NOT SO BLUE SEA

17th December 2006 : Pulau Hantu

2006-12-17T15:58:00.000+08:00

Vis at Pulau Hantu was slightly better than last week. It was about 2-3m even though that the dive site was crowded again and the sky was overcast.

My dive buddy was Cynthia, a fellow wildfilms crew. And it was her first local dive.

But I had a quiet day. So here's what I have seen:

My FIRST Allied Cowrie! Underwater I meant (Had seen them without diving, at East Coast before). I know this pic is not good, but can you see the elongated bump on the Sea whip?

The only Flatworm I saw:

Managed to see a jorunna funebris, a gymnodoris alba and the chromodoris fidelis again.

Mmmm....don't know why but it seen that our Nemo (False Clown Anemonefish) were a bit camera shy(at least for my camera) today. See this? This one only shows me its fin!!!

10th December 2006 : Pulau Hantu

2006-12-10T23:32:00.000+08:00

Dive with The Hantu Bloggers at Pulau Hantu this morning. It was a crowded day and the vis was about 1m (sometimes zero) today.

Didn’t encounter any new nudibranch today. Nonetheless, we still have the usual suspects.

Lots of jorunna funebris, pteraeolidia ianthina(Blue Dragon Nudibranch) and a gymnodoris alba.

A big flatworm.

An Ocellate Pipefish, False-clown and Tomato Anemonefish

Close up of a Fanworm.

Crinoid/ Feather Seastar hiding under a rock.

Corals, Corals and more Corals! Some with their tentacles out.

The pink ones look like little bouquet of flowers. The orange one (a boulder coral) is huge (a meter wide at least). For that size, It must be more than hundred years old (coral grows very slowly at about 1-2cm per year) and strong enough to go through the dramatic changes in our water quality all these years.

26th November 2006 : Pulau Hantu

2006-11-26T22:22:00.000+08:00

Out diving at Pulau Hantu with Ivy and HuiBing. Mission today is to try to find the Frogfish and also HuiBing's dive computer. Today vis at Hantu was only about 1m. It was quite crowded with people taking Open Water. Perhaps this also contributed to the low vis. However, we still managed to see quite a number of stuffs despite the 1m Vis.

In fact, it's a Molluscs Day! Slugs, Bivalves and Cephalopods!

Firstly, of course, the Slugs! Here's some of the Nudibranchs that we saw;

There's the gymneodoris alba (white body with orange spots), dermatobranchus sp (white body with some brown dots and brown rhinophores), tambja sp (dark green body with blue rhinophores and gills) and a chromodoris sinensis (white body with red rhinophores and gills).

Two Cuttlefish in a day! They are quite small (about 5-6cm long) and are very CUTE!

Here's a video of one from our first dive;

There's also two strange looking bivalves that I saw. There's this one with spines and another with beautiful patterns was found on a hydroid.

Of course, there's other stuffs like.....

A beautiful Flatworm!

BIG Filefishes. About 15cm long at least.

A Crab trying to hide...and an Ocellate Pipefish.

19th November 2006 : Pulau Salu

2006-11-19T22:42:00.000+08:00

I was back diving at Pulau Salu. Last time I was there, my old camera housing failed the diving test and flooded. Well, guess what? This time I have my torch flooded. :O( But this did not dampen my day because of the marvellous vis (The seabed can be seen from above the boat and it was 5 to 6m at least underwater).

Just look at the vis!

Lots of hard and soft coral!

Flatworms !

Then, there's a Filefish and Carpet Eel Blenny. Managed to see a Blue-spotted Fantail Stingray too (no pic though). In fact, I lost count to how many schools of fish I have encountered.

Lastly, my favourite Nudibranchs!

Came across the common ones like jorunna funerbris(They are always so CUTE!!!), Blue Dragon Nudibranch and phyllidia sp.

It's the phyllodesmium briareum again! The last time that I have seen this nudibranch was at Pulau Hantu in May this year.

And TWO lovely Emma! Hypselodoris emma that is.

Totally enjoyed this morning dive, even though there was a strong current to fight against during the second dive. :O) I hoped that next time when I come back to this reefs, there will be no more flooding.

21st October 2006 : Pulau Hantu

2006-10-22T11:20:00.000+08:00

On Deepavali Day, I was invited by Debby of The Hantu Bloggers to a special dive at Pulau Hantu. And we got a chance to dive the reefs near the Southern Jetty and Northern Jetty of Pulau Hantu instead of the regular Western reefs. The vis was wonderful! About 8m at the depth of 15m and it was still very bright at the Southern Jetty and 4-5m at the depth of 9m for Northern Jetty. The Festival of Lights indeed!

