From Forest to Mangroves

The Semkau Landfill is Singapore's only landfill for waste disposal. There are a total of 11 landfill cells on the island and out of the 11, 5 cells were filled. In this trip, besides the beautiful scenery and the wide varieties of marine lives, I learnt about the importance of recycling to cut down waste.

We walked from the forest to the mangroves to our final destination, the intertidal walk. Our Volunteer guide for the day was Uncle Ron. Thank you Uncle Ron for being wonderful guide.

Have you seen a Sea Star with 4 arms ? Here is a unique one. We also saw,one with 5 arms (quite common) and one uncommon sea star with 6 arms.

Yes, this is Sea Cucumber. I saw a number of different species. Once they are out of water, they will squirt out water from their anus. They are soft in water and turns hard when out of water. Sea Cucumbers are delicacies to many, but I doubt I'll want to try them.

This photo was taken by my mother.

We also spotted many types of crabs, the Swimming Crabs, Fiddler Crabs and Hairy Crabs, etc. I was fascinated by the Up-side-down Jelly Fish, first encounter in the wild. There are also different types of corals, very beautiful. An eye-opening experience for me and my family. Spider Conch is another rare encounter for us, because it is very well camouflaged, it is different to spot.

Encounters in the Forest

Black-naped Oriole was standing on a 'botak' tree. It is one of the common birds found in Singapore. I found this bird near my place. It was the 3rd time I saw it on the same tree but not sure if it was the same bird.

This stick insect was the biggest one I ever seen in nature. As big as the one at the Fragile forest in the zoo. I touched it, it's legs 'hooked' onto my skin (quite ticklish).

This spider has a unique name. It is called the St. Andrew Cross Spider. A female mature spider spins a web which contains 4 silken zig-zag bands. It resembles the cross of St. Andrew's and it is to mark its territory.