Rainbow Rocks at Pulau Ubin!

Under a rainbow on a drizzly morning we surveyed a rainbow of creatures on the rocks!

The rocks are still very much alive with colourful sponges and other critters. And there are also lush seagrasses here.


Here's one of the huge sculpted rocks we looked at, with Changi on the horizon.

At the very base of the rocks, exposed only during the lowest tides, are lots of colourful creatures!

This includes colourful sponges of all kinds.

As well as small flowery soft corals, some Zebra corals, a few sea fans, zoanthids and many colourful hydroids.

The rocks are a great place to lay eggs and the Drill snails were at it on many parts of the shore. I saw several nudibranch egg ribbons, but couldn't find the nudis that laid them. There were some ascidians and thus the flatworms that eat them. Although I saw many creatures today, I sense I saw more and bigger specimens on our last survey here in Dec 2017. Today, I didn't see any feather stars, no other sea stars and few sea cucumbers.

There were also lush Spoon seagrasses (with large leaves) on both sites that we surveyed.

I saw some Haddon's carpet anemones, and Able pointed out this Eight-armed luidia sand star.

Interesting trees on this shore includes this huge Indian rubber tree.

And near Ubin jetty, the Critically Endangered Collared fig tree. Both trees were producing figs. So nice.

This shore is near Thomson's Rock.

In Apr 2015, thanks to Dr Chua Ee Kiam, I got a chance to view and photograph Thomson Rock by sea at high tide.

This rock is made famous by John Turnbull Thomson's 1850 painting: "Grooved stones on Pulo Ubin near Singapore."

Image from Pacific Rim Digital Library Alliance

This is what the area we surveyed today looks like at high tide.

I hope it stays well until we can return.

Photos by others on this trip

Liz Lim


Joleen Chan



Others on this trip: Abel.