant tahan the changes. but this is probably nothing compared to the rates of changes and extent of changes in the intertidal habitats. okay i think im going off tangent. HAHAHAHA

okay back to the super long intro.

Chek Jawa was slated for reclamation in the late 1990s/early 2000s. However, due to a group of paasionate conservationists petitioned against the reclamation plan, which culminated in the video Remember Chek Jawa (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzGE7FSWiqE).

and the government shifted the reclamation project to Pulau Tekong (good for biodiversity, not so good for army boys).

Chek Jawa, then, got a new face! broadwalks were built to allow visitors easier access to the different habitats mentioned above

you can see the habitats right below your feet!

Im not sure if thats a good thing or a bad thing tho.

its the same environmental debate that takes place all the time - make the place accessible for education and creation of environmental awareness, yet, when this happens the environment is disturbed and at times destroyed. for example:


our favourite constructor Phua Chu Kang obviously paid Chek Jawa a visit and left something behind.
I HATE RUBBISH (which arent in the bin).

THE SIGHT OF THE PLASTIC BAGS IN THE MANGROVES MAKES ME FEEL LIKE THROWING A SHOE AT SOMEONE.

anyways my point is, why go on an educational trip and litter?
okay maybe the rubbish drifted over from somewhere else. then, my point is, WHY LITTER?!

okay let me go get my marbles back.

IVE GOT MORE STUFF THIS IS ONLY TE INTRODUCTION.

<3 Serene Special Thanks: -Janette Goh for organizing this super trip -Karin, Willis, Ashton and Kynneth for providing great company.

meatball marinanara...The Marina Barrage II

Call me a nerd. But i went back to the Barrage again today! what a greeaat way to spend my saturday ((:

remember i was going on and on about littering and peeing in drains. well, this was what i saw today:


it saddens me to see this. granted, its on the sea-ward side of the Barrage. But i spotted bits of random rubbish floating arnd the fresh water side too.

many people complain about the lack of beaches in singapore, but honestly, with rubbish like that, thank god theres no proper, hawaiianish beaches.

anyways just a picture to prove my point about the tidal protection that the barrage offers:


lovely picture, taken by Ser Chung. notice:

1)the friendly lightning warning guy,

and most importantly,

2) the difference in water level on each side of the barrage. The seaward side (thats on the right of your screen) is notibly higher during high-tide.

you may ask what that "barrier" in front of the barrage is for, it is really to protect the Barrage from ships which may lose control and crash into the barrage (what are the odds?).

3) the seaward side is lighter in color (something to do with the minerals?) and also more choppy and wavy as it sees more sea traffic and wave actions.

i was a little disappointed today, cos i wanted to cross the bridge to the other side of marina. and follow the path and see where that leads.. but there was lightning! i'll do it the next time. another post den (:

stay tuned for next week! i'll be going to Chek Jawa intertidal walk with Karin and Willis. will bring back loads of photos to share!

for e.g. if we are lucky:
(i think this is a coral)

(and this is a stingray)

credits:
Kevin Lim, Tan Heok Hui and N. Sivasothi

*EXCITED*

special thanks to serchung for spending his precious saturday listening to me whine over every single piece of rubbish that i saw.

Some pretty cool sculptures at the Marina Barrage

Jiayi and I were fascinated by these 2 metallic things sitting in the mid-day sun at the Barrage.

At first we thought its one of those avant-garde (is that how you spell it?) shit that the govt likes to put arnd, you know so we can be cool like France:

But on a closer look, this is actually a sculpture that makes perfect sense!

its titled: "what goes around comes around". That circular thingie is actually that guy's finger - what you do to Earth, will eventually come back and smack you in the butt. you cant get away from it.

say, if you buybuybuy loads of things now (like me), and as a result produce a lot of rubbish and pollution (aiya its the process of making the things you buy, you get the point) which will eventually kill you or your sons/daughters/granddaughters etc off. i know its warp, but it makes sense.

sculpture number 2:

(WHY IS BLOGGER NOT RESPONDING)

ah okay, here is #2.

This is... "Mother nature's fury"

as we see, man(represented by the woman in this sculpture) tries to control and tame nature in various ways. We modify slopes at bukit batok, we channelise the Singapore river etc etc.

However, what we need to recognise is that, very often, Mother Nature still exerts control over us - landslides, floods, volcano eruption (oh i can go on and on abt volcanoes), earthquakes. its about time that we respect Mother Nature, before we spin things out of control.

okay i hereby pledge to control my implusive consumption. what about you?

Love, Serene!

____________________________________________________________________

btw, if you look closely, you can see jiayi and i in the picture P.S Jiayi, the sociologist-to-be, askedan interesting qn: Why is a WOMAN used in #2? can anyone answer that HAHAHAHA

meatball marinanara...The Marina Barrage I

I think LKY is a prophet.

"In 20 years, it is possible that there could be breakthroughs in technology- both anti-pollution and filtration. Then, we can dam up the mouth of the Marina, the neck which joins the sea. And we'll have a huge fresh water lake."

Lee Kuan Yew, 1987.

and here we have it! 22 years later,


the dam (or Barrage) and..

the promised Fresh water lake.


well, he IS the sandwich maker.

so what is this Barrage SUPPOSED to do:

1) Prevent flooding of the low-lying coastal areas - it acts as a barrier to keep out high tides, and also flushes out excess water during heavy rains

to give you an idea abt FLOODING in sg.. heres orchard rd , in front of Shaw in 1982 (HAHAHA im not born yet)

(i koped this off flickr, credits: Wonderlust676 (hmm) photo collection)

2) Adding on to the reservoir collection in Singapore -the number 15th reservoir.

HOWEVER!

there are some issues of concern.

- is the reservoir too deep? its nearly 100M deep (is it? correct me if im wrong here)


Jiayi said, "okay maybe its shallower at the inner parts"

i sure do hope so. the average depth of our reservoirs are.. 18m to 25m deep. Shallow reservoirs ensure even distribution of sediments and nutrients (okay fine, pollutants, we geographers like to be objective) in the water, making the water body treat-able for consumption. 100 M is really too deep!

PLUS! it is important to control the water quality of the lake... the worst case senario would be this:


okay i know it doesnt look that bad here. nice green things floating on the water, adds to the aesthetics right? but the nice green things are really algae, which proliferates when the water gets too "nutritious" (okay, polluted).

it will stink up the whole city.. not too pleasant people working/staying near marina eh? neither do we want to be remembered as "Green Sludge City".

so hopefully, PUB pays attention to this.

you too! HAHA think before you throw rubbish or pee into drains, you are really adding to the:" "nutrients level" which little by little, will flow to the various reservoirs/waterways. and in 50 years time.. ah i do not want to think about it.

SO, DO NOT LITTER OR PEE INTO DRAINS.

(to be continued)

Love, Serene!
____________________________________________________________________ Special thanks to: Ms Lim Jiayi, for accompanying me to the Barrage. Im still pissed that im the only one sunburnt!