Tanah Merah on 31 May

Decided to visit Tanah Merah last Monday with Peiting, Ron and Agnes to check out the shores after the Oil Spill last Monday. Was depressing to see the animals dying, but we did see some of them that were still alive and doing well.

When we were at the other end of the shore, we saw a patch of the beach that haven't been cleared up. The oil on the sand looks very scary and it was slippery to step on too. It affected the worms badly and many were on the surface of the oil, mostly dead. I've never seen so many dead worms in my life before.

Although the authorities have cleaned up most parts, there was still a thin layer of oil on the water and on the rocks near the sea walls too.

The first animal that I saw when we reached the lagoon was this out-of-shaped peanut worm. Many peanut worms were out of the soil probably because of the lack of oxygen in the soil? Don't think this one will survive for long..

But it was heartening to see the Acron worms (Family Enteropneusta) still doing well.

The Fan Worms looks okay.. but not as fluffed up as the usual ones that we used to see.

And there were also a few worms that were bleeding badly. It's quite sad to see them on the verge of dying yet we can't do anything to save them.

Next, moving on to the crabs, here's one Swimming Crab with it's body coated with oil. Hopefully it would moult soon to get rid of the oil. There were many Flower Crabs running around here and there too. Quite heartening to see them still alive and well.

My first time seeing a Horned Ghost Crab (Ocypode ceratophthalma). Like the swimming crab above, they seemed to be coated with oil. Many of them were dead too ):

There were a few Orange-striped Hermit Crabs (Clibanarius infraspinatus) too.

Another lifer! A smaller Ghost Crab (Ocypode sp.)! They scuttle on the sand pretty fast and runs from burrow to burrow trying to find its home whenever we approach them.

We also saw quite a few Soldier Crabs (Dotilla myctiroides) that were so stressed out that they started waving their pincers around like crazy. It looked quite hilarious at first but it's quite saddening to see that and hope that they can surviving well now.

Have never seen this Spectacled Box Crab (Calappa philargius) before. That one just died recently when we found it as its body parts were still intact.

Moving on to the molluscs, we saw a dead squid that was washed up on the shore.

Saw a Sea Hare (Order Anaspidea) that was alive! (:

There were many Black Lipped Conch (Strombus urcea) around. Some were dead but some were still alive.

However, most of the Gong Gongs (Strombus turturella) that i saw were dead. I wonder why..

Oops. Loads of reflections! But it was my first time seeing a Bamboo Clam (Family Solenidae). Hopefully this will survive..

 Sadly, many Onchs (Family Onchididae) that we saw were barely alive or dead.. ):

 Many Moon Snails were dead too. The one above should be Natica zonalis.

Next we have the Cnidarians. This Haddon's Carpet Anemone (Stichodactyla haddoni) doesn't seem to be doing very well as the sides of it seems to be bleaching. But we found this Anemone Shrimp (Periclimenes brevicarpalis) under it! Hopefully the anemone will quickly recover so that the shrimp does not have to move house! (:

Another liferrr! (: A Haeckel's Sea Anemone (Actinostephanus haeckeli).

Agnes wanted to see a Sea Fan (Order Gorgonacea) , and here it is!

A dead Jelly Fish amongst the oil globules on the sand.

It was quite sad to see many dead Heart Urchins in the tidal pools, but thankfully there were still a few alive ones.

The Sea Cucumbers seem to be doing alright. Here's a Synaptid Sea Cucumber (Family Synaptidae) that Ron found.

And here's another baby one that i found. Almost thought it's some worm or what. Haha.

Ron also found a Dragonfish Sea Cucumber (Stichopus horrens)!

There were a few Sandfish Sea Cucumbers (Holothuria scabra) too.

Peiting found this Sand Star (Astropecten sp.) which was as big as the other Sand-sifting Sea Stars!

Sadly, the Sand-sifting Sea Stars (Archaster typicus) don't seem to be doing well. Many of them were disintegrating.

There were quite a few Sand Dollars (Arachnoides placenta) around too.

It was indeed a tiring walk as the stretch of Tanah Merah shore was quite long. But looking at the Sun rise is always a reward for morning trips (:

There was a Clean-up done by the volunteers yesterday during the World Environment Day. Hopefully a cleaner beach will offer the animals with a better home and environment and survive the nasty Oil Spill! (: