Grass Tales

A heart shaped rambutan called Annatto

2011-10-01T02:53:00.000+08:00

Annatto, sometimes called roucou or achiote, is as red and hairy as a rambutan. But it has a heart shaped instead of the oval shaped rambutan.

When fully mature, this heart-shaped fruit are brown or reddish brown and are covered with short, stiff hairs. The fruit will split open, exposing the numerous dark red seeds. And unlike the rambutan, the fruit itself is not edible.

The orange-red pulp or pericarp that covers the seed of the achiote (Bixa orellana L.) is used to produce a yellow to orange food commercial food colouring as well as a flavouring. Achiote dye is prepared by grinding seeds or simmering the seeds in water or oil.

It is used as coloring in many cheeses (e.g., Cheddar, Gloucester cheese, Red Leicester, Gouda and Brie), margarine, butter, rice, custard powder, ice-cream, and smoked fish.

Bewarned though, although it is a natural food colorant, it has been linked to cases of food-related allergies.

Wiki says that its scent is described as "slightly peppery with a hint of nutmeg" and flavor as "slightly nutty, sweet and peppery".

Other uses include body paint and lipstick and henna. Thus the tree is sometimes called Lipstick Tree.

The Bahasa Melayu of Bixa Orellana is also known as Inai / Kesumba/ Jarak Belanda/ Kunyit Jawa.
In the Philippines, it is called atsuete.

Source: Wiki
Location:
Pulau Ubin, Singapore
The Outdoor Classroom located along Route 1 of Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Singapore

Strawberries

2011-08-01T13:39:00.000+08:00

We consist of a cluster of small fruits around the fruit stem; each fruit has a seed surrounded by red flesh.

Our green stem and green calyx are left on when we're harvested.

We're not really a berry but a member of the rose family and the real fruits are actually the tiny seed on our outsides.

Our natural sweetness comes from the sugars frutctose and glucose.

We're an excellent source of vitamin C and just 100g has a whole day's supply.

Credits: Woolworths Fresh Aug 2011 Issue

Project Semakau

2011-01-08T04:02:00.011+08:00

I had wanted to help out with Project Semakau in 2010 and attended their training. Unfortunately a job acceptance took me away from all these activities. I sincerely hope I may be able to help them some time in the future perhaps.

Anyway I did a classroom lesson with them and 2 survey trainings.

The first survey training was a Biodiversity survey training at Pulau Semakau on 31 July (Sat) 5am-12pm

As it was too early for public transport, I had to take a cab in the wee hours to reach Marina South Pier. Being my first assignment cum on the job training, I am totally clueless. This is a hunting trip where we are each allocated a portion to analyze the living specimens and its population in that area. And because of the superb hunting skill of my partner, I saw plentiful actually.

E.g. corals

Crabs

Order: Animalia > Arthropoda > Malacostraca > Decapoda > Pilumnidae
Name: Pilumnus vespertilio or Hairy Crab

The onch slug which at first I thought were snails...

Further investigation from wildsingapore states that Onch slugs belong to Phylum Mollusca and are snails of the Class Gastropoda that lack shells. That explains my puzzlement...

Mud lobster if I'm not wrong as seems to be

Twinkle Twinkle little sea stars

Hmm.. forgot what these are call.. oopsy...

Flatworm

Algae

Oh my partner of the day clicks with me as we do share similar interests. She dived a lot, run marathon (she was wearing the bay run tee thus that's how the conversation started) and was a contestant for ultra-marathoner too though she did not participate as she felt she did not train much. In fact she has a friend who is also doing the race in Sahara Desert, fund raising for the Singapore. This lady friend is much more impressive who has participate lots of events and won some.

The second one was a monitoring survey training at Pulau Semakau on 14 Aug (Sat) 5.30am-12.30pm. Another morning taxi ride. It was a bit more boring than the first one as we are more concerned about the growth of the sea grass along the transact lines that we were laying at the reef edge.

So it was lots of pictures of the sea grass

with some occurrences of animal e.g. the crab

then more tape grass

and then clams

think we caught sight of a mangrove horseshoe crab.. reminds me of the horseshoe crab research I used to participate (check out the story here)

Tiny hairy crab (pilumnu vespertilio) staring at us...

This was caught by another team... but I'm not sure what is it actually...

That's the end of the survey. I still am feeling apologetic about not being able to do more for the project. Sighz.

Anyway you can read up more about Project Semakau via here. I do wonder how's their progress....

Five Lill Ducks

2011-01-01T06:50:00.000+08:00

Caught sight of these lovely ducklings while doing duty last year... and suddenly the song 'Five Lill Ducks' came into my mind...

Five little ducks
Went out one day
Over the hill and far away
Mother duck said "Quack, quack, quack, quack."
But only four little ducks came back.

