Pushing It

I've already mentioned the successful morning spent diving with Sabah Parks research staff on 24th June 2009. I've now had a chance to create ID cards for the endangered Bumphead Parrotfish Bolbometopon muricatum and the sumptuously decorated Angelfish Pomacanthus semicirculatus. Additionally, the day offered up a new species of Triggerfish for the aggregated TARP fish list - Balistapus undulatus (this photo comes form the Philippines but I will be uploading my poor quality image in due course), as well as a first sight of the Goby Eviota sigillata, and in a 1 metre deep foray amongst some mangrove roots (alongside tangled ropes and other manmade debris but no crocodiles): the Dartfish Parioglossus rainfordi. My personal checklist of fishes photographed in TARP now stands at 439, with the aggregated list of fish-with-evidence at 559. Of these, 444 have been noted in the last 4 years.

I'm hoping also to gain access to a list of fishes identified here by a Japanese marine biologist working with Sabah Parks a couple of years ago which I think will add 20-40 more to the list in due course. By the time I leave Sabah permanently later this month, it would be great if I had been able to coax the list to top 600 species: this would be tremendously significant for TARP and I hope it would be a stimulus to enhance the park's protection and help ward off future attempts at such astounding schemes as building a bridge to Gaya island, or a ring road and residential developments on it (believe it: I've seen the proposals vegetating where last left after being rejected, but who knows what monster resurrection might be attempted by a future Frankenstein).

Today's photo shows a Sabellid worm jockeying for space amongst a host of large coral polyps off Sapi island on 24th June 2009.

Potential Bleaching Predicted from June 2009

For the first time this year, NOAA's 18 week forecast is predicting potential bleaching conditions off western Sabah (starting at the end of May 2009). See their animation for details. Worrying... particularly hot on the heels of the potential severe bleaching warning in the southwest Pacific. Let's hope that neither the prediction climbs into a worse category, nor comes true!

Here's a 'critter' that might be affected if it does: hard coral Euphyllia divisa (family EUPHYLLIDAE) photographed off Gaya island on 1st September 2007.

Dolphin Superpod in TARP

Who knows for how long they'll stay, but a superpod of dolphins has been sighted in TARP! Beautiful!

I'm sitting on a day's worth of dive photos, unprocessed so far, but expecting to add two or more fishes to the TARP species list in due course.

I'm beginning to feel the need for another night dive - my last was 22nd April 2008 when this feeding Acropora hard coral (family ACRPORIDAE) was snapped off Sapi island.

Snowflakes and sunshine

Another great day for snorkelling - Thursday off Sapi island saw the emergence in shallow water of a Snowflake moray eel (Echidna nebulosa) on a feeding frenzy - only to slither off into hiding when it was all over. Still, it attracted some interesting scavenging hangers-on which would normally have skittered off at my appearance, the Bluelined hind (Cephalopholis formosa) being their cheerleader.

Friday morning was also encouraging, with more interest expressed in the possibility of publishing my guide to the fishes of TARP. Watch this space.

Today's photo is of a beautifully convoluted Hard coral from the family AGARICIIDAE, taken off Gaya island's southeast side on 27th October 2007.

Checklist with a sting in its tail

Believe it or not, the picture is of a hard coral - I think it is from the Genus Goniopora (Family PORITIDAE). It was taken on Plate Coral reef off Sapi island on 19th March 2008.

This is by way of diverting you from my embarrassment at mis-identifying a new (for me) Stingray (Dasyatis kuhlii) back on 9th July 2008. This allows me to increase my TARP checklist to 361 species. It came about as I was cross-checking against Gerry Allen's checklist from 1992 and I realised my mistake.

Weird stuff

355. After adding the seven newly identified species from 9th July 2008, I am now one short of Gerry Allen's 1992 total. (I have yet to cross check our lists but I have no doubt that they don't exactly overlap.) The seven were the Frogfish Antennarius striatus (doing a passably good impression of a black and very spiny - I know, I leaned my thigh onto one and got a nasty surprise - Diadema Sea urchin), the Flounder Bothus pantherinus (one of five of the new species found over sand), a very suspicious and flighty Grouper Epinephelus undulosus, the gorgeous (pity about my poor photo) Fairy wrasse Paracheilinus carpenteri above a reef, a juvenile and an adult of the Damselfish Pomacentrus grammorhynchus (also above the reef), a Dartfish Ptereleotris hanae which likes to live alongside Shrimpgobies, and the Snakefish Trachinocephalus myops.

Back to the 6th of July 2008, on the southeast Mid-reef, I chanced on this coral from (I think) the family FUNGIIDAE. Amazing hues and textures.

Fish Checklist updated

Just a quick post to point out that I have now updated my TARP fish Checklist to include links back to the ID panels which describe them in my public album. I am however a bit disatisfied with the outcome of my web-site key; it seems to me that with some work on the tags it should be possible to search my Picasa album directly for panels matching certain criteria (e.g. Zebra stripes & tail base spot). In due course I think I'll go that route but it is not available yet and will take quite a lot of work.

The picture here comes from off the southeast slope of Gaya island, taken on 27th October 2007; I believe it is a specimen of hard coral from the genus Galaxea (possible G. astreata) in the family OCULINIDAE.

Less tourist pressures or less money for conservation?

I dare not share my opinion about whether or not the increased price of fuel is a blessing for conservation in TARP. But it could have a significant impact in the short term - maybe even long term if long distance travel patterns begin to change singnificantly too. Either way, a government minister this week predicted a reduction in tourism travel to Sabah.

Meanwhile, something lurks in a hole - possibly a coral hermit crab - in its host coral (family FAVIIDAE I think), photographed on 27th October 2007 on Clement's reef.

Easy PC Coral Guide

Today I stumbled upon an excellent little (20Mb) free downloadable guide to corals; what's more it is formatted for use with iPods, smart phones, and PDAs (and of course PCs). Created by Coralidea, it has over 600 illustrations of creatures such as the one here (family EUPHYLLIDAE) which I took at Plate Coral Reef off Sapi Island on 19th March 2007: can you believe it is a Hard Coral?

300 fish species in TARP

Whilst I've been travelling over the last week, I've been updating my draft fish species checklist for TARP and as of today, it stands at 300 species. The details can be found in my other blog. None-the-less, life other than fish exists in TARP: taken on 27th October 2007 on the southeast slope of Gaya Island, the picture here is of a hard coral in the family EUPHYLLIDAE (species Euphyllia ancora if I'm not mistaken). This type of hard coral is only hard in its base: the fleshy polyps stay constantly exposed.

Sabah Society Invitation

I've just been invited to give a photo presentation on the marine life in Tunku Abdul Rahman Park. It will be at the Sabah Society in Kota Kinabalu on Tuesday 27th May starting sometime after 7pm. I won't be able to show everything I've got but I'm sure I'll find space for the creature here in my presentation as I find it fascinating. Known as Heliofungia actiniformis (from the hard coral family FUNGIIDAE) you, like me when I wrote the first draft of this blog this morning, could easily mistake it close-up for the 'Finding Nemo' anemone - Heteractis magnifica. I took this photo on 10th February 2008 at Hanging Gardens off Gaya Island.

Welcome to TARP Watch

Welcome to my new blog about TARP. I have my down days thinking about the pressures the creatures in it face, but there are bright days too. I took this hard coral photo (family Fungiidae) mid-afternoon back on 27th October 2007, on the southeast slope of Gaya Island. There's some gorgeous stuff out there!