Land of Leatheries: Terumbu Pempang Tengah
Huge leathery soft corals colonies of various shapes and colours crowd the southern part of Terumbu Pempang Tengah! Even though this submerged reef lies near Jurong Island and major shipping lanes.
Today, I also came across two Fluted giant clams, and I didn t see any mass coral bleaching. Kok Sheng surveyed a reefy part of the shore and saw a wide variety of healthy corals.
There have always been a wide variety of Leathery soft corals on the shore. Some resemble fried omelette, others look like discarded gloves.
Each is a colony is made up of countless tiny polyps that look like tiny flowers. The polyps are embedded in a shared common tissue that is hard and stiff. When the polyps are retracted, the common tissue appears smooth.