Thursday, August 18, 2005
Bad visibility, pleasant surprises...
So, finally started diving again. Was starting to feel my sealegs going jelly for a while...but, YEAP, starting those regular dives again...
Not that I am looking forward to it nowadays. And there can only be one reason for that. Two words. BAD. VIS.
Yah man. The vis is....WHOOAHHH where's my hand...thought I lost it for a moment there...couldn't see TWO fingers in front of me eyes...
Nah, ain't that bad. It's about 20 - 30cm nowadays. Good days, half a metre.
A friend of mine just flew back into Singapore recently and she was asleep in the plane all the way. And when she woke up... she looked out the window... and said to herself..."Oh my gawd, what gross coloured waters they have here. It's all BROWN and SOOooo dirty!" And then she paused. Thought to herself for a while..."Wait a minute... I recognise that land mass...isn't that...YES...YES IT IS... We're here already?! It's...SINGAPORE...!"
Then it hit her. WOW. I can't imagine the amount of dirt that's pouring into our waters right now. It's just THICK BROWN MUCK.
And that's the vis I have to dive in nowadays. These past 2 and half months.
But all said and done, little pleasant surprises still pop up now and then...=)
Take for example, this cuuutteee baby nudibranch...So tiny, it's smaller than my fingernail!
Flabellina sp. nudibranch. This CUUUUUUTTTTEEEEE little baby was spotted by TL while we were diving at Pulau Hantu! Could barely see it... but THERE IT WAS.
This golden flecked crinoid was also spotted at Pulau Hantu. And is it just me, or are crinoids suddenly everywhere?! Prettyyyy.....looks like something you'd wear for Hari Raya or Deepavali...or Chinese New Year...FESTIVE. Yeah. That's what it is!
And ANEMONES! This particular one was spotted while diving along the reefs of Lazarus island!
Oh, and did I mention THIS! Glossodoris sp. nudibranch. THIS little bugger was just THERE right in front of us for the LONGEST time. JUST THERE...Blending in...well, the bad vis helped its camouflage nicely I think...
And talking about Lazarus island diving. NOW THAT IS SOMETHING ALTOGETHER. 'Cos when you surface...THIS is what greets you...
KITES! BRAHMANY KITES! Our native kite! And the WHITE-BELLIED SEA EAGLE!
KIIITTEESSSS AND EAAGLLLEESSS.... WHAT CAN BEAT THAT MAN!!!!! There were SOOO MANY OF THEM!! And they were swooping down into the waters... circling... being MAGNIFICENT CREATURES! SOOOO COOOLLL.... Our boatman, Mr. Loh, WHIPPED out his binoculars (I don't know where he keeps all these cool nifty stuff on his bumboat man...) AND ACTUALLY... COUNTED... 20..TWENTY OF THEM...at one time!!! KITES...AND...EAGLES... HOW COOL IS THAT!
WHOOOSH!!!
AWWW man... that SERIOUSLY made my day...
But again... back to the underwater world. Not forgetting the cool corals...
We saw THIS baby coral growing on the the giant clam metal mesh rack at Hantu...
Favia recruit growing ON the metal mesh...
And not only that... we saw ANOTHER well established recruit on the metal mesh rack...
AWESOME stuff to see recruits. Means the reef still has a chance...
But let's not forget the challenges wrought onto these cute little baby corals...
This silt...piled onto this MESH in just ONE WEEK. ONNEE WEEKK. This is what the corals need to constantly battle against...
Hour after hour, day after day... corals need to constantly clear or prevent sediments falling onto them. And this, my friend, takes up a lot of energy. Energy that can be used to grow and reproduce...to strengthen their calcium carbonate skeletons...
Mucus secreted by corals help to clear sediments falling onto them; like this pectinia coral here.
I think Singapore's corals are unique in that sense. They have adapted to our sedimented waters and learnt to deal with it. But how much more can they take? ¶ 9:44 pm
Not that I am looking forward to it nowadays. And there can only be one reason for that. Two words. BAD. VIS.
Yah man. The vis is....WHOOAHHH where's my hand...thought I lost it for a moment there...couldn't see TWO fingers in front of me eyes...