Four little ducks
Went out one day
Over the hill and far away
Mother duck said "Quack, quack, quack, quack."
But only three little ducks came back.

Three little ducks
Went out one day
Over the hill and far away
Mother duck said "Quack, quack, quack, quack."
But only two little ducks came back.

Two little ducks
Went out one day
Over the hill and far away
Mother duck said "Quack, quack, quack, quack."
But only one little duck came back.

One little duck
Went out one day
Over the hill and far away
Mother duck said "Quack, quack, quack, quack."
But none of the five little ducks came back.

Sad mother duck
Went out one day
Over the hill and far away
The sad mother duck said "Quack, quack, quack."
And all of the five little ducks came back.

Credits: http://www.kidsstuffandthings.com

Brinjals

2010-12-10T23:06:00.000+08:00

Brinjal called 'eggplant' because of the shape of the first variety that English speakers came across. A popular vegetable with many different colours, shapes and sizes.

Nipple Brinjal
This South American plant is also known as cow's udder or titty fruit because of its iterestingly shaped fruit. The Choco Indians use the fruit to poison cockroaches. The seeds are used to treat kidney and bladder problems.

Lesser Mouse Dear

2010-11-05T22:58:00.000+08:00

小鼷鹿

中文学名：小鼷鹿
中文目名：偶蹄目
中文科名：鼷鹿科
中文属名：鼷鹿属
同物异名： Cervus javanicus,　Tragulus javanicus williamsoni,　
中文俗名：鼠鹿　小鹿　小鼷鹿　马来亚鼷鹿　改范　
拉丁文目名： ARTIODACTYLA
拉丁文科名： Tragulidae
拉丁文属名： Tragulus
拉丁文种名： williamsoni
物种命名人及年代： Kloss, 1916

And now a story for you on Lesser Mouse Deer...

Outwitting a Crocodile

A Traditional Malaysian Folktale

Retold by Chok Yoon Foo from Malaysia

Sang Kancil is a clever, tricky mouse deer who is always finding himself in predicaments with animals that want to eat him or harm him, but he cleverly manages to escape each time. In this story, Sang Kancil outwits a big, bad crocodile.

He stepped on each crocodile, counting each one, and finally reached the other side of the river.

Sang Kancil was a clever mouse deer. Whenever he was in a bad situation, he always played a clever trick to escape. In this story, Sang Kancil outwitted Sang Buaya, a big, bad crocodile, who wanted to eat him.

There were many trees whereSang Kancil's lived along the river, so he never had trouble finding food. There were always lots of leaves. He spent his time running and jumping and looking into the river.

Sang Buaya, the big bad crocodile, lived in the river with other crocodiles. They were always waiting to catch Sang Kancil for dinner. One day when Sang Buaya was walking along the river, he saw some delicious fruit on the trees on the other side the river.

Sang Kancil wanted to taste the tasty-looking fruit because he was a little tired of eating leaves. He tried to think of a way to cross the river, but he had to be careful. He didn't want to be caught and eaten by Sang Buaya. He needed to trick Sang Buaya.

Sang Kancil suddenly had an idea He called out to the crocodile, "Sang Buaya! Sang Buaya!" Sang Buaya slowly came out of the water and asked Sang Kancil why he was shouting his name. He asked Sang Kancil, "Aren't you afraid I will eat you?" Then he opened his big mouth very wide to scare Sang Kancil.

Sang Kancil said, "Of course, I am afraid of you, but the king wants me to do something. He is having a big feast with lots of food, and he is inviting everyone, including you and all the other crocodiles. But first, I have to count all of you. He needs to know how many of you will come. Please line up across the river, so I can walk across your heads and count all of you."

Sang Buaya was excited and left to tell the other crocodiles about the feast with all the good food. Soon, they came and made a line across the river. Sang Kancil said, "Promise not to eat me because or I can't report to the king how many of you are coming. They promised not to eat him.

Sang Kancil stepped on Sang Buaya's head and counted one. Then he stepped on the next one and said, "Two." He stepped on each crocodile, counting each one, and finally reached the other side of the river. Then he said to Sang Buaya,"Thank you for helping me to cross the river to my new home."

Sang Buaya was shocked and angry. He shouted at Sang Kancil, "You tricked us! There is no feast, is there?" All of the crocodiles looked at Sang Buaya angrily. They were angry because he let Sang Kancil trick all of them.

Sang Kancil loved his new home on the other side of the river because he had a lot of tasty food to eat. Poor Sang Buaya was not so lucky. After that, none of the other crocodiles ever talked to him again.

Source:
http://hanyu.iciba.com/wiki/264960.shtml
http://www.topics-mag.com/folk-tales/folk-tale-cleverness-mayl.htm

Red-shouldered Macaw

2010-10-17T05:24:00.001+08:00

The Red-shouldered Macaw (Diopsittaca nobilis) is the smallest macaw being 30–35 centimetres (12–14 inches) in length. It is not considered to be an endangered species, but wild populations have declined locally due to habitat loss.

