Semakau : Transect Survey (13 June 2009)

I always enjoy going to Pulau Semakau, not because of what I can see at the Inter-tidal area. The beautiful rainbow spans across the blue sky and the specticular sunrise are the two wonderful sights I experienced in this Transect Survey trip.

While walking towards the inter-tidal area, spotted a hugh Grasshopper and luckily it stayed quiet and calm for me to take a nice photo. I never see such a big Grasshopper for a long time, and I think I will scream out loud if it suddenly hop onto me.

My Transect Survey area is at the Coral Reef Habitat and usually does not have much time to take photo. Luckily, I still managed to find the Polka Dot Nudibranch and the Black Margined Nudibranch.

The word "nudibranch" comes from the Latin nudus, naked, and the Greek brankhia, gills, that's the reason Nudibranch is also known as 'naked gills'.

Nudibranchs are often casually called "sea slugs", which led some people to assume that every sea slug must be a nudibranch. Nudibranchs are very numerous in terms of species, and are often very attractive and noticeable. The following website shows a good collection of Nudibranchs.
Nudibranch Collection

On my way back after the survey, spotted the Cassiopea Jellyfish at the Coral Rubble Habitat. The Jellyfish also known as Upside-down Jellyfish because it lies on its back, so that the bell touches the ground. In this position it resembles a sea anemone. They have a mild sting since they are primarily photosynthetic, but sensitive individuals may have a stronger reaction.

Though I need to wake up early morning and take the ferry around dawn for every Semakau trip, but I enjoy it as I love Nature.

Semakau : Hunting Seeking (30 May 2009)

Set off for Semakau Hunting Seeking event on 30 May 2009 at 7.30am, and hoping to see many new animals there. I was in Group 57 with my friend Martina, and we needed to walk very far from the starting point to the hunting area.

We were told that many new animals (eg. stonefish) might be seen there as not many people have explored that area.

While walking towards my assigned zone 57, I was greeted by the Haddon's Carpet Anemone. This reminded me of the Carpet Anemones at Chek Jawa but were destroyed 2 years ago by the fresh water flowed down from Johor due to the massive flood.

Spotted a cute Onch Slug crawling slowly near the mangrove area, and the underside of it is Light Green in colour.

The Onch Slug camouflaged itself well among the sandy area and it was the biggest Onch I ever saw, almost close to 5cm.

Saw 2 very small snails sticking onto each other, and realised that they are actually the Red Berry Snail. They are so small and tiny, and not easy to spot without good eyesight.
While looking at the snails, a sparkling worm suddenly caught my attention. It is the poisoness Bristle Worm, and its movement is so swift and fast and very difficult to catch it.

After started our hunting for about 15 minutes, the weather suddenly turned bad and we had no choice but to stop and go back to the assembly point. Sigh :-(