Invasive Aliens in Singapore....

So after a two month long blog drought, juan's finally inspired to blog ;p Just got back from Prof Peter Ng's lunchtime talk on Invasive Alien Species in Singapore, and I was live twittering since I had my trusty iPod touch whilst on wireless@SG. First thing I learnt was that twittering's a little tough when you're basically typing with two fingers instead of ten, and secondly, with a touch screen you can look away from the keyboard whilst typing..... First time I did live twittering of a talk, so there were typos here and there, as well a bit of incoherency. Just hope that the folks who were following my twitter page got the gist of the talk. There's a screen-cap of my tweets as well as the relevant replies that I got during the talk..... It's arranged in chronological order so you can get a gist of the ramblings tweets whilst the talk was going on....


Otterman also put up a quick post on the Biodiversity Crew blog on the live twittering. I do hope that most of the stuff that I posted up's accurate, seeing that I was furiously pounding away on my iPod during the talk!

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY DAY!!!

p/s. To help you make sense of the ramblings tweets, here's a link to Ria's very nicely done summary of the talk (with photos too!) ^_^

Click for the rambling...

Off to Manado!!! (09-16 Mar)

divejunkie's long awaited dive trip is here ^_^ Flying off to Manado later, for a week of fun diving at Bunaken and Lembeh. Plus a one day visit to Tangkoko Nature Reserve.

(Photo taken by Jens Petersen, Wikimedia)
With some luck, we should be able to pop by Kasawari Resort and say 'hi' to Tony Wu and the FiNS gang ^_^ Pretty excited about the entire trip as: (1) it's the first time I would be diving out of Singapore/Malaysia, (2) been 2.5 years since I last flew, (3) it's MANADO!!! (more especially LEMBEH!!!) How can I not get excited?!? Didn't manage to get a new laptop before the trip, so even if there's decently charged internet access there, won't really be online.... So I'll see you guys when I get back next week ^__^ Meanwhile, check out Tony's blog as he tries to update from there, as well as the photos he has on Flickr~~~

Click for the rambling...

After the rain....

This year's monsoon has certainly been a bit awkward with more days of bright sun than heavy rain, probably contributing in part to our recent bushfires.... The past few days has marked the return of the rain, and as the rain abated a little on the way home today, this was the sight that greeted me.

A double rainbow!!! Yar, I know, there's only one really obvious rainbow, with a really faint one just above it. Was taking this from the train with my trusty SE C905 as the train was pulling into the station. Quite a few of the other passengers were giving me queer looks but another guy at least was doing the same thing! ^_^ Was too slow to get a full shot but the more obvious rainbow was a full one! Reaching across the horizon, and the faint secondary one was partial, and fading really fast.....
And here's another one from the bus. By then the secondary rainbow faded out quite a bit, and when I showed this to mum, she thought it was just a reflection!

Just got so excited that I posted the photos directly from my hp and they hit the web before I even got home!!

So how to double rainbows come about? Most of us probably know that a rainbow results from the bending of light as it passes through suspended water droplets, resulting in our run-of-the-mill seven coloured rainbow. The colours come about due to the different wavelengths of different coloured light that actually blend together in the visible (to human eyes) spectrum. On rarer occasions, a fainter secondary arc can be observed, with the order of the colours reversed. (I know this isn't really obvious in my shots since it looks more like a shadow of a rainbow rather than an actual rainbow....) The detailed explanation seems to be here. But from what I can understand, as the sunlight passes through the water droplets, it is sometimes REFLECTED aka mirrored after it has been REFRACTED aka bent, resulting in the mirror image secondary rainbow. Cool eh? Probably need to do some tinkering with the image contrast to make it more visible ^_^

The quick Wikipedia search also made me realised that the rainbow has certainly captured the hearts of many people across cultures and heritages. Seems like just about every civilisation seems to have a story or two in their mythology or religion that involves rainbows. The most commonly heard one is probably the one about the leprachaun's pot of gold at the end of the rainbow (which is in fact impossible to find since a full rainbow is basically a circle). Though the one that I am most familiar with is the one from the Bible, where God uses the rainbow to indicate his promise that there would not be another flood like the one Noah survived. (Genesis 9:13-15) It's a good reminder for me even as the recent rumblings of climate change and sea level rise threaten to put me in a frenzy.... That there's still hope ^_^ Interestingly enough, the Epic of Gilgamesh, a poem from Ancient Mesopotamia, also seems to indicate that the rainbow has similar promise of sorts with regards to a great flood....