And this poor little macaw had broken its beak due to unknown reasons. In reality, many birds will suffer beak injuries during the course of their lives as their upper and lower beaks are vulnerable to trauma and will often fracture as a result. Such injuries are orthopedic in nature.

Some beak injuries result in permanent, disfiguring damage, requiring the bird to eat soft foods for the rest of its life, but other injuries may heal quite well allowing the bird to return to normal beak functioning.

There had been a case when a dentist actually managed to make a dental impression of a healthy beak for a Bald Eagle, reproduced the beak with the same materials used for our teeth and successfully attached the beak thus allowing the Bald Eagle to function normally. Other materials that can be used to rebuild beaks include acrylics (the same material used for artificial nails).

As I have not been to the zoo for a long time, I wonder how is this macaw doing. While the hope that its beak will recover may not seem too high, but remembering how it kept polishing the cage with its broken beak and making noises, my heart really sank with it. I think losing its beak changed not only its food habits, it might really change its whole life.

Source:
Wiki
Avian Web

Green Idea 2 - Benches

2010-08-01T05:52:00.001+08:00

I thought it was a good idea to have a little resting corner in the central area where one can just zoned out of the hustle and bustle of working life. Thus while admiring this zen area, I realised the benches were not made of the typical material I had expected. Can you guess what were they made of?

Toner cartridges. Seriously I have no idea how to recycle the toner catridges into materials to make the benches. But for making efforts in saving Gaia, kudos to Ricoh Asia Pacific Pte Ltd.

Green Idea 1 - Drinking Jars

2010-07-31T23:02:00.002+08:00

In Kim Gary Hong Kong Restaurant, I caught sight of jars being used as drinking cups for the lychee or longan drinks. Felt this is a good way to go green.

Website: http://www.kimgary.com.my/

Interesting facts

2010-05-08T11:24:00.000+08:00

The poison arrow frogs of South and Central America are the most poisonous animals in the world.

Penguins can convert salt water into fresh water.

The hummingbird is the only bird that can fly backwards.

Billy goats urinate on their own heads to smell more attractive to females.

The Giant South African Earthworm can grow up to 22 feet long and 1 inch in thick.

Squirrels can't remember where they hide half of their nuts.

Blue and fin whales can create the loudest sound by animals ever recorded.

Bulls are colourblind, therefore will usually charge at a matador's waving cape no matter what colour it is - be it red or neon yellow!

If you leave a goldfish in a dark room for years, it will turn white.

A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.

Leopard Lacewing Caterpillars

2010-05-04T13:11:00.000+08:00

The hidden perks of being a docent? When you make friends with so many like-minded docents who are always sharing the plethora insights and experience.. e.g. this fellow docent who graciously showed me the leopard lacewing caterpillars... So pretty right.

In fact, I have a feeling this first day cover, the caterpillar drawn should be inspired by this leopard lacewing caterpillars too...

On a separate note, I finally managed to bewitch a butterfly to fly on top of my hand..
actually I did nothing, I must thanks the weather though because it was a superbly hot morning and thus I was sweating and the salt contents my hand attracted the butterfly to drop by and fill itself with the nitrates.

More Babies In the Zoo

2010-05-04T12:43:00.001+08:00

After my last post on Love is in the air.. in the zoo
I realised there are more and more new arrivals.. starting with 2 ring-tailed baby lemurs

Photographed by Shirley, a fellow docents and another expert photographer whose photos always bring us delight. She took this when it was just a few days old...

And she took this after a few weeks. Unfortunately my camera battery had went flat that day so I could not captured any shots other than video. Actually the video shot is nice hahah.. but blurry still so decided to showcased Shirley's photo instead.

Another arrival is the baby sloth.. yipee again!
See the baby is yawning. I caught the video but yup.. I think Shirley's photo does it a better justice haha

The latest arrival which had the WRS publicising a note here goes to this little Grant Zebra, born 28th April 2010. It has been quite awhile since the last zebra foal was born in 2005 and thus this is quite a celebrated news in the zoo I supposed.

And yupz this time I did managed to catch a shot as this is solely the reason why I had brought my camera out today. (though seriously Shirley's photo is once again better but I can't possible keep stealing her photos for this post).

Lastly, when I took this photo, I felt the blissful love in the air... and conjured out this phrase
"Love is when you can yawn and not mind your partner looking at you.."

A Sea Turtle Adventure

2010-05-04T07:18:00.000+08:00

Adapted from Siam Ocean World's 3D Sea Turtle Experience

"I want story! I want story!" The lil' turtle was tugging grandpa's shell and begging for a story.

