Went to Semakau at 4+ am to guide a group of PLMGS girls. There they are posing as our group- upsidedown jellyfish (;


During the walk to the intertidals, we saw an obstructed view of beautiful sunrise!! How often do we get to see this in mainland Singapore? Never in fact, with all the highrise buildings.

Horseshoe crab is spotted by one of our participants (: It is a harmless creature, often seen burrowing quietly into sands feeding on worms, clams and anything edible including dead animals. They may also scrape off algae. Another interesting fact: It needs to exercise in order to eat. It has no jaws. So walking movements grinds up their food, and its bits are then passed on into its four pairs of 'food processing' legs!

Also their blood has a substance that is so sensitive to bacteria that 10% of them died in the process of harvesting to test for the presence of bacteria in human medication. Thank goodness a team from NUS Dept of Zoology has cloned a substance with similar characteristics to replace these wild harvested horseshoe blood.

As they grow, their body shape become rounder and looks like a cushion!~ More often seen in diving, hence always a TREAT to see them in shores. They have been seen on feeding some species of hard corals and their diet include immobile animals, organic particles found on sand and seaweeds.

Upside down jellyfishes passing the 'dead sea zone'..

That's hen talking to our participants. Guided together with hen today (:

Juvenile Giant Glam.

That's a giant giant clam haha.

Giant clam feed in both ways. Besides filter feeding for food, the zooxanthelle (symbiotic algae) is also present to make food and provide extra nutrients. They are endangered due to overcollection as a delicacy and making into souveniers like ashtrays.

I always find the way flatworms swim mesmerising. Flatworms are very delicate creatures and should always be handed with care.

A group pic with the star attraction of the day: Knobbly Seastar (: They are one of the biggest seastar we have around.

On the way back, we accidentally intrude the territory of this blue flower swimming crab! It was very agressive waving its claws, ready to declare war with us aha. This is a first sight for me! (:

It is one of the few crabs that are swift and agile due to its last pair of paddle-like feet.

This is sandfish sea cucumber is the haisheng that we eat during chinese new year. It breathes using water that is being flushed in and out through its backend. With this constant flow of water, some tiny creatures find the backside of a seacucumber a cosy and safe place to be! I like how one participant liken it to being in a jacuzzi (;

This black phyllid nudibranch cannot be kept in an aquarium. It release toxic substances when dtressed and this kills the entire tank of fishes!

Very soon it was time for us to leave again as the tides come in. A big thank you to upside down jellyfishes for being such attentive and enthusiastic audiences today!

Do check out other guides' posts:

God's wonderful creation