Look at the VIS!!! So Good!!!

In additional to the good vis, There's a lot of stuffs too!

Nudibranchs! So many today!

The big white one with yellow rhinophores is a phyllidia sp. Of course, there's the Blue Dragon Nudibranch. The one that has a batik pattern body with orange projections is bornella anguilla (1st time seeing it!). There's a lot of the tambja sp (yellow with blue rhinophores and gills one) and cuthona sibogae (purple body and yellow projections) today too. I then saw the dermatobranchus sp (white body with some brown dots and brown rhinophores) again. And I finally got a pic of a small jorunna funebris (White with black polka-dots)

Then it's Flatworms Galore! So pretty!

With such good vis, who can miss out the fishes!

There's the giant goby and two Six-banded Anglefish!

The Icon Seastars and a baby Mushroom coral.

15th October 2006 : Pulau Hantu

2006-10-15T21:27:00.000+08:00

This morning dive with The Hantu Bloggers at Pulau Hantu was wonderful! And WOW! Pulau Hantu never fail to amaze me once again.

Look at the Vis.....a good 3-4m.

It's a Slugfest! So many Nudibranch spotted today. Here are some tiny (the biggest is about 2cm) and big ones.

The yellow spotted one is a gymnodoris sp. and the one hanging on the edge is a dermatobranchus sp The yellow one with blue rhinophores and gills could be a tambja sp. And the red and white one is a first sighting for me at Pulau Hantu which is a chromodoris fidelis. There's also a tiny jorunna funebris but no pic for it. And of course, there's the usual Blue Dragon Nudibranch and also lots of phyllidia.

Other than Nudibranchs, there's also the fishes, fanworms and a crab.

A very very good dive today I must say. And looking forwards to another good dive!

10th September 2006 : Pulau Hantu

2006-09-11T13:00:00.000+08:00

Back diving at Pulau Hantu with The Hantu Bloggers again.The vis was a good 4m for the first dive. However, it was greatly reduced in the second dive due to rain.

Lots of fish including a shy Oriental Sweetlips. Here's some other fishes.

An Ocellate Pipefish.

An Eight-banded Butterflyfish.

Cute juvenile Harlequin Sweetlips.

Our very own "Nemo", the False Clown Anemonefish.

A butt shot of a Blue-spotted Fantail Stingray.

Besides the fishes, the usual Nudibranch and Flatworm were seen. The Blue Dragon Nudibranch and phyllidia. The one with the purple bumps could be phyllidia nigra.

And of course, there's always the corals. Some even have Barnacles on them.

27th August 2006 : Pulau Hantu

2006-08-28T10:27:00.000+08:00

Back to Pulau Hantu once again after 2 months break. The vis was okay. A minor accident happened to an animal due to my carelessness. So, here's what I have seen.

A nudibranch (white with yellow and brown edge and purple rhrinophores and gills) spotted by HP. And the other was the usual Blue Dragon nudibranch.

The seabed was littered with baby Icon Sea Stars.

Lots of corals with their polyps out.

Here's the poor animal that I have dislodged with its commensal shrimps. I am so SORRY! Fortunately, it was safely brought back to its original place.

Here's a big purple sponge.

A Ocellate Pipefish.

One of the many crinoids seen at Hantu.

30th July 2006 : Sudong Wreck

2006-08-01T11:08:00.000+08:00

Second time to this wreck with the Localdivers. The vis was about 1m but still a good dive. Lots of Sea Fans, Sea Whips and Crinoids. Saw a phyllidia sp and Icon Seastars. Other stuffs include;

A Nudibranch (glossodoris atromarginata) and A Tigertail Seahorse.

16th July 2006 : Pulau Salu

2006-07-16T23:41:00.000+08:00

Return to Pulau Salu. It had been more than 6 months since the last trip there. No pics for this trip cos housing test shows leakage and was flooded. Just for record;

- Tomato Anemonefishes
- Phyllidia nigra / varicosa
- Blue Dragon Nudibranchs
- Sea Slug (Thurdilla sp)
- Swimming crabs

11th June 2006 : Pulau Hantu

2006-06-12T11:43:00.000+08:00

No pics this time as camera under serviced. Just for record. Stuffs saw :

- Ocellate Pipefishes
- Nudibranch : hypselodoris emma
- Nudibranch : Blue Dragon
- Flatworm : Blue edge and White body with a Blue line in the center
- Gobies
- Crabs
- Angelfishes / Damselfishes
- Filefish

14th May 2006 : Pulau Hantu

2006-05-15T22:38:00.000+08:00

Spent the last day of the long weekends diving with The Hantu Blogger at Pulau Hantu of course.