"Alright alright, I will tell you an old story.. About how grandpa almost couldn't live to such ripe old age.." The elderly turtle finally relented to his grandson's request.

I had came from a very beautiful hometown. Beautiful corals, clear blue water, lovely sandy ground and colourful fishes as dance companion. I used to sing and dance with my friend, The Octopus.

One day, while we were in the midst of our happy time, suddenly the water turned blackish, the fishes started to swimmed away. The Octopus advised me to leave our hometown. But I refused.. initially. The situation got blacker and blacker and The Octopus forced me to pack up and go.

So I left my hometown of many years with a heavy heart. As I took a last look of my hometown polluted by oil, I wondered why would someone bear to make this place dirty.

This journey opened my eyes and brought me to many places. Places where I see human dirtying the sea. Places where I see human cleaning up the waters. Humans.. I really cannot fathom what they are thinking.

Which reminds me of an occassion where I was saved by human... accidentally. I was caught by an egret and carried all the way up to its nest high up the tree. I thought that would be the end of me too. Ironically the humans were deforesting that area and chop that very tree down. I fell back into the sea and quickly swam away.

Another occassion where I seen human's evil intentions was when I had just befriended a whale. As I drifted alongside with her, chit chatting under the sun, suddenly something flew past my shell. An arrow! The human were trying to shoot the whale down. My whale friend immediately dive into the sea instinctively. And I had no choice but to swim as fast as I could; away from the human.

That was my last close encounter with human. After that I found this haven and set up my family which now comprise of you guys. And I pray everyday sincerely that the human will never find this safe haven.

Lil' turtle had a sleepy grin after hearing grandpa's life story. As he tried to made his way back to bed, he had once again fumble. He had just started learning how to walk afterall. Grandpa kindly supported him and recounted that in life, the first step is always the hardest. But without it, goals will never be accomplished and miracles will never happen.

Art and Nature

2010-04-24T13:17:00.001+08:00

Art and nature cannot co-exist.. this is what I felt since the day I got more active in nature.

It is not that I am being extremist but it has been a known fact that certain photographers for the sake of capturing a better shot will adjust mother nature (in an unkindly manner). And even I myself feels guilty still for always trudging on grasses when following my couterpart to take photo of butterflies. Seriously the grasses did me no wrong, why are they subjected to such trampling? Sigh.

And when I saw this article - Murder in the name of Art??
I am fully convinced that Art and Nature do not co-exists.

My last visit in Esplanade I too caught sight of the seashells being exhibited and took some pictures. At that time I felt it a pity that these huge amount of seashells had to be sacrified for the name of art. But I did not feel that much pain because one, I'm not sure if corals get hurt and two, I too hurt corals before due to scuba diving. (Which is why I actually have thoughts of giving up scuba diving already.. unsure.. anyway currently don't have the monetary means to go scuba diving either.)

Seeing the photo, I do wonder exactly how many seashells were sacrificed. Hopefully the white elongated container was not filled from the bottom else we would really have sinned.

But killing butterflies for the sake of art...
yucks!
That is even more gruesome.
The following article - Requiem for butterflies explain more about the aftermath of the event.

I did more research on the artist and found this:

Butterflies and needles have become recurrent themes in his recent works. “After the 2002 bombings, the people in Bali and Jakarta felt that life was not very secure. But I had had that feeling for a long time: not because of big problems like the bombs, but because of small everyday problems. As a Chinese I feel I’m facing discrimination. So I use a needle as a metaphor of my pain; and the butterfly as metaphor for the fragility of people in the face of big power,” he said.

Source: NY Times

I can only say.. more butterflies in trouble?
Anyway certain butterflies are known to be picky eater thus I can only hope those he chose for art, are the types which are easier to breed.

Anyway I have stopped Arts for the time being... so I did not visit the SAM at all and thus am unlikely to catch the exhibit. Not that I am likely to visit out of great respect towards butterflies.

*A Moments of Silence*

Another problem caused by deforestation

2010-04-15T15:58:00.002+08:00

Source: Email.
I am not sure whoever created this artwork, but whoever did that, kudos to you. I simply like that idea...

Love is in the air.. in the zoo

2010-03-08T08:28:00.030+08:00

Love is in the air in the first quarter of the zoo..

In January, I check out the sunbears, my to-do list after reading that
"The sun bear is the world's smallest bear. It is easily identified by the pale yellow U-shape crest on its chest that is said to resemble a setting sun, hence its name."

Setting sun... just have to see it to believe it.. and boy I caught these 2 sun bears fighting out of love (I'm not sure their gender by the way).. caught a video because there is just no way I can take photos of them. Then print screen thus the effect is.. blurred wahahah

After duty, another RA scene wahahaha.. the Aldabra Giant Tortoises were mating.. Well being tortoises, they are slower so I was able to get clearer photos. And they were pretty fierce too.