Here's the links to the original postings:
(1) TwitPic
(2) Facebook (think only friends and friends of friends can see this....)

Click for the rambling...

World Wetlands Day 2009 - SBWR photo exhibition

Following hot on the heels of his joint exhibition at one of the libraries, Yangchen presents to us this exhibition on birds flying critters of our very own Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve. The exhibition runs from 30 January 2009 to the end of March at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve.

Getting to see many of his really enjoyable photos (both for him and us viewers) everyday in office never diminishes the respect I have for him. Really creative shots and he goes the whole mile to get *that* perfect moment. Pretty much one of the most amazing photographers I know personally. And to top it all off, most of them have a focus on nature! Here's a peek at his portfolio on his Flickr site. Do go down to SBWR and get another look at the "Unpredictable Flying Objects"!!

EDIT: Seems like I've provided some mis-information. Not all the photographed subjects are on birds, and not all were taken at Buloh. Just makes me even more curious as to what's gonna be there. Here's what Yangchen commented on the cross-FB posting:
"Thanks very much Juanhui for your message and for doing me such a huge favour publicizing these events. I don't think I deserve such exultation but I'll try my very best to live up to it!

Note: the photos on exhibit at Sungei Buloh include subjects other than birds, and only some were taken at Sungei Buloh. For those who visit this wonderful wildlife sanctuary, I hope my exhibition adds some colour to your experiences there.

Thanks!"

Click for the rambling...

Reflections - 2008, the Year of the Frog....

This may seem to be coming a year late, but being an intertidal critter, I follow the lunar calendar ;p Plus I realised that I have not posted any entry on frogs in 2008! o.0 So here's a little tree frog bidding farewell to the Year of the Rat....

OK, so in this photo it looks more like a "cupboard frog" than a tree frog but I assure you that it *should* be a juvenile-ish common tree frog aka four-lined tree frog (Polypedates leucomystax). Probably one of the more common frogs around in Singapore, though the only other live frog I've actually seen in the wild is the Copper-cheeked frog (Rana chalconata).

So back to why it's on a cupboard and not a tree.... My colleague spotted this fella amongst his (my colleague's, not the P.leucomystax's!) many many potted plants at the back of our office building at SBG. By the time I got called over, it was "exploring" our tool shelves nearby. Oh well. But it does go to show that even in a rather disturbed environment like the Botanic Gardens can still play host to some wildlife!

蛙の歌が...
聞こえてくるよ...
チンチロ、チンチロ、チンチロリン...

(Eng ver.: Little Froggie sing a song...
singing, dancing all day long...
*croak* *croak* *croak*)

+++++++++

HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!!!!! Click for the rambling...

650 diving without dj TT_TT

Yes. This was the Hantu dive my A650 went to without me. Why? Because the MS camera went kuku..... And dj was stuck at home.... *lol*

Oh well. Hantu sure never fails to deliver, even if it's almost 0m vis and 24 deg! ^_^

Click for the rambling...

FREE - SciAmEarth 3.0 issue

It really seems to be the season for giving. Other than the Project Seahorse free ID e-book, Scientific American is offering their Earth 3.0 special issue for free download ^_^ Catch is that you are only allowed one download per email address. But then again, how many times would YOU need to DL it? Brilliant idea to guard against hotlinking! The file size is 25.7 MB (97 pages), which might be a bit taxing on those who have a slower connection.... From the content page, it sure looks like a promising read!

Listing of contents/main articles:
(1) COVER STORY: ENERGY Can Nuclear Energy Compete? by Matthew L. Wald
New reactor designs could reduce global warming and fossil-fuel dependence, but utilities are grappling with whether better nukes make more market sense.

(2) ENVIRONMENT China's Energy Paradox by David Biello
A firsthand look at how China's relentlessly expanding use of dirty coal may offset its equally forceful push for cleaner cities and renewable power.

(3) NATIONAL AFFAIRS The Need to Lead in Clean Tech - A conversation with Thomas L. Friedman by Steve Mirsky
The best selling journalist discusses why national security and economics, not just environmentalism, should drive the U.S. to get green aggressively.

(4) URBAN PLANNING Chicago Goes Green by Josh Boak
Can the legendary gritty Windy City really remake itself into a model of sustainable urban living?

(5) CLIMATE STRATEGIES Carbon Cowboys by Ashley Ahearn
Ranchers in Montana get paid by polluters to let the grass grow.

