Sampling on 25 Feb

As usual, I was there doing my quadrat samplings... The tide wasn't the best: 0.4m @ 1833h, but I had to make do... After the long journey (usually by foot!!!) into the park, morale usually drops a little before I start walking the shore... heheh... but the wildlife that appears in front of me never fails to be a real morale booster!

Although not much of the reef flat was exposed today, I still managed to catch this:


Goniastrea sp. boulder coral... wow...

This particular genus isn't as hard to ID. Just look closely at the walls. As the septa runs down towards the centre of the corallite, if there are like lobes (paliform lobes), then confirm is the one! Can roughly make it out in this pic:



Next up was this interesting sea slug, quite big one some more... almost 8cm!



The icing on the cake:


Octopus sp.

When this creature was spotted, it was squirting water out of their siphons, I guess to circulate water through the gills for them to breathe. This action is also used for jet-propulsion in locomotion. Take a closer look at the suckers lining its arms... impressive... have to be strong to grip their prey!

And there weren't just one octopus, there was another one spotted nearby, though I din get a good shot at it... argghhh...

Here ends another day (or night more like it...) at the beach... amazed... again...

Labrador Tunnels open in March

Part of the 60th anniversary commemoration of WWII. Many other exciting events listed on the page as well.

http://visitsingapore.com/WWII/commevents.htm

Toddycats Recruitment Drive

The RMBR Toddycats had their recruitment drive yesterday to sign up some fresh blood and extra hands to help out in our various projects. Hopefully we'll get more people in on the Labrador blog! :)


Captive audience.

A brief summary of my presentation:
Labrador Project - A combined initiative between NParks and RMBR to train ACJC students to be nature guides at Labrador Beach.
Currently recruiting - Mentors and facilitators
Training dates - 2Apr, 9Apr, 7May, 14May, 28May, 11Jun (saturday mornings)

For more details please visit the Toddycats! Website.

Shrimps galore at Labrador

The tides were great today, sufficiently low for nearly 4h, so I was able to explore around a fair bit, and got quite a few good shots. The stringy green stuff is mostly gone, with only a few occasional clumps left. So when the water finally settled down, the vis was great.

Much activity going on at low tide - many crabs of different kinds were out feeding, the usually very shy shrimps were actually visible just within the entrances of their holes. I spent about 20min squatting very still beside this hole and finally got some shots of this elusive shrimp as it emerged to snatch bunches of floating seaweed into its hole.



And a shot of a slightly lost snapping shrimp bumbling around a bit before finding its way back into its hole (or a hole).


Snapping shrimp - Alpheus lobidens

And yet more shrimp!



Today marks another failed attempt to get out to the corals further out. The water was very choppy and murky further out and by the time the tide went sufficiently out, it was time to go as the security guards wanted to lock the gate. The irony. Unfortunately, I think the only people the gate actually serves to keep out are innocent law-abiding citizens like me. :p Well, better luck next time.

Article on Labrador Park Watch

http://www.ecologyasia.com/news-archives/2005/jan-05/st_050126_2.htm