sea slugs

one of my favorite sea creatures is the nudibranch. these lovely, colorful, soft-bodied marine gastropods inspired me to learn diving... my spark, borrowing the term from birders.

luckily, the Mabini-Tingloy sea, the natural laboratory where i learn and experience the underwater world, is teeming with different kinds of nudibranch. in fact, new species of nudibranch were discovered recently by the California Academy of Sciences during their study in this sea.

since they are slow, nudibranch adopted certain types of defense mechanisms. some species can blend or mimic the texture and color of their surroundings, some can release poisons while some store toxins to drive away predators.

so just observe and be mesmerized. no touch :)

photos courtesy of award-winning dive photographer, and a dear friend, Danny O.

100

thanks to our friends at Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) and the city government of Alaminos, i was able to visit again one of our natural wonders - the 100 islands of Pangasinan.

dubbed as one of the natural geological monument by the National Committee on Geological Sciences, the more than 100 islands and coral islets that sprouted in the Lingayen Gulf are estimated to be more than 2.0 million years old. this natural wonder is truly amazing and continues to baffle geologist and natural scientist around the world.

it rained so hard during our 3-hour boat trip but still, we managed to visit some of the favorite destinations such as the:

bat island

Quezon island

Cuenco island

enjoyed watching the different islands, trying to figure patterns out of them

turtle

ambigram

ooh and lots of birds also. in fact, even migratory birds such as little egrets and whiskered terns decided to settle on this place. tsk tsk overstaying na...

lots of kalumpang trees in the islands

and best part is jamming with friends.

ay oo nga pala, kasama lang pala namin ay si ChinChin Gutierrez and Dong Abay hehehe

thanks GAIA for inviting us to take part in the city-wide environmental forum for your Zero Waste Alaminos project. congratz guys!

100 islands

Alaminos City, Pangasinan

07.06.11

Ents

always fascinated with our native flora, reading local books and field guides, but alas, have difficulty remembering plant names, more so scientific names. plus the fact that there are more than 14,000 flora species in the country, woooh

mas madaling tandaan ang mga ibon hehehe

very glad to be able to join the 1^st "tree walk" of the Philippine Native Plants Conservation Society, an organization dedicated to the promotion and propagation of native species. for three hours, we explore the different areas of UP Diliman campus and visited 60+ native trees. some are lurking inside woodlands and garden patches dominated by exotic plants while others are in plain sight, but still unnoticeable to most passersby and motorists.

encountered native trees such as the buyaboy from Batanes. the leaves are use by the Ivatans to create raincoats and hats

native palm trees - taraw and endemic Manila Palm

native ficus trees, hawili and tangisang-bayawak. ficus trees are the lifeline of the forests, providing ample food to many species of birds and bats

salimbobog. they said that the flower of this tree is more beautiful than Cherry Blossom. can’t wait to see it when it blooms in summer.

the Philippine teak. can only be found in limestone forests of Batangas and Mindoro.

the beautiful shrub Leea guineensis (no local name) and more...

also learned interesting facts on already known native species,

how to distinguish male and female pili tree

mabolo is one of the many kamagong trees

and the narra, our national tree, is also common in our neighbor countries

love the flowers of botong. reminds me of Eywa...

UP Diliman

07.02.11