Was supposed to go with JL and KS in June, but was really too busy with work to find time for it. Fortunately, SY decided to go with me to take his Advanced Diving course, so at least I won't have to go alone :P
We decided to take my Open Water at Pulau Dayang, since I had not been there before. It was a very pretty island with clear blue water.
Was rather glad that I manage to clear all the skill sets without any major problem, though I almost freak out before I did the clear mask drill.
Here are some of the photos I took during the trip. Have to admit that my underwater photography sucks big time, and most of the photos turned out horrible, especially those I took during dive 3 and 4. Had to do quite a bit of colour correction. Anyway, will arrange the organisms according to the phylum starting from the simplest.
The Cnidarians
Staghorn Corals (Acropora sp.) - there were lots of them every where! We can hardly find such huge colonies in Singapore though, since these corals require clear water and lots of sunlight.
Bubble Coral (Plerogyra sp.) - the first time I see this in the wild! :P
Sea Whip (Order Gorgonacea) - they were every where too. Didn't have the time to look around carefully for any commensal snails or shrimps though. While there were lots of huge sea whips, I didn't really see many huge sea fan colonies though.
Tube Anemone (Family Cerianthidae) - these were the only 2 I saw. As the name implies, these animals live in a tube! They are also called peacock anemones since they come in all kind of colours.
The Ctenophores
Probably a Comb Jelly (Phylum Ctenophoria) - Very fragile and part of it seemed to be broken off.
The Annelids
Christmas Tree Worms (Spirobranchus giganteus) - There were so many of them on the rocks and corals!
The Echinoderms
Feather Stars (Class Crinoidea) - This is the only decent photo I have of a feather star. The rest were all somewhat blurred due to the currents. Unfortunately, we were diving a little deep and this photo, like many others, looks ultra blue...
This sea star looks like a Linckia multiflora. Noticed that it has one much longer arm and 4 other shorter ones. Wonder if this could be a case of asexual reproduction, with 1 arm detached from the parent sea star and is now growing the other 4 arms?.
Blue Linckia Sea Star (Linckia laevigata) - this pretty sea star was once found in Singapore too, but unfortunately you can't find them now.
Not very sure what sea star this is, though I suspect it could be a Echinaster luzonicus.
Cushion Star (Culcita novaeguineae) - I've seen this many times on Singapore shores, but it's definitely still one of my favourite sea stars :P
Leopard Sea cucumber (Bohadschia argus) - this is my first time seeing a leopard sea cucumber :) Saw many of the usual sea cucumbers like pinkfish and greenfish as well.
The Molluscs
Swallowtail Headshield Slug (Chelidonura amoena) - Only saw one species of swallowtail headshield slug during the various dives. Like other headshield slugs (Order Cephalaspidea), this has a broadening at the head called the headshield. "Swallowtail" refers to the split in the tail.
Nudibranch (Hypselodoris bullockii) - First time seeing this species! The term "nudibranch" means naked gills, refering to the flower-like gills on the back of many nudibranchs (Order Nudibranchia).
Nudibranch (Chromodoris coi) - Another first time!!!
Have no idea what nudibranch this is though.
Phyllid Nudibranch (Probably Phyllidiella pustulosa or Phyllidiopsis burni). The phyllids are known to be very toxic. When stressed, they can release poisonous chemicals to that can kill their predators.
We saw many other phyllids during the fifth dive, many of which I'm not sure of the ID.
Phyllid Nudibranch (Probably Phyllidiopsis fissuratus).
Phyllid Nudibranch (Phyllidia elegans)
Phyllid Nudibranch (probably Phyllidia varicosa)
Blue Dragon Nudibranch (Pteraeolidia ianthina) - Was rather happy to find a blue dragon, until I found a second one, a third one, and more... Guess they are just as common in Dayang as in Singapore. Blue dragons are able to store the zooxanthellae from the hydroids they feed on in the cerata (hair-like projections on their back). The zooxanthellae can photosynthesise and some of the food produced will be passed on to the host nudibranch.
Cone Snail (Conus sp.) - unfortunately the photo was a litttle blur as I was rushing to catch up with the rest... This is one very venomous snail that stings their prey. Some cone species can even kill people with their venomous stings.
Spider Conch (Lambis lambis) - thought this one was rather huge - bigger than the ones we usually see in Singapore, but SY said that it probably just looked bigger under water. Haha...
Fluted Giant Clam (Tridacna squamosa) - Saw quite a few of them at Dayang. This species can grow up to about 40cm wide, and like the hard corals, it harbours symbiotic algae that can photosynthesise. Some of the food produced by the algae will be passed on to the clam.
Looks like a Zigzag Oyster (Lopha sp.) to me. This one was rather huge, almost as big as some of the fluted giant clams.
The Chordates
Tunicates (Subphyllum Tunicata) - it's rather hard to believe sometimes that these sessile blobs are actually more closely related to us than crabs or snails. Juvenile tunicates possess a notocord. In the vertebrates, the notocord will further develop into the backbone as the animal matures, but the tunicates lose their notocord as they grow.
Razorfish (Aeoliscus strigatus) - finally managed to get a somewhat decent photo of razorfishes. The ones I took previously in the intertidal areas are all too blur to be used.
Teira Batfish (Platax teira) - have seen the juveniles in Singapore's subtidal area before, and the adults as well at some of the southern island jetties.
Dogface Pufferfish (Arothron nigropunctatus) - if you just look at the head, this really looks like a puppy. It's also called the blackspotted pufferfish due to the black spots on its body, but I think dogface puffer is just so much cuter :P
Juvenile Yellow Boxfish (Ostracion cubicus) - there was an adult with it, but it was swimming so quickly that the photos turned out blurred. Fortunately, the juvenile was rather cooperative.
Probably a Clark's Anemonefish (Amphiprion clarkii) - first time seeing this in the wild too.
Ocellaris Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris) - some people call this the false clownfish to differentiate it from the percula clownfish found in Australia and Papua New Guinea, but personally, I prefer to call it the ocellaris clownfish. The host anemone is a magnificent anemone (Heteractis magnifica).
And now, the last group of chordates - the people! :P
And here's me with a cushion star :P
And SY with a cushion star.
Valerie and Sophie, my dive buddies.
Olivia and Hwee Jin, who were also taking their Open Water course.
Me and our divermaster, Debby, who also runs the Hantu Blog dives.
Our instructor, Jimmy, holding onto his "sausage", and Sui Hon at the back who was on a leisure dive trip.
This was certainly a great trip, and well, I'm finally a certified Open Water diver!
Looking forward to the next dive... :P