(6) BIODIVERSITY Sharking Guadalupe by Jim Cornfield
Ecotourism has become the unlikely protector of an unexpected endangered species: the great white shark.

(7) HABITAT Regrowing Borneo, Tree by Tree by Jane Braxton Little
To save orangutans, biologist Willie Smits is restoring a rain forest - and creating new livelihoods for the Indonesian families who help him.

Click for the rambling...

"Do one thing for nature this Christmas..."

It's Christmas season and we spread the festive joy to our family and friends, how about sharing a little of the cheer with the critters around us? This is basically a UK/BBC initiative called "Breathing Places", in a bid "to help you get friendlier with wildlife and give you lots of ideas on how you can do just that." With the current economic downturn and all, guess a number of us would be cutting down on overseas travels, so why try out some of the ideas with connecting to nature instead? Would certainly give us a more cost effective alternative to try something different. The suggested ideas are also categorised to "quick", "simple", and "adventurous" so no worries about biting more than you can chew. ^_^ How I wish more of these suggestions are applicable here in sunny SG.....

More details here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/breathingplaces/

Click for the rambling...

Sentosa with the SWA folks ^_^

While the usual bunch were having their overnight at St John's Island last weekend, divejunkie was kidnapped asked to help guide a bunch of Scouts at Sentosa's intertidal.

Not sure about the details of why they were here in Singapore for a few days (naturescouter was the one who got me into this spot of unplanned guiding ;P), but it's a nice cozy of group made up of 3 Thais, 1 Malaysian, and 3 Singaporeans. EDIT: Did a quick search, and this small group of Scouts were exploring Sentosa's intertidal as part of their 3 day Scouts of the World Discovery Workshop, with them focusing on the environment. Seems like it's a rather large international award for Scouts, though I seem to be only starting to know about stuff like this via diffusion from SJ.....

Sentosa's rocky shore is quite a but of an adventure to explore. And we certainly had fun exploring all the naturally eroded caves and holes, even posing for some "refugee" shots! ^_^


Even trying out some creative poses with the scenery ^_^ Real glad that the weather held up despite the overcast sky that evening.


With the algae in full bloom, some of the parts were tricky, and slippery, so it took a bit of teamwork and hand-holding (with a few minor slips) to get us through the entire route.


Here's some of the critters we saw....Didn't snap all, most of these were taken after we met up with SJ at the hunter-seeking area where he and Jerald were looking for critters for the Scouts to see.


First off, 2 differently coloured egg crabs, as well as a swimming crab.


The last time I was at Sentosa, it was octopus frenzy, with a number of small octopus(es) all venturing out as the sun set, and on Sat, we were also fortunate enough to come across at least 2!


And of course, me favouritest of all.... the sluggies!! The one on the left is the Jorunna funebris aka chocolate chip nudibranch/Oreo cookie nudibranch. They seem to be in season at the moment and are regularly seen on our local intertidals, and in recent months, the young 'uns seem to be venturing out and about! The one on the right is a first intertidal spotting for me, well, actually my first in Singapore. Usually see this Phyllodesmium briareum while diving. It's been spotted by some of the other local divers before at Hantu, whilst I have been seeing them at the Tioman and Dayang dive sites in Malaysia.


Of course, since the Scouts were there as part of a workshop, they had to do a report of sorts, so many of them were armed with cameras (of course, for taking fun people shots too!), and at least one of them had a notebook to take down the names of the critters we came across. Notice that there's also a plastic bag full of stuff. No, we weren't collecting anything for a dinner BBQ. One of them actually had spare plastic bags for collecting trash, so we also did a little bit of a shore clean-up as we trooped along. Good thinking, dude!


More photos on Facebook:
Jun's shots
Scouts' photos Click for the rambling...

New Seahorse ID book available!!

Project Seahorse and TRAFFIC North America have come up with an e-book on seahorse identification. Kudos to I-NSC for the heads up ^_^

"The new guide is being distributed to Customs agents around the world to help them implement the new listing of seahorses on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). It is also available here as a single PDF file."
It's a free e-book so do head over to DiveBooks.Net download your own copy too ^_^ Our local species Hippocampus comes and H.kuda are also inside, so this is definitely yet another valuable resource for guides and would-be-guides to have! dj here is all tuckered out after a relatively packed week of intertidal and underwater activities, so the book review would hafta wait until next week. Do stay tuned and get your own copy now!

