Once on the shore, the sea breeze was welcoming. Marcus spotted a white-bellied sea eagle that flew very close to the ground. Such a magnificent bird nesting in the area. I also saw several Brahminy kites soaring in the skies... Check out this view of the beach area! How surreal that such a place is found in Singapore... We were fortunate that the weather was kind and cloudy.
Shore birds were abound, especially these little plovers... Very interesting birds, and they walk really fast! A huge cluster of ~30 birds were gathering on the banks feeding...
As the tide recedes, we started spotting animals! The most interesting find for me would be this crab - Eriphia sp.? The smooth carapace colour is a fusion of red and dark purple, with dark purple appendages. The eye is probably most unique, dark purple with pale yellow spots! The only other crab that I know with dual-colour eyes would be the stone crab (Myomenippe hardwickii). This crab has a pair of dimorphic chela - one larger than the other for two separate purposes. It was rather shy! An unusual spot to find this fellow as it tends to be a rocky-rubble shore inhabitant. Perhaps lost on the 'lost coast'? :P
The other common crab would be the long-horned ghost crabs (Ocypode ceratophthalmus). They are usually nocturnal and stay hidden during the day. Marcus and I saw something interesting, which was these crabs came out of their holes in groups and headed towards the water line... They appear to be catching the waves and a ride out to sea! For feeding perhaps? Not too sure what this behaviour means. Shall try to take a video next time...
Despite being a potentially suitable place for anemones, the diversity was few - with only two on this trip! Swimming anemone (top) and a carpet anemone (bottom). My last trip did not find any anemones.
Echinoderms included this Astropecten seastar again. This seastar is likely the plain sea star (Astropecten indicus) with very sharp spines! A chance find - sea cucumber washed up to shore.
Snail galore! Everyone else spotted other moon snails but personally, the ball moon snail and tiger moon snail. In the second picture (right), the tiger moon snail is surrounded by food (i.e. button snails)!
The Grey bonnet snails are still plentiful! Many of the individuals were found eating a cake sand dollar...
Quite ferocious I must say... Look at the damage to the test of the cake sand dollar! All of the sand dollars were freshly dead. yikes!
Well, what an efficient predator... To end off my post, here's another look at the bonnet snail.
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