Nah, ain't that bad. It's about 20 - 30cm nowadays. Good days, half a metre.
A friend of mine just flew back into Singapore recently and she was asleep in the plane all the way. And when she woke up... she looked out the window... and said to herself..."Oh my gawd, what gross coloured waters they have here. It's all BROWN and SOOooo dirty!" And then she paused. Thought to herself for a while..."Wait a minute... I recognise that land mass...isn't that...YES...YES IT IS... We're here already?! It's...SINGAPORE...!"
Then it hit her. WOW. I can't imagine the amount of dirt that's pouring into our waters right now. It's just THICK BROWN MUCK.
And that's the vis I have to dive in nowadays. These past 2 and half months.
But all said and done, little pleasant surprises still pop up now and then...=)
Take for example, this cuuutteee baby nudibranch...So tiny, it's smaller than my fingernail!
Flabellina sp. nudibranch. This CUUUUUUTTTTEEEEE little baby was spotted by TL while we were diving at Pulau Hantu! Could barely see it... but THERE IT WAS.
This golden flecked crinoid was also spotted at Pulau Hantu. And is it just me, or are crinoids suddenly everywhere?! Prettyyyy.....looks like something you'd wear for Hari Raya or Deepavali...or Chinese New Year...FESTIVE. Yeah. That's what it is!
And ANEMONES! This particular one was spotted while diving along the reefs of Lazarus island!
Oh, and did I mention THIS! Glossodoris sp. nudibranch. THIS little bugger was just THERE right in front of us for the LONGEST time. JUST THERE...Blending in...well, the bad vis helped its camouflage nicely I think...
And talking about Lazarus island diving. NOW THAT IS SOMETHING ALTOGETHER. 'Cos when you surface...THIS is what greets you...
KITES! BRAHMANY KITES! Our native kite! And the WHITE-BELLIED SEA EAGLE!
KIIITTEESSSS AND EAAGLLLEESSS.... WHAT CAN BEAT THAT MAN!!!!! There were SOOO MANY OF THEM!! And they were swooping down into the waters... circling... being MAGNIFICENT CREATURES! SOOOO COOOLLL.... Our boatman, Mr. Loh, WHIPPED out his binoculars (I don't know where he keeps all these cool nifty stuff on his bumboat man...) AND ACTUALLY... COUNTED... 20..TWENTY OF THEM...at one time!!! KITES...AND...EAGLES... HOW COOL IS THAT!
WHOOOSH!!!
AWWW man... that SERIOUSLY made my day...
But again... back to the underwater world. Not forgetting the cool corals...
We saw THIS baby coral growing on the the giant clam metal mesh rack at Hantu...
Favia recruit growing ON the metal mesh...
And not only that... we saw ANOTHER well established recruit on the metal mesh rack...
AWESOME stuff to see recruits. Means the reef still has a chance...
But let's not forget the challenges wrought onto these cute little baby corals...
This silt...piled onto this MESH in just ONE WEEK. ONNEE WEEKK. This is what the corals need to constantly battle against...
Hour after hour, day after day... corals need to constantly clear or prevent sediments falling onto them. And this, my friend, takes up a lot of energy. Energy that can be used to grow and reproduce...to strengthen their calcium carbonate skeletons...
Mucus secreted by corals help to clear sediments falling onto them; like this pectinia coral here.
I think Singapore's corals are unique in that sense. They have adapted to our sedimented waters and learnt to deal with it. But how much more can they take? ¶ 9:44 pm
Comments:
<< Home
very nice underwater photography :) i never knew life could actually exist in the muck that is our surrounding sea, like your nudibranches, very cute indeed
Thanks! =) It's amazing what we can still find in Singapore. Hey! Do come for the Blue Water Volunteer REEFWALK to Kusu Island! Can see their photos and what it's all about at www.reefwalk.blogspot.com. Greatest part is that it's FREE GUIDING! Can see things like anemone shrimps, clownfishes and octopus if lucky...corals! lotsa stuff! =) We even saw mating nudibranchs...
Post a Comment
<< Home
