Did you know that adult sea turtles are sometimes sighted near our Southern Islands? And that sea turtles are known to come to Singapore to lay their eggs? Yes! There have been several incidents of baby sea turtles hatching on our shores, including East Coast Park! Today, May 23rd is World Turtle Day! And here at The Hantu Blog, we’re going to pay tribute to the very special local sea turtles (or penyu as they are known in Malay)! The most commonly sighted sea turtles at Pulau Hantu is the Hawksbill turtle, which gets its name from their tapered heads, which end in a sharp point resembling a bird’s beak. Read the rest of this entry »
What better way to beat the April heat than to spend it underwater at Pulau Hantu? A handful of divers today braved the 31degC temperatures, plunging into the waters with huge sigh of relief before descending into appreciably clear waters of Pulau Hantu’s reef. First on their list was this Reticulated Pufferfish (Arothron reticularis). Read the rest of this entry »
A recent survey on the perceptions of Singaporeans on the captivity of dolphins has revealed that at least 60% of people surveyed were in support of dolphins in captivity. This is extremely interesting as it has important repercussions on how we proceed with public education in Singapore. To know more, please see attached poster. I hope you can help by publicizing the event, and of course, it would be great if you can make it too.
Quiet and clear horizons: Yes, this is Singapore. Photo: Jimmy Goh/The Hantu Blog
The success of the Hantu Blog definitely has to be attributed to its handful of dedicated and tenacious volunteers. What began as a humble blog to document and share experiences and photographs from individual divers who visited Pulau Hantu, has grown into a long-term effort to raise public awareness about our reefs through dive trips, lectures and roadshows for the public. Today, we celebrate the change that a few good people are capable of when they come together to work in concert.
Phyllidia ocellata, a species of sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusk in the family Phyllidiidae.
When the tropical storm blew across the island on Saturday night, divers laid in their beds, quietly contemplating the conditions that we’d face out at sea on Sunday morning. The rain had stopped by the morning, and the sun had returned with a mean vengeance, and as we moved out from the docks the water appeared to be in not-to-bad conditions. In fact, I thought it looked good. As it turns out, looks can be rather deceiving.
While many people on holiday during this season slept in on this stormy and miserably wet morning, a group of biologists and volunteers like myself, trudged down to Pulau Hantu for a little exploration. The order of the day was to do a survey of gobies and sand-divers, and retrieve some data loggers and coral samples. Sounds easy.
We’ve got the 4C’s! Hantu Blog diver, Jimmy Goh, who’s used to taking great photographs for us of the reef and it’s inhabitants, puts together a video of the highlights from this weekend’s dive during the cold and overcast monsoon weather.
See more amazing photos and videos of Singapore’s sea life first on our Facebook Page!
I last visited Hantu on 26November. Visibility then was pretty bad, around 1 metre; I could barely see the tip of my fins. Currents were pretty strong as well, Sargassum seemed in full bloom. This weekend however, visibility was good, around 3-plus meters, and currents were manageable. I tried looking for seahorses but couldn’t find any, but I saw quite a handful of nudibranch and flatworms, 2 large urchins, at least 2 red swimmer crabs, loads of sand divers, a few butterfly fish and silver moonies. Spent the last part of my dive trying to chase down a good shot of a filefish but failed miserably.
Ria Tan gave a wonderful and inspiring talk today at the National Geographic Store at Vivocity. Together with the crowd that included grandparents and children, Ria took us to explore some remote, and not-so-remote coastlines in Singapore, all in air-conditioned comfort! The crowd 00hed and ahhed as Ria went though a small collection of photographs she’s amassed over the past 10 years (did you know that Ria has a collection of over 2000 photographs on her website?!)
Marine biologist Siti M. Yaacub will be giving a talk about sea grasses at the National Geographic Store at VivoCity next Saturday, 10 December, at 2.30PM.
Seagrass meadows are one of the most productive ecosystems on earth but ask around and chances are, no one knows what they are! Are they algae? Are they seaweed? Can it be eaten? Is it true you can find mermaids frolicking in seagrass meadows? Dive in and learn more about these underwater forests, what makes them tick and why their disappearance is a big problem for us. Join us and we guarantee that you’ll wanna hug a seagrass today!
May 24, 2012 
Posted in Biology, Fisheries 
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