It was 2.30am on 11 April 2009 (Sat) and my first time to Semakau so early morning. The sky was still dark and we walked about 1.6km from the main office to the inter-tidal area as there was no shuttle bus service.It was a very different Hunting Seeking experience as we barely see anything without torch. I was quite lucky that night as I managed to find a nice Brown Egg Crab and captured a nice photo of it.
The swimming crabs were extremely active in the dark, and always in the 'on-guard' position when sensed intruder. Captured a strange looking crab which has branches growing on it and it reminds me of the 'walking tree' in the movie 'Lord of the Ring Part II'.
The Synaptid Sea Cucumber is the longest sea cucumber which can grow up to 3m long. It has long feeding tentacles and looks/swims differently from the other common sea cucumbers. Never imagine that a sea cucumber will look like that.
Guess the sky is still dark, and spotted a 'R-rated' act by the common sea star. The male is on top of the female, but they were just in the position preparing to mate. Note that the mating process is basically external, as their reproductive organ will not in contact with each other. The male and female will both eject the 'sperm' and 'egg' respectively in the water and this position will increase the chance for the 'hit'.
Another interesting thing I saw was the Octopus Eggs, hidden in the sponges. It's a big white ball and I was amazed to see so many of them.
I always feel excited about going to Pulau Semakau as there are many things to see and explore and the nature is really wonderful and amazing. Looking forward for my next Semakau Trip.
