Quick Notes on Sentosa

Was too occupied with my recce at Sentosa, and thus did not take many photos last Saturday. But thought it will be quite a waste not to share some of the things I've seen, so... here goes!

Before the recce, I had a bit of time to explore the area near the Sentosa cable car station. I have to say that I was really amazed at the size of the corals - they were HUGE!!!

This one was probably close to a metre in width.



And here's another humongous hard coral.



These corals are actually colonial animals. The coral above probably had hundreds, if not thousands of little coral animals (aka polyps) living inside. And many corals grow very slowly too. The coral above may have been around even before you and I were born!

And just look at the patch of branching corals below. The area it covered was like the size of a badminton court, or perhaps even bigger!



It's just too heart-breaking to think that all these may be lost to the reclamation soon.

We also found a pair of coastal horseshoe crabs trapped in a net. Fortunately, they were still alive, and we quickly set them free.



Finally, around 7.30am, we started the recce proper. Was glad that I had a very enthusiastic gang with me. Thanks to Helen, Siyang, Kok Sheng, Gaytri, Marcus and Ivan!

We saw the usual onchs and snails etc, but I got really excited when I saw this Raffles' pitcher plant's lower pitcher hanging just off the cliff, ready for an shot.



Like many other pitcher plant from the Nepenthes genus, the Raffles' pitcher plant has two types of pitchers - the lower pitcher and the upper pitcher. The former is produced on leaves nearer to the ground, and is usually fatter, shorter and more colourful. The latter is usually produced on leaves further from the ground, and tends to be longer and thinner. The photo below shows a few upper pitchers with the flower and fruits.



For more photos of what you can find at Sentosa's shores, you can check out my previous postings at:

• Back to Onch Kingdom
• Sentosa!

or postings by my fellow nature volunteers at:

• Naked Hermit Crab preview @ Sentosa
• Sentosa shore- Found but soon gone
• Heartbreak at Sentosa
• Surprising Sentosa
• BIG corals on Sentosa's natural shores
• Sentosa...Marine life to give way for IR
• Other side of Sentosa

And if you like to visit the natural wonders of Sentosa before they are gone, do check out the Naked Hermit Crabs blog for more information.