The next month, I did not catch sight of any love-making scenes, but I caught sight of the aftermath.. peachicks.. scuttling after their mother. So cool. I almost could not capture them. 2 little children were chasing after these peachicks too with their mum telling them not to scare these chicks. The scene is so warm and fuzzy...

Oh and recently I saw the River Safari logo in the office already. Hmm cannot wait to see River Safari opening.. 2011???

Run 350

2010-02-14T09:14:00.000+08:00

Run 350 is part of an upcoming series of environment-related initiatives by Young NTUC. It aims to raise awareness about the 350 movement and hopes to raise enough to plant 350 trees during our 5th Anniversary celebration on 30th April 2010.
- Source: run350 site

In the name to create awareness, can I trust that this will be a beneficial run? I did not know anything about the MacRitchie run in 2009 because after the Sundown 2009 I stopped all marathons. But I joined enough of the typical marathons to know how destructive it is. The amount of litter we generate, seeing paper cups and empty gels careless thrown away along the marathon path is especially depressing and heart-breaking. But at least these are the typical running paths where cleaning up is done on a regular basis. But MacRitchie run is an entirely different story. Nobody cleans up the forest/nature on a regular basis other than God and by that I meant the rain clouds he sent to shower the litter away. And nobody tramples the forest the way marathoners do for the sake of glory.

And with the arrival of 2010, organisers have gotten sick of Singapore and decided to move to another spot to organise marathon. Pulau Ubin, one of the few islands I feel so untouched, so original, is going to be tainted by these marathoners. Run 350 claims to be non-competitive but seriously, competition arises in any situations. Just having a group of runners together in the park and without any reward at the end goal, there will already be a friendly competition.

I sincerely hope that organisers will put in the care and effort to protect Pulau Ubin. Hmm talking about it, I still have not been able to borrow the Chew Jawa video.

The dolphin’s smile is nature’s greatest deception

2009-12-01T11:20:00.000+08:00

"The dolphin’s smile is nature’s greatest deception."
- Ric O’Barry, The Cove

Image URL: http://www.firstfloridahomes.com/from_iceland.html

Do you know how dolphin commit suicide?
Dolphins and other whales are not automatic breather like us. Every breath they take is a conscious effort. And if they feel life is really unbearable, they can choose not to take the next breath, they can just close their blowhole for good.

That was what Kathy, the Flipper, did. That was the turning point for Ric O'Barry.

The brutal slaughter of dolphins in Taiji, Japan. The loads of lies these people gave. It reminded me of the Sharkwater documentary I watched months ago.

Once again I can only say "ALL KILLINGS ARE CRUEL", be it sharks, whales, cattles... and dolphins. I cannot stop you from eating whale meat, I cannot stop you from visiting Seaworld. It is up to you. I can only urge you to watch The Cove to see the reality.

A moment of silence...

2009-11-01T20:44:00.029+08:00

I decided to blog it after pondering for sometime, dedicating a moment of silence to a zebra that I do not know. I have never done attachment for that area and though I fed the giraffes before, I'm not that close to the zebras.

But while looking at my photos, I once again felt the saddness I had experienced at that spot. I felt the keeper's tenderness as he stroked the zebra for the last time. Most of the photos showed the zebra's eyes which I felt were so big that it gives me a feeling that the zebra died a sudden death. This photo, however, had its eyes partially covered and thus was less frightening and more solemn.

I do not know why it died nor did I plan to ask. Partly there isn't a chance to ask the keeper. I don't see their need to explain to the visitors on site either. And partly because they seem sad (and busy as well first while trying to resuscitate it and then while trying to remove it from the site). I just don't think it is appropriate to ask.

Actually there were other stuff I planned to blog but somehow I lost the feel already. Plus the photos did not really turn out well. It is the second time I brought my bro's toy out and I am still learning thus the photos did not turn out well. But as I went through my old photos, I realised I once just took photo for the sake of remembering/recording my memories only. But over the years, as I took more and more photos, I begun to have higher expectation of the photos. And I am starting to hate my unsteady hands haha. Anyway I posted some of the better photos from the toy in my FB. I hope to improve further...

Last note, I realised there is a new recycling method to applaud for

Recycling the maps.. except if the maps were in good condition, throwing into the box might not be such a good idea? I guess still can be improved further...

NEA - Clean Green Singapore Music Video

2009-10-27T21:19:00.000+08:00

Source: Youtube

It only takes one heart, to make a start.
A dream to just go green, to keep it clean.

Side by side we’ll make it happen
So that we can live like we’re in heaven.

Let’s make our world the most beautiful home
Where everyone can live and breathe and they can easily roam.

