Saturday, January 3, 2009

Sand Balls Party

Do you remember the last time when you are at the beach and there are lots of tiny sand balls everywhere and almost cover the entire shore during low tide?
All sand balls about the same size and is only about 2 to 3 mm.
The sand balls are actually created by Sand Bubbler Crabs. The common name of this crab comes from the balls of sand they creates while feeding. Sand bubblers sieve microscopic nutrient material (detritus) between each grain of sand, 're-pack' unwanted particles in the form of tiny balls and deposits them all over the beach. These sand balls are processed sands and are not excretion.Well, I have put the sequencing photos in one so that is easier to see how the Sand Bubblers create the very unique sand balls.
The next time when you visit any beach, look for this sand balls party. You must be patience, don't make any sudden movement and you will be able to see the Sand bubbler crabs having their sand balls party!

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Fiddler Crab & other rare sightings

It was my first visit to SSLH, thanks to RMBR making this trip possible. After spending few weeks in the nature at foreign country, it is nice to visit our own nature back at Singapore. Is not my first time seeing this purple fiddler crab but is the first time seeing it in such a short distance! Photo on top is a male purple fiddler crab (Uca tetragonon)This is the female purple fiddler crab (Uca tetragonon)This is certainly my first sightings for this pseudoscorpion. It has a pair of pincers like scorpion but without the sharp tail. This pseudoscorpion that we saw is only about 3mm!I also saw another mini animal in dark blue colour crawling on the sandy area but I have no clue what it is. But it is slightly smaller than the pseudoscorpion.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

My Latest Dive Trip

Nevertheless with the unpleasant encounter, the biodiversity there indeed is very rich! Here are some of the photos that I have taken from my last dive trip.Well, I must say it was a good place for those who are into slugs!This is my fisrt time seeing a Sea star that measured 1.5m from one arm to another!

We can easily spot more than 10 eels in any single dive!