Naked at Pasir Ris on World Ocean Day

Family celebrate World Ocean Day with a free guided walk at Pasir Ris mangroves with the Naked Hermit Crabs!

We started the evening walk well inland, around the tall Kapok tree that was dropping pods of fluffy seeds!


Kids have a great time exploring the tree with Mama Crab Ley Kun. They discover little red nymphs too!

We have a closer look at the pod of fluffy kapok seeds!

It was soon time to head out for the mangroves, after a little briefing.

In the mangroves, there are all kinds of cool critters. But we have to look carefully because they are so well camouflaged. Kwan Siong points out crabs and other interesting marine life on the muddy ground.

Kai shows us a spider that looks like an ant!

Kai shares about a Cotton stainer bug. There are all kinds of critters, even on the boardwalk railings.

Chay Hoon spots a bagworm! It's a little larvae that builds it's own 'house' that looks like a bag. The larvae carries it around, kind of like a handbag that you can live in.

Here's another little spider hiding in plain sight on the railings. We also heard kingfishers, woodpeckers, cicadas, and also saw a squirrel.

The Star of the Mangroves here are the humungous Giant mudskippers. Today, we saw many in pairs. Is it mating season? One of the sharp-eyed kids also spotted a Yellow-spotted mudskipper.

All too soon we reach the end of our walk, a jetty over a stream. Today, the water is rather murky and we didn't see many fishes or any water snakes.

As usual, the kids and families have lots of fun drawing what they saw during the walk.

It is clear, crabs and mudskippers are the winners!

And here's a more geographic rendition of the walk.

We have fun trying out binoculars. A bit hard to use when your brother is shoving his fingers into it.

As the sun sets, it's time to say goodbye to everyone! Guiding today were also Sean, Pei Yan, Chay Hoon. And it was lovely to have Rene, Kwan Siong and Sumita with us.

Pasir Ris mangroves are special not only because there are so many awesome creatures to discover here, but also because the mangrove boardwalk is open 24/7. A night trip to here can be quite amazing.