We just have to make it ours to make it last
By giving our all & doing our best
Let’s keep our world the most beautiful home…oh yeah

Horseshoe Crab Research and Rescue

2009-10-18T22:20:00.047+08:00

Source: "A Guide to Mangroves of Singapore", Peter K. L. Ng and N. Sivasothi (editors)

Previous related posts:
http://grasstales.blogspot.com/2009/06/rmbr.html
http://grasstales.blogspot.com/2009/04/coney-island-horseshoe-crab.html

Directions to the nameless track...
1. Take mrt to Kranji MRT station.
2. Take bus 925 from station.
3. Alight at the Chinese Temple.
4. Cross the road to the nameless track.

I am surprised we did not get lost, because it is indeed a god-forsaken place haha.

Anyway a year ago, I was at this Kranji MRT station too, and I was puzzled over the spaciousness of the station. Only today did I realise the Turf Club is just beside the station. Oops.

As we reached the nameless track, we happened to double check our location with some people and they decided to show us their pot of Mangrove horseshoe crab (Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda) and that these are on the verge of being slaughtered for food. It does not look like a crab so how do one eat HSC?

The uncle went on to show us where to cut open the body and eat the unlaid eggs directly after cooking. I would advise none of you to try because it is said that HSC are toxic. And besides you are only eating the eggs and throwing the rest of the HSC away which I feel is a waste. It is like eating shark's fin and throwing away the shark. SAD!

After a brief chat with them, we headed down to report to the i/c. She went on to give us a brief introduction of this "living fossil" which still looks almost similar to the fossils 400 millions years old. Then we begin our rescue mission (and mini shore clean-up session).

A total of 168 (think that should be the figure) HSC was found. I was told these HSC had to be measured and the males and females counted. But I'm curious to know what happens to the tiny HSC? Are they also measured? And since they are too young to do a gender identification, what were they classified as?

Which brings me to the objective of this mission: to keep track of these HSC from what I gather. Which is why they will search for them, figure out ways to tag them, then search for them again the next month (depending on the tidal conditions though) and analyse them.

But why is HSC so important? Well it is a known fact that their blue, copper-based blood called lysate is important in the biomedical world as a purified version can help detect baterial toxins, important in disease detection as well as ensuring the cleanliness of equipment.

To identify if it is a female HSC, notice the first 2 pairs of legs. For the females, all the pairs of legs are similar.

For a male HSC, the first 2 pairs of legs are like bulbous front pincers which they need to cling onto the females whilst mating.

Barnacles on the HSC. They are encrusters, attaching themselves permanently to a hard substrate.

Which leads me to my next question. As the HSC moults to become 25% bigger, what happens to the barnacles on the original shell? I asked the researcher but it seems that not much studies have been done on it. He mentioned that usually the moult does seems pretty smooth so he is not sure is it the barnacles dropped off and move to the living HSC or that this HSC happened to not have much barnacles. Hmm, sometimes one can really have 1001 questions for Mother Nature but how much she wants to reveal would probably depends on her mood.

The underside of the moult sometimes deceives me into thinking this is a living HSC.

And this is the opening which the HSC will crawl out then hide in some discrete area to be suntanned as it is usually soft after moulting. Note that we are not very certain is it the sun, the water, the existence of both elements or other elements but gradually the HSC shell will become harder and soon it will behave like the typical HSC.

The area we were walking was soft mud and it was indeed tough walking. At one time, my feet were stuck that I had to twist my way out, but I twisted too hard and spewed mud at my friend. Horror! Felt so guilty to her the rest of the day as neither of us had brought spare clothes.

And judging the muddy trails, you can expect how muddy our booties are... Eeeks haha!

Would I go back again? Actually I might although I don't really like walking on the soft mud... and am lazy to bring extra clothings still... Let me think about it till the next time...

Euthanasia on Pandas?

2009-09-20T22:11:00.000+08:00

Source:
Asiaone
sifynews

Guess what, mankind wants to play God once again. Or rather God's accountant as what British TV naturalist Chris Peckham had replied when he was criticised when he spouted the following line

'So maybe if we took all the cash we spend on pandas and just bought rainforests with it, we might be doing a better job.'

Alright I love grasses more than I love humans. But does that mean I want all humans exterminated so that grasses will have a chance of survival for not being trampled by humans/animals/any land-bound creatures?

Hmm but am I making sense here? Is he making sense either when he said the money should be re-directed to a better cause. What is a better cause? If it is God's will to extinct the creatures, I guess I would accept it. But if is human's decision that $XX should go to rainforest conservation instead of panda conservation, somehow I just cannot stomach it. Because we were the cause why Pandas need protection now. And we should pay our debts / atone our sins.

Is like saying Bukit Timah Nature is a living dead and we should just scrap it. But in the first place, it was mankind who created that road causing BKT serious repercussions. So we should solve the problem not erase the problem and record in history as something that was "too late to be salvaged".

