Chek Jawa Walk with Fren's Frens

Went to Chek Jawa to help with the public walk last Sunday, and it so happened my friend Shuyun managed to get some slots for the walk, and so I volunteered to guide her and her friends around.

It was a really hot day, but fortunately we still managed to see quite a few things though many animals were probably hiding from the heat. Here are some of the animals we saw...


Spotted this elbow crab hiding among the seagrass. Can you guess why it's called an elbow crab? :)


There were lots of sand dollars, ironically, on the sand bank.


Jellyfish were certainly in season, and we had been seeing them on both our northern and southern shores. Understand some of my friends were stung by them recently while they were diving in local waters, and it was really painful.


I was really glad to find the resident carpet anemone on the sand bar. Despite the heavy rainfall last week, it was still around and looks rather healthy (marine creatures usually get very stressed if there's too much fresh water).


This is a sand collar - the egg capsules of a moon snail.


This was the first time I saw an orange mud crab during a public walk! Actually, the last time I saw a mud crab was probably in the restaurant...


Our hunter-seekers found us this really small octopus.


As usual, there were lots of orange striped hermit crabs around.


We saw a few sea cucumbers during the walk. The one above is one which I still haven't got the ID proper.


This is a sandfish sea cucumber. It's also the one you usually get at Chinese restaurants. However, they must be properly treated to remove the toxins before they can be eaten.


Not really sure what this is. It's rather flat, so initially I thought it could be a flatworm. However, taking a closer look, I saw 2 tentacle-like structures sticking out of its front end, and they really look like rhinophores. So I guess it could also be a slug.


This cute little animals is called a ball sea cucumber.


Fortunately, we managed to find a few sea stars even though it was already rather late in the morning, and the sun was scorching hot.


Other than the mud crab we saw earlier, we also saw another common edible crab - the flower crab! This one has barnacles growing all over it though, and doesn't really look well.


At the tip of the sand bar, we decided to take a group photo.


And sigh... This is what you get when you are in the first row... :P


After the intertidal walk, we got back onto the boardwalk again and went to take a look at the mangroves.


There were lots of nipah palm growing by the side of the boardwalk. This one happened to be flowering, and there were lots of insects flying around it. Nipah palm's fruit is where you get your attap chee in your ice kacang.


This little monitor lizard quickly crawled away when it saw us approaching.


Finally, these are the fitter ones who managed to get on top of the Jejawi Tower!

Well, on the wy it was a really nice trip despite the ultra hot weather. And Shuyun's friends were a really enthusiastic and fun-loving bunch. Thanks everyone for making this trip such an enjoyable one! :)