Corals Under Threat

On a trip to Perhentian Island, this is what I've observed...

These guys from the boat were throwing the fuel drums into the sea
to be transported to the resort.

The poor staff has to go and retrieve the fuel drums back to the resort.

The barge was bringing in rocks to be placed near the newly built jetty to stop the waves from hitting against the jetty. If you look carefully, the silt curtain (green floating thing) is not covered properly on the left side and at the back under the jetty.

This is what happenes when the silt curtains are not functioning properly.

Corals are animals, sensitive to the changes in the environment, delicate and fragile. What human does on the surface will affect what happens underneath. Look at the fuel drums. There may not leak but it is definite that there are oil on the outside of the drums. When it's thrown into the sea, there will be oil left on the water. Oil that stinks, endanger marine lives as well as us, humans who swims in that area.

For the jetty construction, they were dumping rocks off the barge into the sea without proper procedures to ensure no sand and mud escapes the area into the surrounding waters. You be the judge as you see the last photo on how much damage that mud is going to cause to the environment around it.

We must stop this kind of irresponsible actions man are taking before all is lost.

Though there were bad stuff happening there but overall,
my trip there was a BLAST!!
Great to see you there, ML...and your friends, they are great man!!! Thank you for the snorkelling, kayaking, volleyballing, drive boat, boat rides and everything..
thank you ML, Marv, Ayie, AP, Akram, Chu (dunno how to spell la),Yo (dunno also) Need to thank manager ar? but he doesn't know does he? :p

International Year of the Reef Launch (continued)

Finally, it's officially LAUNCHED! The International Year of the Reef 2008 is launched in 1Utama today by Datuk Suboh.

En Rahim from Marine Parks Department giving an opening speech.


The place looks "crowded" with people for the launch event.

Kids and "kids" colouring canvas mural based on the IYOR theme;
OUR Reefs, Our Heritage, OUR Responsibility

Little children taking part in colouring activity with some parents joining in.

Aida, the Turtle from the Marine Turtle Conservation Group from Taylors College - Mass Comm final year students; support their (students and Prof Chan Eng Heng) efforts to get people to pledge not to eat turtle eggs here.

Melissa and Dian - the turtle gals...

International Year Of The Reef Photo Exhibition

Hey, Hey,
There's going to be a photo exhibition about coral reefs
in 1 Utama from 20th -24th Feb (it is happening NOW)

It's at Ground floor on the New Wing..see ya...

Reef Report

After 9 months,

After going to 4 islands,
After going exploring 21 sites,
And after 33 surveys,
Reef Check Malaysia releases its 2007 Annual Survey Report!
Read about it here.

sorry guys..can't upload the photo of the article in paper. colour goes wrong. not sure why..

Malaysia - Nation Blessed by God

Where coral reefs are found....

Photo Source: JEN Veron & Mary Stafford-Smith. Corals of the World (AIMS 2000)

As you can see from the picture, coral reefs are spread across the tropical region, where most the most diversity of corals are nearer to the tropical. This is because corals have a limited temperature range where it thrive (25 -30 °C).

How blessed is Malaysia?

Photo Source: Unknown - Dr. Ridzwan (UMS)

This area is known as the 'Coral Triangle', an area recognised with the most diversity of marine life. Look at where the Borneo island is - right in the area with most diversity of corals. This is how BLESSED Malaysia is.

Thought: This post started because of what ML said - Malaysia is so BLESSED! Indeed, we are. Found in one of the area with most diversity, Malaysia has so many beautiful creatures living within it. It is a showcase of God's creativity and work of art as He created all these.

Wreck Diving in Lahad Datu

After being certified a diver for more than half a year, I've traveled and dived at a few places. Most of my dives are part of my work for Reef Check Malaysia, which involves a lot of training. These are some of the photos I've taken during one of my dives in Lahad Datu. I've got limited photos as I'm trying to use photos taken by me, so that there'll be no copyright issues. :) So, without an underwater camera, I don't have much to show.

One of my first few underwater shots and I absolutely LOVE it! (except for the bubbles that spoils it). This soft coral is growing on the side of the ship during one of the dives in Lahad Datu.

This soft and slimy little thing is actually a HARD coral. It's a mushroom coral! This is how it looks when the tentacles are out feeding...

And it will look something like this when the tentacles go back inside...


Another amazing creature; Ascidians - usually in nice bright colours!!

This, I think is a bubble coral and SURPRISE, it is also HARD coral, as it has a hard skeleton like the mushroom coral. (do correct me if I'm wrong :p)

This is a nudibranch, or commonly know as a sea-slug. This is only one of the thousands of species of nudibranch. A whole variety of colours, patterns and shapes can be found!!

In case you wondered what those are, let me tell you. ALL of the above are ANIMALS!! Not plants, not rocks, but animals. Interesting? Well, there's a whole lot more of weird and exciting stuff down there! So, get on learning how to dive and go see the underwater paradise for yourselves...

Thought: Whenever I look at these creatures; how they move; how they eat and how colourful, weird or funny they may look, I'm reminded of how GREAT my God is. Thank You God for giving me the opportunity to see His creation in the depths of the sea..