Besides those two organisms I mentioned earlier, there is definitely more than meets the eye in these seemingly lifeless mudflats. Scuttling on the mudflats and darting away once we got too close for comfort were a few fiddler crabs. Fiddler crabs are well known for their enormous right claw, which dwarfs the left claw in size, is loudly coloured (usually red or orange) and is grossly large in comparison to its body. Actually, this enlarged claw is only present in males, which use their gargantuan claws to wrestle against each other to fight for the right to mate. They live in burrows under the sand and emerge to feed during the low tide. Once danger is imminent, they scuttle back to the safety of their minute hiding holes.
As the group ventured out to sea, we saw numerous tiny hermit crabs and mud-brown gobies in the tide pools. We also saw more types of small crabs, sea snails and shells in the vicinity. The picture on the right shows one of the many shells we saw in the mud, whereas the picture on the left shows a sea snail in a tide pool.
As the group ventured out to sea, we saw numerous tiny hermit crabs and mud-brown gobies in the tide pools. We also saw more types of small crabs, sea snails and shells in the vicinity. The picture on the right shows one of the many shells we saw in the mud, whereas the picture on the left shows a sea snail in a tide pool.
Further out, we saw a large stretch of seagrass before us. The tour guide told us some facts about seagrass and proceeded to show us sponges among the seaweed. Unfortunately, I am not very educated or interested in sponges or seaweed, so I know very little about them and have hardly any information about them to share with you. However, I learnt from the tour guide that you should never touch a sponge, as the consequences would be dire should you foolishly do so. If I remember correctly, many miniscule "splinters" would lodge themselves into your skin, just like fragments of broken glass. The lesson learnt? Never ever anyhow touch things that you are unsure about.
My brother spotted something round and brown in the water which he initially suspected to be a sand dollar. However, it was later revealed that the organism was in fact an upside-down jellyfish, a jellyfish species which I had never known before. The jellyfish carries algae in it and breaks down the algae's cell wall to let the sugar in it flow out. The sugar is in turn used by the jellyfish as a source of food.
Okay, this is enough for the time being.
