Cyrene reef is a patch reef (offshore reef patch not attached to a land) made up of three submerged reef flats: Terumbu Pandan, Pandan Beacon and South Cyrene Beacon. Another privilege to explore another reef area and departing from the exquisite, solely-for-the-richest Sentosa Cove, makes it all the more special!
We got to this reef on boats and had to wear life-jacket before being transported to the reef on another smaller boat. That was splashingly exciting!
Sunrise over Cyrene Reef
Seagrasses and echinoderms are rich on Cyrene Reefs, and true enough, we found dozens of knobblies, sand-shifting sea star, and Sand Dollars (Arachnoides placenta) like the one above. Sand Dollars got their name due to their resemblance to a one-dollar coin. They are in the same family as sea stars and sea urchins.
I took pictures using my 5megapix handphone camera but as it was protected within a ziplock bag, the pictures aren't that good. =(
Knobblies knobblies everywhere!
Fan worms (Sabellastarte indica) top and bottom. I like their feathery structures.
Moulted shell of the Moon Crab (Ashtoret lunaris). I guess its the moulting season; saw plently of these shells lying around but not their living owners. Moon Crabs are nocturnal and rarely seen in the day.
A Knobbly Sea Star (Protoreaster nodosus) and a Cushion Star (Culcita novaeguineae).
Cushion Star, my first sighting!
Black Sea Cucumber (Holothuria leucospilota)
Yep, sea stars can come with four legs too!
Pentaceraster Sea Star (Pentaceraster mammilatus), a new record of sea star for Singapore! Discovered in Cyrene Reef itself, it is known to exist only in the western Indian Ocean and the Red Sea.
Big Knobbly and a Small Knobbly. Cyrene Reef is reported to have numerous sightings of baby knobblies. Guess Knobblies are in an active population over there.
Whatever happened to this knobbly with one arm broken off? Well, not to be distraught, for sea stars can regenerate their limbs just like how geckos (commonly known as lizards in our homes) regenerate their dropped tails after we scare the hell of them off.
Sandfish Sea Cucumber (Holothuria scabra)
Not sure what anemone is this, could be a Peacock Anemone like the one below.
A really really tiny baby Synaptic Sea Cucumber awwww
Top and below: Sand-shifting Sea Stars (Archaster typicus). Each species of sea stars, the knobblies, sand dollars, and sand-shifting sea stars were found grouped together at specific places in Cyrene Reef in huge populations.
A Sand-shifting sea star on the move. Doesn't it look like it's dancing? hahaha
I like how waves can create these beautiful ripples on the sand
A sand dollar that got chipped off =( Grow back fast soon little one!
Who bullied the little Pentaceraster Sea Star? hmph!
A Circe scripta, i think, with a heart imprint (from something else) on its shell. Nice!
Wrinkled Knobblies under the sun. If sea stars are left under the sun for too long, they wrinkly up their five legs, probably to conserve water in their central bodies as an adaptation to prevent desiccation.
Back to mainland Singapore, through Sentosa Cove's habour for private boats. Woo!
I have this belief that to really know how respectable a place should be, look at their toilets. Sentosa Cove lives up to its name =D
The entrance of Sentosa Cove's One 15 Marina Club. See ya again!
