Quiet but great day guiding at Pulau Hantu

It was a quiet day on the intertidal shore at Pulau Hantu. Despite that we still managed to find interesting stuff for the youths of Jurong Spring Youth Club. I was helping The Hantu Bloggers as a guide.

Here's a group photo of the youth participants with the four guides. Joining us on the trip is Minister of State Desmond Lee.

Group photo
[Photo by MOS Desmond Lee on his Facebook]

It was my first time landing on Pulau Hantu via the southern jetty. The southern jetty leads to the bigger island that makes up Pulau Hantu and it is equipped with toilet. Immediately, many participants could identify the Sentosa logo on the information panel. Yes, Pulau Hantu is one of the many southern islands managed by Sentosa Corporation Development.

Information panel by Sentosa.

Unfortunately, I took very little photos of the shore as I was talking and guiding most of the time. Nonetheless, I still managed to get some images of the critters my group saw.

Sea slug, juvenile - Jorunna funebris

It was quite amazing that my group members found the adult sea slug after showing them the juvenile sea slug.

Sea slug, adult - Jorunna funebris

I came across a sea cucumber which I have yet to encounter before. It is the white-rumped sea cucmber (Actinopyga lecanora) .

Size of the sea cucumber while it was trying to elongate itself.

Size of the sea cucumber when it was spotted.

Other groups saw a tiny frogfish, many snake eels and interesting critters. We did not manage to come across any seahorse on this trip.

Towards the end of the walk, the dark approaching clouds threatened us to end the intertidal walk slightly earlier. We managed to get a group photo of my group before we left the shore.

Group photo of my group.

During this trip, the youth club took this opportunity to present Edusave awards to some of the participants. It is rather interesting that Jurong Spring Community Centre, together with MOS Desmond Lee, have decided to present this academic and character excellence recognition at various events. From kayaking, bowling, to community outreach events and also this environmental shore trip. Here is one of the awardees being presented the award at Pulau Hantu.

Edusave award presentation on Pulau Hatu
[Photo by Jurong Spring Youth Club on their Facebook page]

Alas, there was a driftnet laid in the middle of the big lagoon. It looks abandoned, judging from the amount of algae that has accumulated. The intertidal shore team will be back again two weeks later and we will attempt to haul the whole net out of the shore.

Driftnet on the shore.

Right stretch of the driftnet on the shore.

It was a great trip despite my cold, which was suppressed by non-drowsy decongestants. At the same time, another team was out doing a trip at the Sisters' Island.

You can read more at Ria's blog post: Our Special Sisters Islands.