EDIT: Seems like there's a bit of unwarranted direct linking to the download (without directing net traffic to the I-NSC website, so the "product page" has been taken off for now. Netizens can't seem to read in detail.... In the meantime, while waiting for the I-NSC mirror to be up again, here's the original distributor, Project Seahorse.

EDIT2: The I-NSC link on Divebooks.net is up again ^_^ Thanks once again to Ivan!!

Click for the rambling...

《城市生命线》City Footprints - the Marine Champions episode!

It's been a while but it's time for another installation of dj's quick-n-rambly local nature documentary synopsis/review ^_^ This time tackling a Mandarin programme produced by threesixzero productions!

It starts off by introducing the three "stars" (and intertidal veterans) Chee Kong, Sijie, and Siti, as the protectors of our sea. First portion of this episode is spent tracking the Star Trackers on a monitoring trip to Cyrene reefs. SJ mentions a bit about the insanity of intertidal enthusiasts going out in the wee hours of the morning (like 2am at times!) since we can't choose the timing(s) of the tides.


Note that this trip out to Cyrene coincided with showers of blessings, and as the show indicates out 1h-or-so wait on the boat, SJ explains the hazards of going out to the intertidals whilst it is pouring. Other than getting a thorough soaking, one would also be risking lightning strikes....



A quick introduction to Cyrene's locality (middle of all those petrochemical industries and shipping lanes), and how it is still full of biodiversity (e.g. the new seastar record, Pentaceraster mammilatus we had earlier this year), and it's off the boat for a quick hour's worth of star tracking! The challenges faced are certainly highlighted. First, the temperament of the weather... Then the missing transect marking poles (likely washed away with the tides/currents)..... Taking GPS points, measurements and photographs in a race against time as dusk falls and the tide rises..... (Though the episode *did* leave out the sometimes tricky amphibious landing and boarding...)


And as we are treated to the dusky Cyrene, we are introduced to the second section featuring Siti and TSG.... This time with a fieldtrip to Tanjung Rimau at Sentosa. They have a slightly longer working window than the Star Tracking trip but are still pressed for time. TSG is one of the few groups that collects "scientifically sound data" through transect and quadrat studies.... Some useful insights that came up where the concerns of family members on pursuing marine biology in Singapore. Also, TSG work *doesn't* stop at the data gathering (well, for the bulk of the volunteers it probably does) but the data needs to be analysed, and samples of seagrass also need to be identified and/or deposited at the Singapore Herbarium at the Singapore Botanic Gardens.



Unlike the Star Trackers who focus mainly on Cyrene, TSG actually covers a number of shores, so for the third, and final portion of the show, we are whisked away to Chek Jawa (situated on the eastern side of Pulau Ubin), where all three of them are out for TSG monitoring session. It's no surprise to see Chee Kong and Sijie there since they are one of the first few that joined TeamSeagrass as volunteers! (Yet again demonstrating the multi-hatted facet of many of the shore enthusiasts. How else do you think we get to know each other? ^_^)


On this particular trip, around half the volunteers were TSG and/or CJ virgins, making it easy to link to the need for sharing and training. Capacity building is absolutely necessary for out local NGOs to continue doing their job of sharing and caring for our marine environment. Saving the environment is certainly not a individual's job. General support from the public is needed to make things happen. Just look at how the planned 2001 reclamation of Chek Jawa was postponed for 10 years (and hopefully indefinitely) from the efforts of a group of nature enthusiasts who created a ripple effect, causing everyday Singaporeans to start speaking up for our shores.

And the episode ends on this note. On how the limitless zeal and love these three young people have resulted in them walking the path of shore volunteers, and that their stories have only just begun!

Click for the rambling...

Liveblogging from the "Star-Studded" Echinoderm Workshop ^_^

dj is making an attempt at live blogging from the first of a series of intertidal guide training workshops organised by Leafmonkey. Ria's certainly not making this easy since she *does* tend to go on rather fast but will try my best-est to update this blog.... All the basic (and at times boring) technical bits being squished into 30 minutes, no wonder!! (Did I just hear Ria say that the seastar tube feet kinda do a ballerina-like thing when moving?)