Here's what I saw;

Nudibranchs (Top-down) : Blue Dragon Nudibranch, flabellina sp, phyllidia sp, jorunna funebris.

It's the Ocellate Pipefish.

A little juvenile Harlequin Sweetlip.

A Tigertail Seahorse.

Coral Shrimp on a Sea Whip!

Crinoids/Feather Sea Stars.

There's the hard and soft corals. But sadly, some are bleaching.

And of course, the Tomato Anemonefish and False Clown Anemonefish.

18th March 2006 : Pulau Hantu

2006-03-20T09:48:00.000+08:00

Back at Pulau Hantu with Reef Friends Xplore!.

Reef Friends Xplore! is a local waters dive guiding programme by the joint effort between Blue Water Volunteers, Hantu Bloggers and Gill Divers.

The programme aims to introduce/show local underwater marine life to divers, increase awareness and educate the public about marine conservation issues in Singapore.

Photos are from my second dive of the day because I forgot my camera on the first dive.

Nudibranchs : The ones with white bumps or blue/yellow bumps are phyllidia sp. The yellow one with black margin is glossodoris atromarginata.

Flatworms : There were lots of them. Crawling on the sea bed and corals.

Sea Urchin.

Mushroom Coral.

Fishes : There's a Freckled Goatfish and offen seen Copper-banded Butterflyfish.

Crinoids/Feather Sea Stars : Lots of them, in varities of colours, on the Sea Whips and Sea Fans. And there were some hiding under rocks crevices.

Hydroid : This innocent looking plant-like thing is actually an animal! It will give you a nasty sting and causes rashes that itch for months!

4th February 2006 : Pulau Hantu

2006-02-06T14:48:00.000+08:00

This was my third time to Pulau Hantu. But it is a dive site that I will never get tired of because of so many thing that she offers. The only thing that you need to do is to go slow.

The vis was about 3m. There was a group of students doing their basic open water. Someone from our boat joked that they get to do one of their Advanced course skill as well for it is always a night dive everytime you dive in Hantu.

Nudibranchs : The blue dragon nudibranch, phyllidia nudibranchs (the white was about 8cm long and 3cm wide) and a pair of yellow coloured nudibranchs (about 1.5cm with blue rhinophores and gills).

Flatworms : Saw two kinds but only this photo is clear.

Crinoids : The first one was hiding under a rock and the white one was very small and out in the open.

Icon Sea Star.

Sea Urchin.

Here's the resident Hawksbill turtle having it lunch.

And last but not least, the beautiful Sea Fan, Sea Whip and of course, our very own Nemo(False Clownfish).

8th January 2006 : Sudong Wreck

2006-01-10T13:02:00.000+08:00

First wreck dive in Singapore water. The wreck is located between Pulau Sudong and Pulau Hantu. A black buoy was tied to its stern and is only divable when there is no strong current.

A sea fan on the the wreck.

24th December 2005 : Pulau Salu

2006-01-09T12:13:00.000+08:00

Pulau Salu Dive. Where's Pulau Salu you might wonder? Pulau Salu is a small island located between south of Jurong island and North of Pulau Sudong. The vis is about 2m and the reefs are made up of huge soft and hard corals with a lot of fishes.

Flatworm – Two kinds here. Here’s one and the other was blue edge with a blue line in the center.

Tomato Anemone fish with Bulb-Tentacle Anemone – They are everywhere with each turn I took. Some even seen to have more than one ‘home’.

Corals – Hard & Soft. They are very very huge!

Sea Cucumber's poo – Saw this pile of 'dirt' on some hard corals. It was identified as the poo of some sea cucumbers.

PS: Some of you may find this entry familiar. This is because I just redo it from one of the entries on the other blog of mine.:P

A Photo Blog Of Our Not So Blue Sea

2006-01-09T11:31:00.000+08:00

Basically, this will be a photo blog recording my dive trips in Singapore water. Been snapping underwater with my secondhand camera since acquired it in November 05.

However, still a long long way to go before shooting good pictures. So what you will be seeing here will be pictures that are still presentable :P.

So far, only been diving in Pulau Hantu, Pulau Salu and Sudong Wreck. Hope to explore more dive sites in the future.

Anyway, the blog is called Not So Blue Sea as you don't get to see BLUE sea in Singapore. Despite this, there are still a lots of fishes and other marine creatures that thrive our reefs. So I hope to 'capture' them as many as possible to show you the amazing stuffs that we have in our not so blue sea. :o)