17 April 2016

Sunny at Chek Jawa!

A great day out at Chek Jawa with families at the free monthly walk by the Naked Hermit Crabs!
It was a super hot day but we saw lots of interesting animals.

Thanks to Zara and the visitors for spotting crabs, mudskippers, birds and many other creatures.
I forgot to take a group photo of my group at the top of Jejawi Tower. This photo at the Mud Lobster point is just as nice!
After gawking at Sand bubbler crabs, fiddler crabs, looking at propagules and other mangrove curiosities, we emerged on the rocky shore and seagrass meadows on a hot hot day.
We saw several Carpet anemones and none of them were bleaching. This one is happily settled among Sponge seagrasses and Ribbon seagrasses.
There were various herons hunting on the shore as this tide height allows them to better catch the fishes that they love to eat.
It was easy to spot all kinds of interesting things in the clear water at this tide height.
The tide was just the right height. Not too high (water murky), not too low (too dry).
When we stopped at the Coastal Boardwalk shelter, we saw several wild Junglefowl fly through the air. In the water, we saw some Gold-spotted archerfishes and halfbeaks. We also saw Needlefishes. And a stingray too!
At House No. 1, the kids had fun drawing what they saw!
Alas, we saw two people fishing on Chek Jawa off Pulau Sekudu with cast nets. Although we yelled at them to stop doing so, they just ignored us.
Here's a look at one of them.
The water looks alright during our bumboat ride home. Not the colour of teh-o, which usually means there is a plankton bloom going on. The hot weather and neap tides means the risk of a plankton bloom is rising.
The next Chek Jawa walks with the Naked Hermit Crabs will be part of Pesta Ubin, Ubin Open House!

Come join us on 14 May (Sat) for our regular free Chek Jawa walk. Or at the Chek Jawa Open House on 5 Jun (Sun)! There'll be lots of activities for kids and many guides to share their favourite stories about Chek Jawa with you.