Adelle is being my photographer since dj is busy keeping track of things here.... *heh* Thanks girl! Anyway, the turnout is a little less than the sign up number of 25. Good that we have a good mix of guides from different groups like BWV, NHC, RMBR, NParks, TSG, etc.... Nice to see unfamiliar faces from RJC in addition to the regulars who also happen to be the multi-hatted folks ^_^

Okies... Need to try and pay attention here. Part 02 of the live-blogging would have more information for those who are unable to join us ^_^ Thanks once again to monkey and Ria for getting this series of much needed training up and running!

Click for the rambling...

all bags go to heaven?

Have just retired my bright yellow field backpack that I have been using since year 1, and has since then, dutifully gone with me for my terrestrial, intertidal and diving fieldwork the last 3 years. My faithful yellow United Colors of Benetton Hi-Ke backpack has officially been retired as of 16 Oct 2008, with it's last trip out being Star Tracking at Cyrene.

Which brings to mind the question: "What do you do with retired bags?" Or rather... What do you do with old bags? Of course, the best thing to do is to think of some way to give them a second lease of life instead of just throwing them out with the rubbish without a second thought. Since my yellow bag is still largely intact and in good condition with just a few tears in the inner lining and a tear at the top of the right strap, I actually have a few options that are in-line with the timeless 3Rs (Reduce-Reuse-Recycle). So here's the result of a quick brainstorming... One option is to donate it to some 3rd world country charity so that kids there can have a chance of getting nice bag to bring their school. Personally I feel a bit bad about doing this since the bag IS starting to fall apart.... So on to the next few options.

Mum likes to do patchwork and various handicrafts, so she has kinda volunteered to try and convert it into a smaller (and possibly) sling bag, meaning a new(ish) bag for me ^_^ Extra materials needed for this endeavour? None. Since Mum actually has a stash of scrap cloth and other random odds and ends.... Only catch is that Mum (like me) has a number of projects in progress, so this may actually take a while..... Failing which, I can always cannibalize my bag and keep the straps and odds and ends for quick repairs to my other bags since I tend to use my stuff until they run aground.... Anybody have any bright ideas on how to fully utilise a scrapped/to-be-scrapped bag?

p/s. dj still needs a field backpack, so got an Osprey atmos 25 that had it's first day out at with me at Kusu during this month's ReefWalk ^_^
Though I'm now wondering if I should have gotten the 35 instead... Then can double up for backpacking but then again, it might actually dwarf dj... *lol*

Click for the rambling...

Happy Cephalopod Day!!

Greetings from the cephlopods!

What better day than to "launch" my new blog/website ^_^ Why have I started *yet* another blog? (The proper Cephlopod Day post is over there...) First reason being that ASHIRA started off as a personal blog, and as my life turned towards being more nature foray orientated, this blog naturally evolved into a sort of nature blog ^_^ But it's because of this that it feels that there's lack of organisation or structure here. 《海楽園の旅人》 (Umi Rakuen no Tabibito aka Traveller of the Ocean Paradise) would be my attempt to organise and present my marine outreach efforts in a more informative manner. ASHIRA would still remain my primary blog about the things I am up to, as well as anecdotal accounts of trips and all.

Secondly, it also gives me the chance to play about with Wordpress. At this point in time, I don't yet see a need to actually migrate wholesale to Wordpress. The stuff there is just gonna be less diary styled *I hope*.

Click for the rambling...

Motofuji Hiroshi & Co. perform @ the Promenade

Happened to be down at the Central yesterday with Nam and reached in the middle of a taiko performance by Motofuji Hiroshi (茂戸藤 浩司) and crew.

First time I actually got to watch a more "modernised" way of taiko, and I must say that it just fits in perfectly for me. Especially since I dig hiphop music with a strong rhythm ^_^ It's a small performance crew of three, but I just love the energy that they exuded, and their expressions whilst performing are just so interesting!

Just found out that there's a full concert Raffles Hotel tomorrow evening, and it's free admission. Too bad it's already full T_T Why is it I find out about these things late? Below's the quick bio for Motofuji-san that's on the Embassy of Japan, advertising the concert:

"Hiroshi Motofuji is one of Japan’s premier taiko drummers, who has charmed audiences with his captivating and energetic performances. He has also a great reputation for his fusion of Japanese drums and Western music. Immerse yourself in the fascinating world of both traditional and new style of TAIKO.

He performed in “PRIDE”, a fighting sports event and participated in the making of the soundtrack of Japanese animation “Naruto – the Movie”, a gaming software “GENJI” and Japanese TV Drama “Oh-Oku, War of the Belles” and other events and collaborations. Catch him live!"

Click for the rambling...