Royal Dutch Shell’s Bukom refinery is located a mere two kilometers from Pulau Hantu. Some 250 Shell employees have been evacuated and at least 100 firefighters are working on site. The plant is Shell’s largest refinery, producing half-a-million barrels-a-day. It has halted tanker loading and shut down a diesel-making unit as it struggles to contain the fire. Singapore is the world’s largest market for fuel oil and Asia’s hub for crude and refined product trading, and any disruptions from the fire could impact regional prices as some capacity has already been taken offline. Read more.
A Snakey bornella (Bornella anguilla) chows down on some hydroids, a plant-like organism related to jellyfish. Though plant-like, hydroids are actually carnivorous animals. Each nudibranch species usually specializes in one or few species of hydoid.
Though hydoids are venomous, this doesn’t bother the nudibranch. It does not digest the nematocysts (stinging cells); instead, it uses them to defend itself by passing them from its gut to the surface of its skin – making it an unfavorable treat for most other reef predators!
What’s also interesting is that the nudibranch appears to to get “stung” by the hydoid, when it jerks subtlety but abruptly, when it first touches the hydoid. Perhaps its something like us eating chilli! Spicy but shiok! I also like the way it “clips” the hydoid off and grasps it in its mouth.
See more amazing videos of Singapore’s sea life first on our Facebook Page!
There were two commensal shrimp in this burrow but only one was captured during the length of this video. As the fish was skittish and I didn’t have all day, I hovered quite a distance away from this burrow so they the fish and shrimp could keep doing what they do without too much disturbance. See more amazing videos of Singapore’s sea life first on our Facebook Page!
Octopus, two handfuls of Snakey bornella nudibranches, schools of Yellow stripe scad, rabbitfish, fusillers, batfish, and Silver moonies. A weekend of diving at Pulau Hantu had everyone surfacing with smiles and many pictures! Read the rest of this entry »
The video above was released on Wednesday, 28 September. More explosions occurred at noon on Thursday, 29 September.
Why did the fire flare up again?
According to Shell, the affected area “has lengths of pipelines and connected pumps, and holds a mix of hydrocarbons”. The pipes are no longer in use but still contain fuel, which causes flares when the pipes open up under fire. “This was the reason for the erratic fire, sometimes waning and sometimes growing.” Reports say the fire was contained within the bund wall.
The fancy and expensive real estate on Sentosa Island hasn’t deterred these critters from setting up home along its shores! Last Saturday night I left my dive gear dry again as I set out on foot and a shirt (as opposed to a wetsuit) so explore the life that exists along the edge of Singapore. Read the rest of this entry »
Divers at Pulau Hantu last weekend got up close to this cool and calm reef cuttlefish. It probably thought it looked pretty much like the brown algae that was growing around the shallow reef, and it did! Because I only realised it was there when Volunteer dive guide Jimmy Goh pointed to something just inches below my belly, and I saw Chay Hoon get a mild shock by it when she almost bumped into this critter! Enjoy the video!
Yesterday, divers on a dive trip organised by the Hantu Bloggers encountered a large batfish along the reef of Singapore’s Pulau Hantu. This is the largest batfish encountered on the reef by the group in 8 years!
After eight years of diving at Hantu, I had another first and extraordinary experience – 1000s of sand divers! A sight to behold! (Above: A pair of Long-nosed butterflyfish)
Feared to be globally extinct, the discovery of this fabulous sponge is featured in the latest issue of My Green Space published by NParks.
Karenne Tun and Eugene Tay share that ” the Neptune’s Cup sponge was first seen in Singapore waters in 1822. According to historical records, the Neptune’s Cup sponge was common during the time of Sir Stamford Raffles, An account by a British official in 1830 said “those gigantic sponges” were brought to them “in great numbers.” However, the Neptune’s Cup sponge population declined rapidly in our waters, and was last sighted in the 1870s. It seemed to also have disappeared from other coastal waters too – it was last collected off Bantam in West Java, Indonesia, in 1908. This led many scientists to believe that sponge had become extinct globally.”
How exciting then, that “in March 2011, during a routine survey dive, marine biologists from DHI Water & Environment (S) Pte Ltd encountered a unique-looking sponge off Singapore’s southern islands. It was later identified by Singapore’s sponge expert, Mr Lim Swee Cheng, as a young Neptune’s Cup sponge.”
Above: One of the old photos of the awesome sponge that fires the imagination and search for it in our waters!
Read more about this sponge in the latest issue of My Green Space!
September 29, 2011 
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