Great Expectations

July 9, 2019

Hearing about our volunteer, Nicholas Chew’s, experience of a coral spawning dive reminded me of Jane Goodall’s story about watching a hen lay an egg. Photos by Nicholas Chew.

“This was a coral spawning night dive trip organised by NParks to document our annual mass coral spawning event. It was my first time diving at Pulau Satumu, an island with restricted access, so this made me really excited!”

“I was hoping to observe coral gametes floating up from the reef, released in sync across many colonies.”

“Pulau satumu was clearly the most biodiverse reef I’d ever experienced in Singapore. Visibility was amazing too, and for a few hours I had actually forgotten that I was still diving in Singapore. I was very grateful for the opportunity to be included on this trip.”

Being forced to get close and stay still in a small section of the reef created an opportunity for Nicholas to witness the subtle activities that take place on the night reef.

“My highlight would have to be I the beautiful nudibranchs and crabs which I’d not spotted before in years of diving.”

“It took far more skill to observe coral spawning that I previously thought. All evening, I was swimming around looking for “settling” coral colonies, but by the end of the dive I was still unsuccessful. Better luck next year!”

To see more photos from this dive, visit the Hantu Blog Gallery.

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