Having said that, euthanasia on pandas - over my dead body!

p/s: Another fellow mate commented that such situation is the same in the human world where it is a cost-centric world. Thus special needs people are termed useless and a burden and a losing investment... i.e. they should be eradicated too. Sad but true.

Pulau Semakau

2009-09-19T22:12:00.128+08:00

Seen alot, learnt alot, but all forgotten haha. So I can only say check out these blogs to know more:
Tidechaser
Where Discovery Begins
Wildshores
Singapore Nature
God's Wonderful Creation
Urban Forest
Itchy Fingers

Alright, now for my viewpoint.. boarded the boat from Marina Pier (I forgot to take a photo of the Pier, luckily someone else did.. phew). On the way, saw the developments in Marina Bay, The Sail and others (from what I see, it can be quite ulu to stay there but I'm not very confirmed.)

Pass by this cute little "Bao Island". Ok the real name is Pulau Jong 炯岛. If interested, you can read more about this island from God's wonderful creation.

Then we reach Pulau Semakau where we first had a tour round it via bus (and the hunters alighted to find the creatures for display to us later). Then we went to watch a video telling us about the lifestory of our rubbish on how they first came into Pulau Semakau via the Barge and how they have to be incinerated so that they will be reduced to 10% of their current state. Hmm if I have time, I might write my third story based on it.

Actually after incineration, the rubbish does not really seem to emit a smell already. Thankfully I guess as all these cells have to be filled up with these incinerated waste after which a top fertile soil will cover the waste.

Then we march into a forest full of mosquitoes to be greeted to a welcoming sight of the shores.

The mangrove tree, Bakau Pasir (Rhizophora stylosa) used as firewood and also made to charcoal…

Look out for the bright orange flags, it means the hunters have found us something interesting!

Saw 3 garlic breads or Sandfish Cucumber (Holothuria scabra). First sign of we are hungry? Considering these are the edible ones found in Chinese restaurants. These sea cucumber breathes through their anus due to their internal breathing system which has branching tubes along the length of their bodies. Called respiratory trees, most large sea cucumbers have a pair of these, each connected to the opening on the backside. To breathe, the sea cucumber pumps water in through its backside and up through the respiratory trees. The water is then flushed out through the backside again. With this constant flow of water, some tiny creatures find the backside of a seacucumber a cosy and safe place to be! Small or thin-walled sea cucumbers, however, simply breathe through their skins. -Source: wildsingapore

Oh and these were squirting water when the guide lift them up. Urinating? I have no idea. But they were definitely under stress because under stress, they will squirt water from both ends. And if under extreme stress, some sea cucumbers are capable of expelling their innards. The stomach will eventually be regenerated but the sea cucumbers will not be able to feed until the regrowth. Yucks!

Lastly, sea cucumbers are echinoderms and they feed with their tube feets. Similarly, instead of a hard skeleton, the bodies are mostly made of tissue capable of changing from hard to soft, thus aiding movement etc.

Another sea cucumber, the Ocellated Sea Cucumber (Stichopus ocellatus). We were not allowed to handle this one cos it is said that under too much stress, it may become limp and disintegrate. I concur that it looks wobbly to the extent it might melt like ice cream (oops food for thought?)

The many white “eyespots” on its back were believed to possess some sensory functions to help the animal move around or hold to the substrate. - Source: Itchyfingers

Noble Volute (Cymbiola nobilis) which is our group name! (I was lazy to close-up but I do have close-up images from my friends haha).

It is a large shell that can grow up to 20cm and is threatened by over-collection as food and for its beautiful shells. These predatory snails hunt and feed underneath the sand. The tube on the right is called the siphon, and the animal uses it to seek out buried bivalves (like
clams). The black fleshy part with bright orange spots underneath the shell
is actually its large foot! After finding the bivalves, it wraps it with its large foot and then waits patiently until its exhausted prey opens its shell to breathe. The Noble Volute then seizes the opportunity to stick its proboscis to feed! - Source: Itchyfingers

The marine flatworm was lovely because it is so flat. If you cut them into two, they can continue growing. But hmm, don't be so cruel-hearted to try bah.

More about flatworms: Flatworms Penile Fencing
Check out the video here.

Extracted from the site:
For flatworms, sex is more like war than love. Like all sea slugs, flatworms are hermaphrodites (they have both male and female sexual organs). In this case, the male organ turns out to be two dagger-like penises that they use to hunt as well as mate. During mating, two flatworms fight (i.e. "penis fence") to stab each other, while avoiding getting stabed.

The "loser" who gets stabbed will absorb the sperm through its skin and then scoots off to bear the burden of motherhood!

Sigh I don't really agree motherhood is a burden but then literally speaking, she is carrying a "burden". Alright.

Saw a number of starfishes although a better name should be sea star because they are actually not fish. These two were nicknamed ang ku kueh and ketupat by my friend. More signs that we are hungry. Ok, they are juvenile Cushion Stars (Culcita novaeguineae), part of the sea stars family except they don't have long arms.

These are the common echinoderms where they are symmetrical along five axes, have spiny skin and tube feet. This is the Common Sea Star (Archaster typicus). Other examples of echinoderms are the Sand Dollars and Sea Urchins. Oh and I have a close-up photo of the tube feet, so cute! Note that sea stars use sea water to support its body and move its tube feet thus it should not be left out of the water.

This particular Knobbly Seastar (Protoreaster nodosus) has 6 legs which is quite rare. The common ones have 5 legs.

Cannot forget crab (because it is FOOD again haha). This is the Flower Crab (Portunus pelagicus).

What else did I learn? That sea urchin loves shadow. That if you are quiet, you can hear the snapping shrimp snaps. Both males and females snap. That there are lots of sponges and some sponges are poisonous so don't think they are all as friendly as spongebob.

As the sun set, we head back too... I really like this place alot, though I hate the mosquitoes (but I know they are there for a reason...). I wonder if I want to be back here again or not hmm.

Lastly, RMBR is recruiting. Check out the details here. How I wish I can join but I cannot make it for their training. SAD!

p/s: And I'm still grieving over my camera sigh...

Otters squealing

2009-09-06T22:13:00.016+08:00

I am still wondering why the otters were squealing the whole morning so went to do some research..

Source: Kidsplanet
How do sea otters communicate?
Through body contact, nosing one another, head-jerking and vocalizations. Sea otters, in comparison to sea lions, for example, are not extremely vocal animals. However, adults use a soft, low cooing sound, and grunts to exhibit "contentedness," among other things. Pups use a high-pitch squeal to communicate with their mom. Some other sounds in the vocal repertoire of sea otters include whistles, whimpers, squeaks, whines, growls, snarls and hisses.

hmm... were they hungry? in danger? am still puzzled...

Sungei Buloh Guided Tour

2009-08-15T22:48:00.004+08:00

Followed wildshores guide for a guided trip. As I need to keep up with the pace, so I did not take much photos. Saw the usual sea almond fruits and sea holly which has no relation with the christmas holly. Sometimes it does look like the christmas holly with its jagged edges. Other times, it looks plain.

Also saw the sea hibiscus. In mangroves, it indicates the high water mark and the boundary between the end of salt water penetration and the beginning of freshwater swamp.

This plant secretes a substance that attracts ants, not in its flowers but through its leaves. Each of three leaf veins on the under surface near the stalk have a small slit. It is from here that the substance exudes, and ants of all sizes can be seen drinking from them. Among these, are the fierce Weaver Ants (Oecophylla smaragdina), which may help keep off insect pests. Some insects that feed on the plant include the Cotton Stainer Bug (Dysdercus decussatus) that feeds on its seeds.
Sources: naturia

Guess who made these holes? The Asian longhorn beetles!

Unfortunately, these Asian longhorn beetle can cause a lot of damage to trees. Its larvae dig deep into trunks in order to feed on the vessels that provide the tree with water and food. The larvae may spend up to nine months living off of the tree as they grow into adult beetles. As the bugs mature they start to burrow back out of the tree leaving noticeable holes in the trees. At this stage, there is not a lot that can be done for the tree. The damage is done..
Source: Ask The Exterminator

Oh and it was only today that I knew only the male fiddler crab has a bigger pincer mainly for attraction. Female fiddler crab pincers are of equal sizes.

Take a look at wildshores photo on the Nipah palm (Nypa fruticans) or Attap Chee as it was blooming! The ball-shaped thing is the female inflorescence, while the yellow sausage-shaped ones are the male. Nearby is a brown developing fruit ball.

Caught sight of the dog faced water snake sleeping too!

On the way back, my friend brought me to walk out to the nearest bus stop (quite far though). On the way, we caught sight of bag worm.

Bagworms are a group of highly specialized lepidopterans belonging to the family Psychidae and exhibit extreme development of sexual dimorphism. Males are winged whereas females lack functional appendages. Larvae of both males and females, soon after hatching from the eggs climb up to the top of their host plants in order to have an access to the soft and palatable tips of the growing shoots. They construct a small but tough bag of silk of either cylindrical or conical shape and glue small fragments of plant tissues around their cases. Larvae always keep their body inside the cases. While moving about, their head and thorax are protruded out so that they move forward on their thoracic legs dragging the case behind them, which is gripped by hooks on the abdominal prolegs. When taking rest, the rims of the cases remain attached to a twig by means of silken thread so that the cases hang vertically with both their openings remaining closed.

Sources: Clubsnap uforest